Tall Tale (1995)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Jeremiah S. Chechik

Writers (WGA):

Steve Bloom (written by) &
Robert Rodat (written by)

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Western

Tagline:

Sometime the hero ends up being you!

Plot:

A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an...

Plot Keywords:

Tall Tale | Paul Bunyan | Calamity Jane | John Henry | Legend

Cast

Patrick Swayze	...	Pecos Bill
Oliver Platt	...	Paul Bunyan
Roger Aaron Brown	...	John Henry
Nick Stahl	...	Daniel Hackett
Scott Glenn	...	J.P. Stiles
Stephen Lang	...	Jonas Hackett
Jared Harris	...	Head Thug Pug
Catherine O'Hara	...	Calamity Jane
Moira Harris	...	Sarah Hackett
Joe Grifasi	...	Man in Top Hat (as Joseph Grifasi)
John P. Ryan	...	Grub
Scott Wilson	...	Zeb
Bert Kramer	...	Bronson
Eric Lawson	...	Sheriff
Bill Rodgers	...	Captain of Industry
Susan Barnes	...	Hag in Alley
John Nance	...	Doctor
Mike Moroff	...	Bar Room Bully
Richard Zobel	...	Barkeep
Michael J. Kosta	...	Farmer #1
Timothy G. Riley	...	Farmer #2 (as Timothy Glenn Riley)
Darwyn Swalve	...	Lumberjack #1
Jay S. York	...	Lumberjack #2
Kevin Brown	...	Bettor #1
E.B. Myers	...	Bettor #2
James Oscar Lee	...	Spectator
Sal Jenco	...	Big Jim
Michael	...	Widowmaker
Ronnie	...	Widowmaker
Niko	...	Widowmaker
Luke	...	Babe
Bell	...	Babe
Kit	...	Cold Molasses
Kaye	...	Cold Molasses
Violet	...	Hairless Cat
Dudley	...	Dancing Dog
Sampson	...	Himself
Manny	...	Vulture
Moe	...	Vulture
Nick	...	Vulture
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William H. Macy	...	Railroad Magnate (uncredited)
Burgess Meredith	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Sean O'Kane	...	Additional Voice (uncredited)
Kenneth Swartz	...	Store Employee (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeremiah S. Chechik		(as Jeremiah Chechik)

Writing credits (WGA)
Steve Bloom		(written by) (as Steven L. Bloom) &
Robert Rodat		(written by)

Produced by
Bill Badalato	....	executive producer
Roger Birnbaum	....	producer
Joe Roth	....	producer
Kirsten W. Welles	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Randy Edelman

Cinematography by
Janusz Kaminski

Film Editing by
Richard Chew

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
Eugenio Zanetti

Art Direction by
Jim Dultz
Rick Heinrichs

Set Decoration by
Jerie Kelter

Costume Design by
Wayne A. Finkelman		(as Wayne Finkelman)

Makeup Department
Ken Chase	....	makeup artist
Susan Germaine	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Bill Badalato	....	unit production manager
Barbara A. Hall	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lee Cleary	....	first assistant director
Andrew M. Flinn	....	second assistant director: second unit
Thomas Lofaro	....	first assistant director
Ernie F. Orsatti	....	second unit director

Art Department
G. Roger Abell	....	location leadman
Kai Blomberg	....	set dresser
Randy L. Childs	....	propmaker gang boss
Rainer G. Gruetzmacher	....	construction foreman
Karen Higgins	....	construction coordinator
Gary Isbell	....	set dresser
Michael Anthony Jackson	....	storyboard artist
Steven Kissick	....	propmaker foreman
Sherman Labby	....	production illustrator
Robert Lucas	....	lead man
Alicia Maccarone	....	assistant art director
Stacey S. McIntosh	....	construction coordinator
Don Miloyevich	....	property master
Greg Papalia	....	set designer
Jacques Rey	....	illustrator
Glenn H. Roberts	....	on-set dresser
Doug Sieck	....	set dresser
Christian Wintter	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ulrika Akander	....	adr editor
James Ashwill	....	foley mixer
Bill W. Benton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Chau	....	sound designer
Tim Chau	....	supervising sound editor
Ann Ducommun	....	assistant sound editor
Tom Fox	....	utility sound
Albert Gasser	....	sound editor
Robert Janiger	....	sound mixer
Tricia Linklater	....	assistant sound editor
Steve Mann	....	sound effects editor
Bob Newlan	....	sound editor
Fred Peck III	....	foley recordist
George W. Scott	....	boom operator
Hugo Weng	....	dialogue editor
Carmen Flores De Tanis	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)
David Grimaldi	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jan Aaris	....	special effects technician
Everett Burrell	....	special effects crew
Donald Frazee	....	special effects co-coordinator
Terry D. Frazee	....	special effects coordinator
Scott Lingard	....	special effects technician
Hal Miles	....	animatronic supervisor
Brian Tipton	....	special effects rigger: second unit

