Customer Reviews
A tear-jerker that has stood the test of time - By: S. Schofield, 06 Jul 2008 
The plot of this movie is one that has been told time & time again, yet never seems to get old - an animal (in this case a dog) & a boy become friends. In this movie, however, it is told beautifully.
The basic story is:
The father has had to go away, leaving his wife & their two sons to take care of their farm (which they need, as the don't have any money, so they have to grow/rear their own food), which seems to be running well, when a stray dog befriends the younger boy. The older boy wants nothing to do with the dog, but when Old Yeller saves his brother's life, the older boy & Yeller become inseparable.
As the title of this review says, this movie is a real tear-jerker, because of it's tragic ending, which I will not reveal.
Surprisingly good 50 year old kiddies film - By: Keith Joseph, 09 Oct 2006 Old Yeller is a stray yellow dog adopted by two young brothers who feel a bit lonely as dad's away working. This film follows their adventures togetherin the countryside around their farm. When this was filmedin 1957 dogs really did fight (trained) bears under the camera's eye, & the two young boys (and dog) are excellent totally convincing leads. It's a bit like the same era classic 'The incredible journey'in terms of story, action, & colour, but for some odd reason this isn't as well known, despite being at least as good, if not even better.
My 9 year old son really wanted this after watching the 'Old Yeller' song on a Disney sing-along video, & he loved the film (and the song). My daughter (10) also sat glued to it. The story is simple, moral & heartfelt, & is setin a 1860s rural Texas. The film is never overly sentimental or mawkish (unlike Greyfriars Bobby), although it oozes sincerity (probably reflecting the original book). It's not a film the kids watch a lot now they are older, but it's certainly one they remember.
So highly recommended for pre-teen kids (but possibly not for under fives). Personally I actually loved 'old yeller' - perhaps because the autobiographical homesteader book 'Three against the wilderness' (1930s) was a childhood favourite of mine
By the way I wouldn't read too many reviews if you haven't seen the film, as they rather give away the plot & knowing what happens really reduces enjoyment of the filmin my view. I have the Amazon resellers two NTSC disc set of this film which also has an interview with the older `brother' Travis (Tommy Kirk) which was actually very interesting, with him as he is now talking about working as a child for Disneyin it's golden era. This region 2 offering is probably the single DVD with just the film. Old Yeller is also ideal to rent from Amazon now that it is availablein PAL format.
