Old Yeller Blu-Ray Exclusive
Product ID: 25049089
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desertcart.com: Old Yeller Blu-Ray Exclusive : Movies & TV Review: *Spoilers! – Detailed plot analysis for parents and re-watchers. * - “Old Yeller” is a classic tale about a dog and everyone who loved him. However, the primary plot of a boy becoming a man seems to get lost in the hardest lesson Travis (15yo actor) must experience. The plot begins with Jim leaving his family for 3-4 months. Rather than focus on the adventure of long cow ride, or even on the struggles of a family getting by without the man of the house, the plot is about Travis becoming a man. When Jim is leaving, he tells his son Travis that if he “acts a man’s part,” he will bring him “a man’s horse” that he always wanted. Travis clearly is already adept at farming and hunting and is going to grow up to be a great provider. But what he lacks is empathy, or more specifically, he doesn’t have the ability to view situations from the perspective of others, particularly when his view triggers an emotional reaction. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t love those around him. He loves his family and would do anything for them; anything except that which he doesn’t understand. Travis charged at an angry mother bear armed only with an axe to protect his little brother Arliss (7yo actor), but he continually got frustrated with Arliss and couldn’t empathize with him even when their differences were pointed by Katie (mom). Katie wanted Travis to learn to act like a father. She told Arliss to mind Travis. But she also explained to Travis several things: that father wouldn’t have started a rock fight with Arliss, Arliss needed a dog to play with like Travis had when little, there’s a difference between a young child’s imagination (hunting fish in an underwater cave) and lying, and the difference of a young child not knowing which critters were safe to touch and Travis’s ability to decern a rattle snake from a garter snake. All of these “lessons” were based on Travis’s inability to see things as his little brother saw them. Even when he was forced to understand a little boy was different, his emotional reaction and his evaluation of what to do about it did not change. Travis’s lack of empathy was not limited to his brother. When the dog spooked the donkey and he ended thrown and dragged he got mad at the dog even though chasing rabbits is natural to a dog. Then when birds spooked the donkey and he was thrown again, he couldn’t get mad at the birds, so he got mad at the donkey. When Old Yeller first stole the middling meat, he got mad and went to beat him or run him off the farm. Then his mom explained that it was normal for a hungry dog to steal. He acknowledged this but his hatred was unchanged, and he tried to tempt the dog to steal again so he would have a reason to shoot him. He was oblivious towards Lisbeth’s affections toward him and clumsily offended her a couple times by dismissing her gestures. When Lisbeth said she wouldn’t try to have Old Yeller punished for stealing, he couldn’t understand because that is exactly what he had wanted to do. Once Lisbeth explained why she had compassion for Old Yeller, he began to understand another perspective he hadn’t considered and gave her an arrowhead as a gift. But he still had a lot to learn. I think the best summary for the plot comes from Katie after Old Yeller steals the middling meat. She had just told Travis that Arliss needed a dog, and they are keeping him. She’s told him that he’s overreacting and that it’s natural for a hungry dog to steal, and while Travis’s concern is valid, training the dog is the correct response. The stolen meat needed to be replaced. Her final words in that scene were, “After breakfast you can take to the woods and get us a deer. And Travis, do some thinking about what I said about Arliss and that old yellow dog.” What she is saying is, “I know you can provide, but you have something else to learn.” Learning empathy and understanding others’ perspective, to the point of it being part of your emotional response to a situation and your decisions on how to act, is what the movie “Old Yeller” is all about. Two men that visit the Coates while Jim is gone, Bud Searcy and Burn Sanderson, are key figures in the plot. They represent two extremes of different men a boy could grow up to be. Bud seems to love his daughter Lisbeth (he fondly says she’s just like him, “stout and willing”) but he has no empathy, and he is not a good provider. He seems lazy and a blowhard; negative traits that Travis has already avoided, but he also can’t see situations from the perspective of others. He has his little daughter fetch the water, not realizing the pail is very heavy and too high for the small girl. Both Katie and Travis see this and help Lisbeth with the