<Tr> <Th> Pages </Th> <Td> 255 pp (first edition) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> OCLC </Th> <Td> 2047816 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Fox and the Hound is a 1967 novel written by American novelist Daniel P. Mannix and illustrated by John Schoenherr . It follows the lives of Tod, a red fox raised by a human for the first year of his life, and Copper, a half - bloodhound dog owned by a local hunter, referred to as the Master . After Tod causes the death of the man's favorite hound, man and dog relentlessly hunt the fox, against the dual backdrops of a changing human world and Tod's normal life in hunting for food, seeking a mate, and defending his territory . As preparation for writing the novel, Mannix studied foxes, both tame and wild, a wide variety of hunting techniques, and the ways hounds appear to track foxes, seeking to ensure his characters acted realistically . </P> <P> The novel won the Dutton Animal Book Award in 1967, which resulted in its publication on September 11 that year by E.P. Dutton . It was a 1967 Reader's Digest Book Club selection and a winner of the Athenaeum Literary Award . It was well received by critics, who praised its detail and Mannix's writing style . Walt Disney Productions purchased the film rights for the novel when it won the Dutton award, though did not begin production on an adaptation until 1977 . Heavily modified from the source material, Disney's The Fox and the Hound was released to theaters in July 1981 and became a box office success . </P>

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