Silver Screenings

Sometimes a person needs to spend time with a good ol’ fashioned movie.

The Incredible Journey (1963), from Walt Disney Productions, is such a flick. It’s a ludicrous yarn about three pets who travel 480 km (300 miles) across the Ontario wilderness to their home.

It’s quite a trek, made all the more difficult by their avoidance of populated areas. You see, the pets feel they must go directly through the treacherous wilderness, which includes a formidable mountain range, an angry mama bear, and a take-no-prisoners porcupine.

The animals in question (a golden retriever, an aged bull terrier, and a Siamese cat) are the best of pals, which is crucial when making a Perilous Journey.

The pets themselves make their home in rural part of Ontario, but in a place far more civilized than the wilderness. They enjoy a happy life, with a happy family, until the dad is offered a temporary job elsewhere. Fortunately, they have a bachelor friend who offers to take the pets until the family returns to Canada.

Things are good, at first. But, alas, a series of complications arise when the bachelor friend leaves on a hunting trip.

You see, the movie tells us it’s Fall, the time of year when birds migrate south and bachelors go hunting. This is not lost on our pets, who feel they’ve been away from home long enough. It’s time they embark on their own migration.

The trouble with this autumnal premise is the environment can’t make up its mind which season it is.

The narration for this film (ably provided by that old Disney narration standby, Rex Allen) is, at times, beautifully poetic. He describes the Canadian landscape: “A biting edge of cold could be felt in the air. Before many more days, the river’s voice would be still, and this land frozen under winter snows.”

There is indeed snow in the mountains, and ice is already forming on the water’s edge. You can almost feel winter itself trekking across the jagged peaks.

These conditions are to be expected during a Canadian autumn, even though trees may still display leaves of stunning colour. Aerial footage during the opening credits, for example, shows us breathtaking fall foliage of Ontario’s Muskoka region.

Yet, most of the scenes in this film take place in a summer landscape. The grass and leaves are a brilliant green, and two bear cubs (see above photo) seem too young for this time of year. But, we are not a natural scientist, so we’ll leave that to those who are.

Even so, do filmmakers think we’re not going to notice this sleight of hand? Do they think audiences can’t tell the difference between summer and fall?

Ah well. We’ll let it slide because this is truly an enjoyable film, with moments of real tension and stunning scenery.

The real stars of this film, we think, are the five “animal supervisors” who trained the animals to perform some astonishing feats. One of the supervisors was William R. Koehler, who wrote a number of books on training dogs, and his Koehler Method of Dog Training is still operating today.

The Incredible Journey is adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Scottish-born author Sheila Burnham. She served as an ambulance driver in WWII and migrated to Ontario in 1951, where she lived an adventurous life.

In 1963, Burnham’s novel won awards from both the Canadian and American Library Associations, but it did not become a bestseller until Disney bought the film rights.

We recommend this family classic; however, we must warn you that animals were likely harmed in the making of this film.

Have you seen this movie or its remake, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)? What are your thoughts on pet-vs-wilderness movies?

The Incredible Journey starring Emile Genest, John Drainie, Rex Allen (narration). Directed by Fletcher Markle Written by James Algar Walt Disney Productions, 1963, Technicolor, 80 mins.