pail while Bud doesn’t notice. But while it is easy for even Travis to see Bud’s lack of understanding of Lisbeth’s size when delegating, there are other examples of his lack of empathy that are less obvious. At the beginning when Arliss has a snake in his pocket, Katie immediately sees the danger of a young boy playing with snakes, a danger Travis doesn’t see from his perspective of a teenager who can identify dangerous snakes. This inability of Arliss to differentiate dangerous animals nearly kills him when he catches a bear cub. When Bud tells Travis how safe it is to catch boar from a tree, he is only considering the perspective of a very large full-grown adult and doesn’t consider the difference of an adolescent less than half his size. The inability of Travis to lift a full-grown boar nearly kills him when the boar pulls him from the tree. And then there is the way Bud discussed hydrophobee (hydrophobia/rabies). Burn Sanderson is the opposite of Bud. He is the man that Travis should try to become. His hard-working nature is implied, but Travis doesn’t need that lesson. What he needs is a grown man demonstrating empathy and that is exactly what Burn does. In “Old Yeller” the movie keeps repeating similar situations, and a few times nearly the exact same scene. A few are designed to show patterns in Travis’s character, but most are lessons. They demonstrate different approaches to the same situation. A very important example of this is when Burn tries to reclaim his dog. Arliss starts yelling and throwing rocks to defend his dog, just as he did when Travis tried to get Old Yeller out of the drinking water in the beginning. The difference is how Burn responded compared to Travis. Travis threw the first rock (“Father wouldn’t have started a rock fight with Arliss.” -Mom) while Burn quickly gained his composure. Then while both came up with a response to deal with the situation, Travis only considered his perspective while Burn understood exactly what Arliss was thinking and decided to base his actions on that. At first when Burn swaps Old Yeller for a horny toad and a meal, Travis smiles because he doesn’t lose his dog and because of an act of kindness. Later when Burn lets the toad go, Travis starts to further understand how the encounter with Arliss considered a perspective that didn’t occur to him when he faced the same situation and even when his mother spelled it out for him. Burn further demonstrated empathy in the way he discussed hydrophobee with Travis. Burn didn’t want to worry Katie and Arliss but told Travis in private what he needed to know. The value of Burn’s approach became apparent to Travis when he differentiated it from Bud’s approach of telling a horrible story at the worst possible time with no consideration for how it upset those listening. Even Travis could see how Bud’s approach upset his mother and he reassured her the boar were not “mad” while Bud was hopelessly oblivious. When Travis insisted on returning to help Old Yeller even though he was injured, it seems heroic and empathetic. While it is brave and noble, the empathy is simplistic. It is easy to understand a visible injury in someone you love who clearly loves you. However, in the opening scene, Arliss asks Travis a never-ending series of questions about money. At first Travis answers when he can demonstrate what he knows, but when Arliss asks a question he cannot answer, he snaps in a way their parents never would. Contrast that with towards the end Arliss again asks never-ending questions about cows going to heaven. The questions that Travis cannot answer no longer frustrate him and he is patient with Arliss like his mother has been and he even manages Arliss’s behavior while being empathetic, like Katie did when Arliss was pestering her and climbing on her work on the table and in other scenes. What Katie wanted when she told Arliss to mind his brother and told Travis to understand Arliss is just a little boy has finally happened. Travis is now a better big brother and much closer to being ready to be a father. This is a very long review of “Old Yeller” without discussing Old Yeller too much. Obviously, the dog is a central part of this movie. I like to think that while Travis was having difficulty understanding what others understood, life gave him an experience that no one could understand. Initially Arliss loved Old Yeller, mom understood his potential, and Travis hated him because the dog inadvertently interfered with his objective of being the man in charge of keeping the farm and earning his horse. But through a series of events, the dog demonstrated love, loyalty, bravery, skill, and intelligence. By the midpoint of the movie, everyone loved Old Yeller, the movie’s audience included. The loss of Old Yeller is signaled as Travis’s greatest fear several times through the movie. First when he learns