Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Robin Hood first appeared in legal records in the year 1261. This early reference described a common nickname for a criminal rather than a legendary hero. Subsequent records from 1262 in Berkshire also applied the name to men who had been outlawed.
Joseph Ritson published an enormously influential edition of the Robin Hood ballads in 1795 titled Robin Hood: A collection of all the Ancient Poems Songs and Ballads now extant. This collection included 33 Robin Hood ballads and provided English poets and novelists with a convenient source book. Ritson's interpretation influenced the modern concept of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is Robin Hood and the Monk, which was written after 1450. This text is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48 and contains many elements still associated with the legend. The ballad includes the Nottingham setting and the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff.
By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations. Revellers dressed as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities, and this custom lasted until Elizabethan times in some regions. Henry VIII disguised himself as Robin in January 1510 to surprise Catherine of Aragon.
The 1973 animated Disney film Robin Hood was released in 1973. The title character is portrayed as an anthropomorphic fox voiced by Brian Bedford. Animator Ken Anderson adapted elements from Reynard the Fox to create the Disney character Robin Hood.
The historicity of Robin Hood has been debated for centuries, with the earliest recorded examples of the name appearing in 1261. Between 1261 and 1300, there are at least eight references to Rabunhod in various regions across England. Historians continue to debate whether a real man named Robin Hood ever existed or if the name was simply a stock alias used by thieves.