Visual Effects by
Victor Abbene	....	visual effects: chief lighting technician
Scott E. Anderson	....	visual effects supervisor
Reid Baker	....	visual effects
Craig Barron	....	visual effects supervisor: Matte World
Ron Brinkmann	....	digital artist
Steve Dellerson	....	visual effects coordinator
Krystyna Demkowicz	....	executive in charge of production: Matte World
David Drzewiecki	....	director of photography: green screen
Erik Henry	....	visual effects supervisor
Bryan Hirota	....	cg artist: VIFX
Joel Hladecek	....	motion control camera
Ivo Horvat	....	matte painter: SPI
Adrian Iler	....	senior technical director
Scott Kilburn	....	technical director: SPI
Kelvin Lee	....	animator
Jeff Matakovich	....	visual effects supervisor
Mickey McGovern	....	visual effects producer
Rich McKay	....	camera assistant
Stuart Mintz	....	digital effects artist
Luc G. Nicknair	....	visual effects: Vistavision first assistant camera
Thom Randmaa	....	visual effects
Paul Rivera	....	digital compositor: Matte World
Dennis Rogers	....	first assistant camera
Karl Roth	....	blue screen rig engineer
Chris Russell	....	visual effects
Ira Shain	....	computer graphics supervisor
Edson Williams	....	visual effects supervisor
Deborah Wiltman	....	technical assistant
Susan Zwerman	....	visual effects producer
David Cornelius	....	motion control programmer (uncredited)

Stunts
T.C. Badalato	....	stunts
Jeff Danoff	....	stunts
Tom Elliott	....	stunts
Kurtis Epper	....	stunts
Richard Epper	....	stunts
Andy Gill	....	stunts
Buck McDancer	....	stunts
Bobby McLaughlin	....	stunts
Cliff McLaughlin	....	stunts
Gene McLaughlin	....	stunts
Lee McLaughlin	....	stunts
Doug Metzger	....	stunts
Ernie F. Orsatti	....	stunt coordinator (as Ernie Orsatti)
Noon Orsatti	....	stunts
Jimmy Ortega	....	stunts
Rex Pierson	....	stunts
Pat Romano	....	stunts
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts
Ben Scott	....	stunts
John-Clay Scott	....	stunts
Monty L. Simons	....	stunts
Eddie Yansick	....	stunts
Tim Werner	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marek Bojsza	....	electrician
Michael Condro	....	first assistant camera
Mitch Dubin	....	camera operator
Michael S. Endler	....	first assistant camera: 65 mm camera
Mauro Fiore	....	chief lighting technician
Jim Gordon	....	grip
Melinda Sue Gordon	....	still photographer
Alex Jachno	....	electrician
Mansur Johnson	....	grip
Jim Kwiatkowski	....	key grip (as James R. Kwiatkowski)
Brett Mabry	....	best boy: second unit
Kyle T. MacDowell	....	electrician
Mollie S. Mallinger	....	second assistant camera
Michael A. Mendez	....	rigging grip
Michael Douglas Middleton	....	still photographer: Sony Imageworks Publicity
Ivan H. Migel	....	key rigging grip
Ralph Scherer	....	grip
Raymond Stella	....	camera operator
Rick Fee	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Animation Department
Kelvin Lee	....	animator

Casting Department
Shirley Fulton Crumley	....	location casting
Matthew Messinger	....	casting: New York (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Debbie Travis	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Dale E. Grahn	....	color timer
Axel Hubert	....	additional film editor
Theresa Repola Mohammed	....	negative cutter
Joan Sobel	....	assistant editor
Theo Waddell	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Elton Ahi	....	score mixer
Elton Ahi	....	score recordist
Mark McKenzie	....	orchestrator
Greig McRitchie	....	orchestrator
Michael T. Ryan	....	music editor
Joseph R. Thygesen	....	assistant music editor

Transportation Department
Robert E. Dingle	....	driver
Gregory Dultz	....	driver
Gary Shephard	....	transportation coordinator
Larry Shephard	....	transportation coordinator
Paul Veluzat	....	driver

Other crew
Billy Badalato	....	assistant location manager
Paula Barrett-Barbier	....	script supervisor (as Paula Barrett)
Ned Dowd	....	head of production: Caravan Pictures
Jay K. Fishburn	....	wrangler boss
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Beverly Jusi	....	assistant accountant (as Beverly Meade)
Steve Knisely	....	location manager
Bruce Lawhead	....	location manager
Billy Pittard	....	title designer (as Pittard Sullivan Fitzgerald)
James A. Prine	....	wrangler
Fess Reynolds	....	animal trainer
Paul 'Sled' Reynolds	....	animal trainer (as Slad Reynolds)
DeAnne Zarkowski	....	animal trainer (as De Ann Zarkowski)
Tom Lent	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Daniel Veluzat	....	location liaison (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Caravan Pictures
• Walt Disney Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures (1995) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1998) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)

Special Effects

• Matte World Digital
• Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI)
• Video Image

Other Companies

• Skywalker Sound  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:All | Iceland:LH | USA:PG | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Barstow, California, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: Babe the Blue Ox is referred to with feminine terms. This is wrong. Babe is not a female. He can't be, because an ox is a neutered male bovine.

Quotes:

Pecos Bill: Not as hot as the summer of '88 when the chickens laid fried eggs and the babies cried sawdust.
Paul Bunyan: Does this story have a point or does it go on and on and on like this stinkin' desert?

In the flavor of true Tall Tales

Unlike the prior poster, I loved this movie. It is a great family movie that is based on the Tall Tales that many of us learned in literature classes. If you know who Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, or John Henry are, you will find those heroes here. If you don't, what better way to learn about some of American histories classic Tall Tale characters that once put a sense of pride in being American. It was obvious that they took the time to find very fitting actor for each role. The script was written to make it a definite family movie suitable for any family. When the movie ends, you feel satisfied that you saw a good movie and not left with an "oily" feeling like you were just slimed like many of the movies do today. The story is that of a boy and his family about to lose their farm to a railroad tycoon in the early 1900s, something that did happen back then. The American Tall Tale characters are brought in one at a time to help the boy through the situation and teach him the way of being a man, with respect.