Old Yeller is the neighborhood thief, he prophetically fears, “Someone will shoot him!” Then he briefly experiences the loss of Old Yeller when Burn temporarily reclaims him. The loss of Old Yeller becomes a very real threat when the boar injures them both. Travis is willing to do anything to save his dog. But in the end, he loses his dog in the worst possible way. It is something that could be in a children’s film in 1957 but not today. Travis did what needed to be done, but the question remained if he could recover emotionally. Arliss returned to being happy with Old Yeller’s pup, but Travis hadn’t accepted the pup. Katie was happy when Jim returned, but Travis couldn’t be happy. It is understandable that even the return of his father and the gift of the horse he always wanted couldn’t cheer him up, but there was still something he was missing. When Jim admits that you cannot forget Old Yeller, he suggests focusing on the good in the world because if you dwell on the bad, everything becomes bad. Travis was able to see some good in the world all along when it didn’t interfere with his perspective. He enjoyed watching the chipmunks play and the doe and fawn drink. But he couldn’t see the joy of a seven-year-old figuring out life. He was oblivious to value or even fact of a young girl crushing on him. He didn’t see the potential of a new dog with an unfortunate but understandable introduction. But then a scene repeats for a final time. Old Yeller and his pup both stole the middling meat. First Travis scolds Old Yeller and then Katie scolds the pup. Travis grabs a stick while Katie held a ladle. After each dog is scolded, they bark in response. Young Arliss sees both as an attack on his dog and comes to their defense. Travis sees his mother in the same situation he was in and sees his father responding to Arliss. He sees the appropriate response and everything about the situation slowly makes him smile. His father returning couldn’t cheer him up, but a dog he had no interest in made him smile while he was experiencing the greatest sadness of his life. He fully understood everyone’s perspective which previously was impossible for him. He could see more joy in the world now. Lisbeth sees Travis realize his change over a couple seconds and gives him two smiles. She probably realized that he was not just ready to handle kids, but he is ready for a girl now too. “Old Yeller” maybe one of the saddest movies ever made. It is also one of the best coming of age tales. While the bonding with the dog might be great for young kids that are not too sensitive, the lesson Travis learns is great to discuss with teens. This movie is much better than it initially seems and should be watched more than once. It should be noted that while several of the animal scenes are intense, they were filmed safely using professionals and trained animals. The movie has a few references to Natives that are different than we would speak today but should not be too offensive. Other than that, the movie is appropriate for all ages except for possibly the loss of Old Yeller. It will make many viewers cry and maybe too much for sensitive younger children. Review: Annette's Old Yeller Movie Review - This is one of my favorite all-time movies. It is great wholesome family entertainment. You will not be disappointed.
| ASIN | B00SCFCMFG |
| Best Sellers Rank | #124,051 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #36,354 in Blu-ray |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (6,599) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Item model number | Ad-bm11-36975 |
| MPAA rating | G (General Audience) |
| Media Format | Blu-ray |
| Product Dimensions | 0.39 x 0.39 x 0.5 inches; 3.07 ounces |
D**E
*Spoilers! – Detailed plot analysis for parents and re-watchers. *
“Old Yeller” is a classic tale about a dog and everyone who loved him. However, the primary plot of a boy becoming a man seems to get lost in the hardest lesson Travis (15yo actor) must experience. The plot begins with Jim leaving his family for 3-4 months. Rather than focus on the adventure of long cow ride, or even on the struggles of a family getting by without the man of the house, the plot is about Travis becoming a man. When Jim is leaving, he tells his son Travis that if he “acts a man’s part,” he will bring him “a man’s horse” that he always wanted. Travis clearly is already adept at farming and hunting and is going to grow up to be a great provider. But what he lacks is empathy, or more specifically, he doesn’t have the ability to view situations from the perspective of others, particularly when his view triggers an emotional reaction. