"the fox and the hound" was released to movie theaters on july 10, 1981 by buena vista distribution. the movie was a success at the box office. it was the 14th highest-grossing movie of the year and made $39.9 million in the united states. at the time of release, it was the most expensive animated movie produced to date. it cost $12 million to make the movie. it was re-released to theaters on march 25, 1988. an intermediate follow-up, "the fox and the hound 2", was released directly-to-dvd on december 12, 2006.