Viewed in
2012
Formats
HDTV w/ ads
Premise
The "classic" tale of a young farmer boy who takes in a stray yellow dog.
Liked
Cute animals.
Disliked
Story.
Hated
Younger brother.
Thoughts
Well, it had a bunch of cute creatures throughout the movie. There was a wide variety of critters inhabiting rural Texas, from rabbits to boars. Frankly, I was amazed by the amount of animal interaction. This was very much pre-CGI, and probably pre-PETA too.
I liked the acting by Tommy Kirk as the main character, Travis. Thanks to him, the famous (and well-spoiled) climax still had some emotional punch.
But I couldn't help but lose interest as the movie progressed, partly due to outdated acting and exposition story-telling. I found the younger brother super-annoying. The writing was pretty shoddy, as basically it was a series of little adventures that "lead" to the final act. I felt misled, as the first scenes seemed to indicate the younger brother was the main character, but in reality, it was Travis, the older brother who we should've been following.
Lastly, it didn't make sense that Travis couldn't handle the loss of Old Yeller. Earlier in the movie, they mentioned that he had a dog when he was younger, so you'd think he would've learned to deal with death at an earlier age.
Obviously Old Yeller was geared for kids, but even my inner child couldn't help but notice the outdated vibe. But maybe it will still entertain today's youngsters, after all, who doesn't like cute little animals?