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t love those around him. He loves his family and would do anything for them; anything except that which he doesn’t understand. Travis charged at an angry mother bear armed only with an axe to protect his little brother Arliss (7yo actor), but he continually got frustrated with Arliss and couldn’t empathize with him even when their differences were pointed by Katie (mom). Katie wanted Travis to learn to act like a father. She told Arliss to mind Travis. But she also explained to Travis several things: that father wouldn’t have started a rock fight with Arliss, Arliss needed a dog to play with like Travis had when little, there’s a difference between a young child’s imagination (hunting fish in an underwater cave) and lying, and the difference of a young child not knowing which critters were safe to touch and Travis’s ability to decern a rattle snake from a garter snake. All of these “lessons” were based on Travis’s inability to see things as his little brother saw them. Even when he was forced to understand a little boy was different, his emotional reaction and his evaluation of what to do about it did not change. Travis’s lack of empathy was not limited to his brother. When the dog spooked the donkey and he ended thrown and dragged he got mad at the dog even though chasing rabbits is natural to a dog. Then when birds spooked the donkey and he was thrown again, he couldn’t get mad at the birds, so he got mad at the donkey. When Old Yeller first stole the middling meat, he got mad and went to beat him or run him off the farm. Then his mom explained that it was normal for a hungry dog to steal. He acknowledged this but his hatred was unchanged, and he tried to tempt the dog to steal again so he would have a reason to shoot him. He was oblivious towards Lisbeth’s affections toward him and clumsily offended her a couple times by dismissing her gestures. When Lisbeth said she wouldn’t try to have Old Yeller punished for stealing, he couldn’t understand because that is exactly what he had wanted to do. Once Lisbeth explained why she had compassion for Old Yeller, he began to understand another perspective he hadn’t considered and gave her an arrowhead as a gift. But he still had a lot to learn. I think the best summary for the plot comes from Katie after Old Yeller steals the middling meat. She had just told Travis that Arliss needed a dog, and they are keeping him. She’s told him that he’s overreacting and that it’s natural for a hungry dog to steal, and while Travis’s concern is valid, training the dog is the correct response. The stolen meat needed to be replaced. Her final words in that scene were, “After breakfast you can take to the woods and get us a deer. And Travis, do some thinking about what I said about Arliss and that old yellow dog.” What she is saying is, “I know you can provide, but you have something else to learn.” Learning empathy and understanding others’ perspective, to the point of it being part of your emotional response to a situation and your decisions on how to act, is what the movie “Old Yeller” is all about. Two men that visit the Coates while Jim is gone, Bud Searcy and Burn Sanderson, are key figures in the plot. They represent two extremes of different men a boy could grow up to be. Bud seems to love his daughter Lisbeth (he fondly says she’s just like him, “stout and willing”) but he has no empathy, and he is not a good provider. He seems lazy and a blowhard; negative traits that Travis has already avoided, but he also can’t see situations from the perspective of others. He has his little daughter fetch the water, not realizing the pail is very heavy and too high for the small girl. Both Katie and Travis see this and help Lisbeth with the pail while Bud doesn’t notice. But while it is easy for even Travis to see Bud’s lack of understanding of Lisbeth’s size when delegating, there are other examples of his lack of empathy that are less obvious. At the beginning when Arliss has a snake in his pocket, Katie immediately sees the danger of a young boy playing with snakes, a danger Travis doesn’t see from his perspective of a teenager who can identify dangerous snakes. This inability of Arliss to differentiate dangerous animals nearly kills him when he catches a bear cub. When Bud tells Travis how safe it is to catch boar from a tree, he is only considering the perspective of a very large full-grown adult and doesn’t consider the difference of an adolescent less than half his size. The inability of Travis to lift a full-grown boar nearly kills him when the boar pulls him from the tree. And then there is the way Bud discussed hydrophobee (hydrophobia/rabies). Burn Sanderson is the opposite of Bud. He is the man that Travis should try to become. His hard-working nature is implied, but Travis doesn’t need that lesson. What he needs is a grown man demonstrating empathy and that is exactly what Burn does. In “Old Yeller” the movie keeps repeating similar situations, and a few times nearly the exact same scene. A few are designed to