Film Review: The Incredible Journey vs Homeward Bound

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

Film Review: The Greatest Showman

The story of circus ringmaster PT Barnum's early career and his journey from poor boy on the streets to 'The Greatest Showman'.

Before the film even starts and the producer logos are showing you get the chorus opening to 'The Greatest Show' alongside synchronised foot stomping. This opens into a magnificent group performance before the camera zeroes in on Hugh Jackman as PT Barnum before the scene fades to reveal a young boy looking at a ringmaster's outfit in a shop window before the camera pans down to show the open flap of the boy's shoe before his stern father calls him away.

This opening perfectly sets the scene for the story to come. A true rags to riches tale with genuine romance and a brilliant cast of characters. The soundtrack is perfectly matched too and no song feels out of place, every one moves the action forward or aids characterisation and will be a must buy for me. Personal favourites are 'The Greatest Show' and 'This Is Me'. Keala Settle's voice is absolutely stunning and her performance as The Bearded Lady is fantastic for only her third official acting credit, I foresee great things for her future. It would appear most of the supporting cast have very limited acting experience yet all were so impressive. I was also stunned to read on IMDB that Zendaya (Anne) did all of her own trapeze stunts, watching her sequences I was sure that it was a stunt double!

I also loved the fact that Barnum is a grey character. The relationship he has with his upper class born wife and daughters is brilliant to watch and while he has given the 'oddities' a chance he also easily forgets them when something shinier - Jenny Lind, the only cast member not to do their own singing - comes along. He also fakes some of the acts and I wonder how fair their wages were but it all comes good in the end and they become a true family. There's also a humorous rivalry between Barnum and a newspaper reporter.

It's also interesting to note that the descendant of Barnum's circus the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced in January 2017 that their doors were closing forever, due to decreased attendance and protests by animal rights activists. Their last shows were in May 2017. I also recently watched a David Attenborough documentary about Jumbo the elephant who was purchased by Barnum's circus, a move that led to his eventual death in a train accident while on tour. Jumbo was cited by Barnum to be the largest elephant in the world, a claim which owing to wild elephants being impossible to measure was unlikely to be true. However the documentary did state that Jumbo was large for his age and was far from fully grown. His life did not sound pleasant though, a diet of sweets leading to toothache which was dulled with copious amounts of whiskey, which was also used to calm his notorious rages, likely stemming from musth, the surge of hormones in male elephants. For anyone interested Attenborough and the Giant Elephant is available on BBC iPlayer. And probably other avenues...

5/5 stars

Stef Out x