Hyperdictionary.com defines the “dog days of summer” as that period between July and September when it’s just too darn hot to do much of anything. Or words to that effect.
Anyway … Given that the above phrase describes the waning days of August 2004 to a T … Well, I thought that now might be a good time to head back into the house & give in to our canine instincts. (I.E. Find a nice, cool, comfortable spot on the couch and sack out). Then — once we’re settled — we can fire up the DVD player and take a look at two recent dog-themed releases for Buena Vista Home Entertainment, “Old Yeller” and “Savage Sam.”
“Old Yeller” (I’m sure) is familiar to all you baby boomers out there. After all, this Walt Disney Productions live action classic has been making dog lovers cry for over 47 years now. The story of the movie (which I’m sure you’re all already familiar with) goes something like this:
The Coates family — which consists of the father, Jim (played by Fess Parker); mother, Katie (Dorothy McGuire); elder son, Travis (Tommy Kirk) and younger sibling, Arliss (Kevin Corcoran) — lives on a remote ranch in Texas in the late 1860s. It’s a rough life with few luxuries. Which is Travis & Arliss are thrilled when a big yellow mongrel dog enters their lives: Old Yeller.
Mother Katie isn’t immediately won over by this mutt. But when Old Yeller saves Arliss from a bear and Travis for a herd of wild pigs, Mrs. Coates changes her tune. This frontier mom is particularly grateful that the big yellow dog is part of the family when Old Yeller protects her from a rabid wolf.
Unfortunately, Old Yeller gets bit by that wolf. And — given that her husband is off somewhere, out in the wilderness — it’s now up to poor Travis to put the family pet out of its misery. I guarantee you that there won’t be a dry eye in the house when Tommy Kirk finally shoulders his rifle and heads out back to do what needs to be done.
Yeah, “Old Yeller” does have some extremely sad moments. But — on a whole — this is a very entertaining & uplifting film. I’d even go so far as to say that “Old Yeller” is actually one of the best live action motion picture that Walt Disney Productions produces during the era when Walt was still running the show.
Which is why I’m pleased to see that Buena Vista Home Entertainment has done such a nice job with the DVD release of this Robert Stevenson film. BVHE has really loaded up this special 2-disc “Vault Disney” edition of “Old Yeller” with lots of extra features. Among these are:
- An audio commentary track for the film featuring Fess Parker, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran as well as Bob Weatherwax, the son of “Old Yeller” (Who’s real name — FYI — was Spike) ‘s original trainer, Rudd Weatherwax. Which every good Nick at Nite fan should know is the man who originally trained Lassie.
Anyway … It’s Kirk who actually does most of the talking on this audio track, with Parker & Corcoran chiming in whenever they can get a word in edgewise. Mr. Weatherwax’s comments are mostly restricted to how they got Spike to perform various tricks during the filming of “Old Yeller.” Which — as you might imagine — involved a lot of learned behaviors as well as hidden food.
- For those of you who didn’t already get your fill of Kirk listening to “Old Yeller” ‘s audio commentary track, you can learn even more about Tommy’s 8 years at Walt Disney Studios by watching “Conversations with Tommy Kirk” — a 14 minute long interview with the actor.
- Or — if you’d just prefer to learn more about how this Disney classic actually came together — I suggest that you watch “Old Yeller: Remembering a Classic.” This 36-minute documentary features appearances by Parker, Kirk, Corcoran, Weatherwax as well T. Beck Gipson, the son of Fred Gipson — the author of the original “Old Yeller” book. It’s actually a nice nostalgic look back on the production.
- But — me personally — I’d have to say that my favorite feature on this 2-disc DVD was the “Ranch of the Golden Oak” featurette. Which offers an in-depth look at the 708-acre facility that the Walt Disney Company owns out in Newhall, CA. Lots of Disney films (Among them “The Parent Trap,” “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and “Pearl Harbor”) as well as non-Disney films (Among them “Back to the Future” and “Independence Day”) have been filmed here over the past 45 years.
There’s one other film that was also shot at Golden Oaks Ranch that you probably should know about … but don’t. And that’s “Old Yeller” ‘s sequel, “Savage Sam.”
“And why isn’t ‘Old Yeller’ ‘s sequel as well known as the original film?,” you ask. That’s a pretty interesting question, actually. A lot of the elements necessary for a successful sequel seem to be in place for this production. By that I mean: Key cast members (I.E. Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran and Jeff York — who played “Old Yeller” ‘s comic relief role, Bud Searcy) agree to reprise their roles. The script for “Savage Sam” was also based on a Fred Gipson novel. And — since the old Coates homestead set was still standing at Golden Oaks Ranch — Disney didn’t have much difficulty in recreating the first film’s primary setting.
