Disney’s Coyote Tales was a TV movie that aired on the Disney Channel in 1991 and is also an extended remake of The Coyote’s Lament, an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color from 1961 which was an anthology series originally hosted by Walt himself. Since Walt’s death, The Coyote’s Lament was the last time that the characters Bent-Tail the Coyote and his son Bent-Tail Junior would make an animated appearance for three decades until the episode was remade into Coyote Tales directed by Robert Heath.
The TV movie was made with re-cut and re-dubbed footage of the original Coyote’s Lament but instead of being voiced over by Walt Disney, the coyotes were now voiced by Jim Cummings who has made a name for himself doing the voices of several Disney characters. Like the original, Coyote Tales begins with a pack of coyotes sitting up on a hill performing the song "Yip Yip Yip Yowl" before being interrupted by Mickey’s dog Pluto barking in the distance. Among the coyotes are an elderly Bent-Tail and an adult Junior who has a son of his own now. Both Bent-Tail and Junior teach the pup to be proud of being a coyote by telling him various different stories where they’ve had run-ins with Pluto which are foretold through a marathon of their old cartoons as flashbacks. Unlike the original, the movie also featured other classic Disney cartoons like The Whalers, Beezy Bear and Lambert the Sheepish Lion.
While the original Coyote’s Lament has surfaced, Coyote Tales has never aired on the Disney Channel since the early 1990’s nor has a copy of it surfaced anywhere, leaving minimal information on the TV movie. The English version of the movie is still lost but a high quality German Dub was found and can be downloaded here.
Voice Cast
- Jim Cummings - Ben-Tail Junior, Grandfather