and 1,100 painted backgrounds making up the finished product. A total of 180 people, including 24 animators, worked on the film. Casting Early into production, the principal characters such as young Tod and Copper, Big Mama, and Amos Slade had already been cast. The supporting characters were cast by Disney voice regulars including Pat Buttram for Chief, Paul Winchell for Boomer, and Mickey Rooney, who had just finished filming Pete's Dragon (1977), for adult Tod. Jeanette Nolan was the second choice for Widow Tweed after Helen Hayes turned down the part. The last role to be cast was for adult Copper. Jackie Cooper had auditioned for the role, but left the project when he demanded more money than the studio was willing to pay. While filming the Elvis (1979) television film, former Disney young actor Kurt Russell was cast following a reading that had impressed the filmmakers, and completed his dialogue in two recording sessions. The growling vocals for the bear were provided by sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald. Soundtrack The soundtrack album for the film was released in 1981 by Disneyland Records. It contains songs written by Stan Fidel, Jim Stafford, and Jeffrey Patch. Track listing Release Box office In its original release, The Fox and the Hound grossed $39.9 million in domestic grosses, the highest for an animated film at the time from its initial release. Its distributor rentals were reported to be $14.2 million while its international rentals totaled $43 million. The film was re-released theatrically on March 25, 1988, where it grossed $23.5 million. The Fox and the Hound has had a lifetime gross of $63.5 million across its original release and reissue. Home media The Fox and the Hound was first released on VHS on March 4, 1994, as the last entry in the Walt Disney Classics line. This release was placed into moratorium on April 30, 1995. On May 2, 2000, it was released on Region 1 DVD for the first time as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection line, along with a simultaneous VHS re-issue as part of the same video line on the same day. This edition went into moratorium in January 2006. Soon after, a 25th anniversary special edition DVD was released on October 10, 2006. The Fox and the Hound was released on Blu-ray on August 9, 2011, commemorating the film's 30th anniversary as part of a 3-disc