Old Yeller (1957)

A teenage boy grows to love a stray yellow dog while helping his mother and younger brother run their Texas homestead while their father is away on a cattle drive. First thought to be good-for-nothing mutt, Old Yeller is soon beloved by all.

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Fred Gipson (screenplay by), William Tunberg (screenplay by)

Stars:

Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, Tommy Kirk

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dorothy McGuire	...	Katie Coates
Fess Parker	...	Jim Coates
Jeff York	...	Bud Searcy
Chuck Connors	...	Burn Sanderson
Beverly Washburn	...	Lisbeth Searcy
Tommy Kirk	...	Travis Coates
Kevin Corcoran	...	Arliss Coates

Storyline

Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860's. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog. After a series of scrapes involving raccoons, snakes, bears, wild hogs and wolves, Travis grows to love and respect Old Yeller, who comes to have a profound effect on the boy's life.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | rabies | dog movie | 19th century | shooting a dog | 

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Taglines:

Walt Disney's Most Dramatic Motion Picture!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Old Yeller

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$21,909,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene with the wild hogs, Travis hauls up a little hog which is a juvenile. In hunting terminology, this is the designation for young wild hogs aged 10 to 12 months.

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Goofs

The film is set in 1869. However, Travis' gun has a model 1873 Springfield Trapdoor receiver. This rifle fires a cartridge, so Travis has no need for the powder horn around his neck.

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Quotes

Arliss Coates: What's Papa gonna sell our steers for?
Travis Coates: For money, of course.
Arliss Coates: What's money?
Travis Coates: That's what you buy things with.
Arliss Coates: What do you mean by buy things?
Travis Coates: Well when you have money, you give it to people for stuff. They say you can get anything for money.
Arliss Coates: Anything? What's it look like?
Travis Coates: I never seen but one piece. A dollar bill Papa had.
Arliss Coates: What'd Papa buy with his dollar?
Travis Coates: Nothing, it wasn't no good.
[...]

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Alternate Versions

In the 1991 VHS release, part of the "Walt Disney's Studio Film Collection" series, the theme song reprise at the end, about "Young Yeller" is re-recorded with a different vocalist, though Jerome Courtland's singing of the main song in the beginning remains the same.

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Connections

Referenced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Love in the Time of Hydra (2015)

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Soundtracks

Old Yeller
Lyrics by Hazel George (as Gil George)
Music by Oliver Wallace
Sung by Jerome Courtland

User Reviews

A great film

This film has a lot of heart, and there's not a phony performance in the entire movie. Fess Parker and Dorothy McGuire are perfect as the down to earth parents, and Tommy Kirk shines as the oldest son trying to become a man. Jeff York, who played Mike Fink in "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates", is funny as a lazy settler who doesn't do a thing. Even Chuck Connors has a fine cameo as the real owner of Old Yeller who gives the dog up to please a child.

Old Yeller still has the power to make me cry, and I've seen it at least 50 times. It's sentimental and pushes all the right buttons, but I still love it.