show patterns in Travis’s character, but most are lessons. They demonstrate different approaches to the same situation. A very important example of this is when Burn tries to reclaim his dog. Arliss starts yelling and throwing rocks to defend his dog, just as he did when Travis tried to get Old Yeller out of the drinking water in the beginning. The difference is how Burn responded compared to Travis. Travis threw the first rock (“Father wouldn’t have started a rock fight with Arliss.” -Mom) while Burn quickly gained his composure. Then while both came up with a response to deal with the situation, Travis only considered his perspective while Burn understood exactly what Arliss was thinking and decided to base his actions on that. At first when Burn swaps Old Yeller for a horny toad and a meal, Travis smiles because he doesn’t lose his dog and because of an act of kindness. Later when Burn lets the toad go, Travis starts to further understand how the encounter with Arliss considered a perspective that didn’t occur to him when he faced the same situation and even when his mother spelled it out for him. Burn further demonstrated empathy in the way he discussed hydrophobee with Travis. Burn didn’t want to worry Katie and Arliss but told Travis in private what he needed to know. The value of Burn’s approach became apparent to Travis when he differentiated it from Bud’s approach of telling a horrible story at the worst possible time with no consideration for how it upset those listening. Even Travis could see how Bud’s approach upset his mother and he reassured her the boar were not “mad” while Bud was hopelessly oblivious. When Travis insisted on returning to help Old Yeller even though he was injured, it seems heroic and empathetic. While it is brave and noble, the empathy is simplistic. It is easy to understand a visible injury in someone you love who clearly loves you. However, in the opening scene, Arliss asks Travis a never-ending series of questions about money. At first Travis answers when he can demonstrate what he knows, but when Arliss asks a question he cannot answer, he snaps in a way their parents never would. Contrast that with towards the end Arliss again asks never-ending questions about cows going to heaven. The questions that Travis cannot answer no longer frustrate him and he is patient with Arliss like his mother has been and he even manages Arliss’s behavior while being empathetic, like Katie did when Arliss was pestering her and climbing on her work on the table and in other scenes. What Katie wanted when she told Arliss to mind his brother and told Travis to understand Arliss is just a little boy has finally happened. Travis is now a better big brother and much closer to being ready to be a father. This is a very long review of “Old Yeller” without discussing Old Yeller too much. Obviously, the dog is a central part of this movie. I like to think that while Travis was having difficulty understanding what others understood, life gave him an experience that no one could understand. Initially Arliss loved Old Yeller, mom understood his potential, and Travis hated him because the dog inadvertently interfered with his objective of being the man in charge of keeping the farm and earning his horse. But through a series of events, the dog demonstrated love, loyalty, bravery, skill, and intelligence. By the midpoint of the movie, everyone loved Old Yeller, the movie’s audience included. The loss of Old Yeller is signaled as Travis’s greatest fear several times through the movie. First when he learns Old Yeller is the neighborhood thief, he prophetically fears, “Someone will shoot him!” Then he briefly experiences the loss of Old Yeller when Burn temporarily reclaims him. The loss of Old Yeller becomes a very real threat when the boar injures them both. Travis is willing to do anything to save his dog. But in the end, he loses his dog in the worst possible way. It is something that could be in a children’s film in 1957 but not today. Travis did what needed to be done, but the question remained if he could recover emotionally. Arliss returned to being happy with Old Yeller’s pup, but Travis hadn’t accepted the pup. Katie was happy when Jim returned, but Travis couldn’t be happy. It is understandable that even the return of his father and the gift of the horse he always wanted couldn’t cheer him up, but there was still something he was missing. When Jim admits that you cannot forget Old Yeller, he suggests focusing on the good in the world because if you dwell on the bad, everything becomes bad. Travis was able to see some good in the world all along when it didn’t interfere with his perspective. He enjoyed watching the chipmunks play and the doe and fawn drink. But he couldn’t see the joy of a seven-year-old figuring out life. He was oblivious to value or even fact of a young girl