But — in spite of having all of this stuff going for it — “Savage Sam” still misfired at the box office. When it was released to theaters in June of 1963, audiences pretty much ignored the picture.
So what went wrong? Some folks suggest that — because moviegoers had had to wait 6 years for an “Old Yeller” sequel — that there wasn’t all that much audience left by the time this motion picture finally debuted. Still others suggest that Walt should shoulder some of the blame here. Given that Disney was actually the guy who opted not to assign “Savage Sam” to the first film’s director, Robert Stevenson. But — instead — fobbed the project off on one of the studio’s lesser helmer, Norman Tokar.
That said, “Savage Sam” is still a pretty entertaining picture. Much more of a straightforward adventure than “Old Yeller,” this film follows the further adventures of Travis & Arliss Coates. Ma & Pa Coates are convienently out of town (visiting relatives, allegedly) as the picture gets underway. Which means the boys have to run the ranch all by themselves in their parents’ absense.
Of course, brothers don’t always get along. And Travis in particular is having trouble controlling his younger sibling. Rather than clearing brush, the young boy would much rather prefer to be chasing after a bobcat with the help of his brand new dog, Savage Sam.
Of course, it’s the chasing of that bobcat that actually starts the Coates brothers down the road down to some wild west adventure. Arliss runs off into the woods with Sam. Travis takes off after his brother with Lisbeth Searcy in tow (played by “Lost in Space” lovely, Marta Kristen). While these three are away from the ranch, they encounter a group of horse-stealing Indians. The Indians then kidnap Arliss, Travis & Lisbeth, with the idea of adopting the younger Coates boy and turning the Searcy girl into a squaw.
Travis? Eventually, he slips away. And — with the help of Savage Sam as well as some of the Coates’ friends & neighbors — eventually rescues Arliss & Lisbeth as part of a daring shoot-’em-up finale.
So — as you can probably see by the above description — you won’t be reaching for the Kleenex while you’re watching “Savage Sam.” Still, you’ll probably get a kick out of seeing all the veteran Disney players who put in appearances in this Norman Tokar film.
“Like who, fer instance?,” you query. For starters, there’s Brian Keith (AKA Uncle Bill from TV’s “Family Affair.” Though Disney fans probably know Keith best from his work in Disney’s 1961 live action release, “The Parent Trap”), Slim Pickens (Veteran western character actor. Though all you sci-fi fans probably know Slim best from his vocal performance as Old Bob in Walt Disney Productions’ gee-I-wish-I-were-“Star-Wars” epic, 1979’s “The Black Hole) as well as Royal Dano (Not a face that most people would know. But Disneyland fans know Dano’s voice intimately. For Royal provided Abe Lincoln’s speaking voice for the original version of “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”). There’s also Jeff York who reprises his role as Bud Searcy, though most Disneyana fans probably know Jeff best from his performance as Mike Fink in that 1956 “Davy Crockett” sequel, “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates.”
Mind you, the above bits of trivia are more than you’ll find on the “Savage Sam” DVD. Buena Vista Home Entertainment — echoing the sentiments of earlier Walt Disney Productions execs (Who thought that this Norman Tokar picture was such a dog that they actually allowed “Savage Sam” to be aired on “The Wonderful World of Color” less than three years after the film’s initial theatrical release) — tossed this picture out on DVD with virtually no bonus features. No audio commentary. No original trailer. No nothing.
Still, I enjoyed watching “Savage Sam.” Why for? Well, there was this remarkable consistancy to all of the live action pictures that Walt Disney Productions churned out during this period in the studio’s history. The films’ mattes (thanks to Peter Ellenshaw) always looked great. The movies’ scores (Thanks to composer Oliver Wallace and music editor Evelyn Kennedy) always sounded terrific. Even these motion pictures’ set decorations (Thanks to the work of Disneyland vet Emil Kuri) had the same great attention to detail. Everyone still at the top of their game back then.
Of course, all of this would change when the 1970s finally rolled around. The Old Mousetro had been gone for quite a while by that point. But the folks at the studio kept cranking those pictures as if Walt were watching. Which is how (I think) Walt Disney Productions eventually lost its way. The people who ran the company back then were so busy looking over their shoulders — trying to remember how exactly Walt used to make these family-friendly films — hat they never even noticed that the audience that used to watch the studio’s films had actually wandered away. That Disney’s old audience was passing up the chance to see movies like “The Shaggy D.A.” and “Hot Lead and Cold Feet” in favor of films like George Lucas’ “Stars Wars” and Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Now “The Shaggy D.A.” THAT was a real dog of a movie. Which we’ll talk about some other time. But — for now — if you’re looking for a nostalgic way to beat the heat, I suggest you pick up a copy of “Old Yeller” and/or “Savage Sam.” Two recent BVHE DVD releases that really do bear out this division’s new slogan: “There’s magic in the memories.”
Your thoughts?