The Rescuers
The story begins in a swampy bayou, where a little girl is seen on an abandoned riverboat, dropping a bottle over the side of the boat. The bottle is the carried away by the waters, and after some time, arrives along the shores of New York City, where several mice find it.
The bottle is then brought before the International Rescue Aid Society, an organization of mice that gathers inside a luxury suitcase in the basement of the United Nations building. Inside is a note that is recovered by a janitorial mouse named Mr Bernard. After spreading out the message, the Chairman and the Hungarian representative named Miss Bianca then read over the message:
"To Morning Side Orphanage, New York
I am in terrible trouble. Please hurry. Help!
Penny."
Miss Bianca volunteers to help the little girl, and the Chairman allows her to choose any of the delegates to assist her. To their surprise, Bianca chooses the janitor Bernard. Mr. Chairman is surprised but has no objection, and soon the pair is off to search for clues.
Taking a clue from the letter, they head to the Morning Side Orphanage. Searching through the rooms, they eventually find a box with Penny's name on it, along with other belongings. Wondering about why her items would be boxed up, they are interrupted by Rufus, an old cat. At first apprehensive, they soon strike a conversation with Rufus about Penny. Rufus explains about the last time he saw Penny before she disappeared, but also says that since there are no other clues, the Police have since given up the search.
Rufus explains to Bernard that even though the girl had appeared to be very happy, the next thing he'd heard was that she had disappeared. Bernard finds it hard to believe that Penny would simply take off, and asks for any further information that Rufus may have for them. Though he hesitates for a moment, Rufus explains about the mysterious involvement of a "trashy lady," whom had offered to take Penny for a ride in her car. He tells them that this woman and her partner run a pawn shop nearby. Bernard and Miss Bianca set off for the place, but Rufus reminds them that even if they were to locate Penny, there isn't much that two little mice will be able to do.
Bernard and Miss Bianca arrive at Madame Medusa's pawn shop. A seemingly harmless, yet intimidating, locale full of antiques, diamonds, jewelry and countless other objects. They begin to search the owner's office and backroom, where they discover a first-grade child's writing book, with the name "Penny" written on its cover; Bernard is certain that they've come to the right place to look for clues. The silence is broken first by the sound of a wall cuckoo clock, which succeeds in startling the mouse heroes, and then by that of a telephone ringing, which manages to frighten the two mice, sending them both for cover. The phone continues to ring, and within moments, the store's owner appears thundering through the back door. The woman, annoyed at being called in the middle of the night, answers the phone: "Madame Medusa's pawn shop boutique!" As the two mice listen, they learn that it is a call from someone named Mr. Snoops. As the conversation unravels, they learn that Mr. Snoops has not been able to locate a diamond, to Madame's great dismay, and also that Penny has been sending messages in bottles. Madame Medusa is enfuriated when she hears this and announces that she'll soon be on her way to the Devil's Bayou. The two mice manage to climb into her convertible, but are thrown out of the vehicle after a wild, reckless ride through the quiet streets of New York City. Bernard and Miss Bianca are left feeling helpless on the sidewalk in the middle of the night.
The two mice arrive at a New York City airport some time later. Bernard begs Miss Bianca to hurry, since he believes Madame Medusa has already arrived at Devil's Bayou. The two make their way to the headquaters of Albatross Airlines and await there for their flight. Upon looking at a blackboard with information regarding the flight hours to Devil's Bayou, Bernard is dismayed to discover that they've missed their flight by a quarter of an hour. Miss Bianca comforts him by reminding him that flights tend to be late. Moments later, over the intercom, they hear the announcement for flight 13, headed for Devil's Bayou. Bernard is anything but thrilled when he learns that he'll be flying on the flight marked with the dreaded number 13. Orville the albatross attempts to communicate with the control tower, but no one is present to answer his call. Bernard contacts him and with the help of Miss Bianca, gives Orville the required permission to land safely. Miss Bianca watches with excitement as Orville makes his appearance, flying gracefully and then landing face first on the runway. Bernard runs down to greet Orville and asks him if he is hurt. Orville shakes the dust off his feathers and proudly announces that one to be one of his better landings, which does nothing to help Bernard's fear of flying aboard him.