crushing on him. He didn’t see the potential of a new dog with an unfortunate but understandable introduction. But then a scene repeats for a final time. Old Yeller and his pup both stole the middling meat. First Travis scolds Old Yeller and then Katie scolds the pup. Travis grabs a stick while Katie held a ladle. After each dog is scolded, they bark in response. Young Arliss sees both as an attack on his dog and comes to their defense. Travis sees his mother in the same situation he was in and sees his father responding to Arliss. He sees the appropriate response and everything about the situation slowly makes him smile. His father returning couldn’t cheer him up, but a dog he had no interest in made him smile while he was experiencing the greatest sadness of his life. He fully understood everyone’s perspective which previously was impossible for him. He could see more joy in the world now. Lisbeth sees Travis realize his change over a couple seconds and gives him two smiles. She probably realized that he was not just ready to handle kids, but he is ready for a girl now too. “Old Yeller” maybe one of the saddest movies ever made. It is also one of the best coming of age tales. While the bonding with the dog might be great for young kids that are not too sensitive, the lesson Travis learns is great to discuss with teens. This movie is much better than it initially seems and should be watched more than once. It should be noted that while several of the animal scenes are intense, they were filmed safely using professionals and trained animals. The movie has a few references to Natives that are different than we would speak today but should not be too offensive. Other than that, the movie is appropriate for all ages except for possibly the loss of Old Yeller. It will make many viewers cry and maybe too much for sensitive younger children.
A**L
Annette's Old Yeller Movie Review
This is one of my favorite all-time movies. It is great wholesome family entertainment. You will not be disappointed.
M**F
Best movies ever made ❤️
They don't make movies like this anymore. Saw them when I was a kid and I love them even more now. A joy to watch, I laughed, I cried, A total classic ❤️😊❤️
S**N
This movie is for all ages, young& old.
This movie is a classic. We could watch it over& over. Love this movie!
C**A
Love this
Love this
P**A
As remembered
Great
D**S
A Classic (Walt Disney) Movie And Its Sequel
When I saw this double feature I could not pass up the temptation to see "Old Yeller" again, and "Savage Sam" for the first time since I saw it at the theater. I have just finished watching them, and can state that I have no regrets purchasing this DVD. While I have seen "Old Yeller" many times, it remains fresh and exciting, with all of Walt Disney's little touches to details. Conversely, "Savage Sam" was actually a little better than I remember it being. While "Savage Sam" is a sequel in that several of the characters were central to "Old Yeller," the themes of the two movies are quite different. "Old Yeller" is a wonderful story about boys and dogs; it is a story of caring and love; and it is a story of overcoming the travesties that life throws our way. "Savage Sam" is a tale of life on the "Texas frontier" that has been portrayed many times before. Like the dog, Sam, the characters are now older, wilder, individualistic, less caring, and angrier at the world. While the Comanches--not Apaches as most other reviewers mistakenly refer to them as--along with ONE Apache are not completely stereotypical, they come close to it. I should inject here that I am uncertain why there was an Apache included, as the two Nations are quite distinct and seldom interacted, let alone act in conjunction. While it would be easy to interpret the Comanches as being cruel when they are tossing young Arliss (Kevin Corcoran) around, Travis (Tommy Kirk) is shown explaining to Lisbeth Searcy (Marta Kristen) that "it is their way of having fun." This, and other attempts to partially humanize the Comanches, is why I stated above that "Savage Sam" was a little better than I remember: because as I remembered it, the film depicted the Comanches as completely evil. Hence, I have given the two movies an overall rating of four stars. Individually, "Old Yeller" is a five (plus) star classic that personifies Disney movies at their best; "Savage Sam," on the other hand, is a two or three star movie devoid of the classic Disney nuances. Yet they are both "fun" to watch--especially if one keeps in mind that "Savage Sam" is really a western that plays upon a Texan frontier theme of Comanches "kidnapping" women and children. As such, I would recommend explaining the differences between the two films to children. Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.
S**.
Old Yeller/Savage Sam
Good movies.
P**L
Love The Movie. Really Good To Watch.
