I just watched Disney's The Incredible Journey for the first time. I feel like I've read the book but it was so long ago that I can't remember it and I've been a fan of the remake for years so I thought a watch of the original was in order.
The Incredible Journey tells the story of young Labrador Retriever Luath, elderly Bull Terrier Bodger and talkative Siamese cat Tao. The animals are living with a family friend as their own humans have gone to England temporarily for the father to complete a visiting fellowship at Oxford.
One day their foster owner leaves for the open of the duck hunting season on the understanding that the housekeeper will keep an eye on the animals. This is not to be as Luath spots some geese flying home overhead which awakens his own instincts to return home. With some persuasion the others follow - getting into several scrapes along the way including bears, porcupines, a deadly river and a lynx. Bodger being elderly struggles along the way and nearly doesn't make it but eventually all three animals make it home after more than three weeks of travel.
The human acting and scriptwork left a lot to be desired but the narrator Rex Allen had a wonderful, smooth voice that was easy to understand and listen to. The animal actors on the other hand were fantastic, so well-trained and none of them appeared unhappy. There was just one thing they forgot to keep an eye on... Bodger is referred to as a male dog but for 80% of the film at a rough estimate he was portrayed by a female dog.
Overall 3/5 stars for The Incredible Journey.
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey is the flashier remake also by Disney following Chance the rambunctious American Bulldog, elderly Shadow the Golden Retriever and Sassy the Himalayan cat. Their story begins when the family temporarily relocate to San Francisco and leave the pets at a ranch. Shadow, the old, wise one misses his boy Peter and thinks something must be wrong which sets of a strong homing instinct and he persuades the others to leave with him.
From there the base plot is much the same as the original but the action is livened up with the animals being given voices and Chance narrating the overall action. The general acting quality is much improved as well. The switch to having the leader being the eldest was a wise decision because it was always stretching believability in my opinion having the eldest being a follower, would that pack loyalty go far enough to follow without question? Whereas Shadow being the old leader he has the mindset to push through the pain. I also really loved the scene where Shadow falls in the hole because it does put everything in jeopardy and you don't know the definite outcome until the very last minute.
4/5 stars for Homeward Bound.
Stef Out x
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