D**E
It was wonderful to find a copy of Savage Sam which is hardly ever shown now.A happy transaction and quick delivery.Many many thanks.
A**N
Classic movie
F**O
Per me non si può parlare tanto di sequel, sono due film molto diversi sul piano narrativo perchè ''Old Yeller'' è la storia di quanto importante diventa un cane ladruncolo e combinaguai nella storia di una famiglia momentaneamente priva del capofamiglia (Fess Parker sempre bravo e apprezzabile) che va a vendere i propri capi di bestiame; ''Savage Sam'' è un vero e proprio film western in cui il protagonista è un altro cane fondamentale nell'epilogo felice della vicenda ma gli unici elementi in comune tra i due film sono la narrazione della vita da fattoria di fine '800 negli U.S.A. e gli attori principali che sono presenti appunto in entrambi. Consigliato
U**Y
"Old Yeller" is, simply put, one of the greatest films (and books) ever laid on celluloid. If you're unfamiliar with the story, you don't know what you are missing. "Old Yeller" tells the story of two boys (expertly played by Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran) who stay on their Texas farm with their mother while their father (Fess Parker) goes on a cattle drive. Yeller shows up and gives the elder brother, Travis Coates (Kirk), quite a bit of trouble until the dog proves his worth by saving everyone in the Coates family in one way or another. Of course, the ending of this heartwarming film is perhaps one of the most depressing in cinematic history, and Tommy Kirk handles his emotions onscreen to perfection. "Savage Sam," which is sort of a sequel to "Old Yeller" since it has Travis and little brother Arliss in it, not to mention two other memorable characters (which I'll get to later). In it, Sam is the Coates' new dog and much like Yeller, he's smart, brave, and manages to get into trouble often. Unlike "Old Yeller," which was more of a study in the relationship between a young boy and his dog, "Savage Sam" plays out more like a Western adventure, full of Injun fightin', cowboys, and even a touch of romance. Travis, Arliss, and their friend, Lisbeth Searcy (Marta Kristen of "Lost In Space") are captured by a band of Apache warriors who plan to do who knows what to them. The Coates' uncle Beck (Brian Keith), Mr. Searcy (Jeff York) from the first film, and a gang that includes, among others, Slim Pickens and Dewey Martin, head out to save the kids. Along the way they pick up Sam, who was thought to be dead. Eventually, Sam picks up the kids' trail and he leads our heroes to the three captives. The ending of this film is a lot happier than "Old Yeller," but that ol' yeller dog set the bar so high that most will consider "Savage Sam" inferior to it. That's a fair statement, but there are few films out there that aren't inferior to "Old Yeller." Bud Searcy (Jeff York) almost manages to steal both of these films. His proud, lazy, and "always around about dinner time" character is easily the funniest in the lot. Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran act well beyond their young years should allow in this film. Kirk is especially good at conveying the heartwrenching emotions that he feels as he puts Old Yeller to rest. Beverly Washburn portrays young Lisbeth Searcy in "Old Yeller," but she didn't return for "Savage Sam." No reason is given, but Marta Kristen fills the role nicely and the character gets a considerable amount of screen time in "Sam." The DVD extras are very nice. "Bone Trouble" is a Disney short in which Pluto has a run-in with a neighbor dog over a bone in a mirror funhouse. It's a nice addition to this set. The real gems here are the features on Don Gipson, author of both "Old Yeller" and "Savage Sam." Gipson's son is interviewed on the day that Yeller and Travis are to be enshrined in front of the local library in Mason, TX, where the Gipson clan is from. There's also interviews with the cast in recent years about the making of the film. In it, Dorothy McGuire, Chuck Connors and Jeff York are fondly remembered by the rest of the original cast. There's also an intimate look at the Disney film life of Tommy Kirk. "Old Yeller" is a must-have for any true fan of film and/or Disney. It's a Western tale that rivals "Shane" as one of the greatest Westerns of all time. "Savage Sam" is also a delight to have, and I'm glad it's included on this disk.
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