Old Yeller

1957 "All the heart, all the excitement of a great frontier adventure!"
7.2| 1h24m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 25 December 1957 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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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 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.

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Old Yeller (1957) is now streaming with subscription on Disney+

Director

Robert Stevenson

Production Companies

Walt Disney Productions

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Old Yeller Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
davidallen-84122 This is absolutely one of my favourite movies of all time and I watch it at least twice a year. I first saw it at our magical Civic Theatre,down here in Auckland,N.Z. with my younger brother who was just old enough to appreciate it as much as I did. Two weeks later,we rushed up to our local cinema to see it again. I love every single aspect of "Old Yeller". Dorothy McGuire is so right in her role;very motherly,warm and lovable.She is pivotal to the whole movie and provides the necessary "star" name.The two boys are great and it is nice to see Chuck Connors as a man of integrity,following his scary portrayal in "The Big Country".I know I'll be returning to this classic movie regularly for the rest of my life.
jeffbass-163-626228 Amazing movie on every level. It's fun, adventurous, awful sad, and the dog is incredible. If you buy the latest version you get some great extras. Everybody who was in this movie said it affected them on a very personal level. How could it not? It's Old Yeller and it contains some of the best dog scenes ever. He's a big, amazing and lovable dog. His real name is Spike, and he was rescued from a dog shelter. He was chosen because of the way he responded to humans talking to him. He turned his head sideways like he was trying to understand, which charmed the movie makers. He also was a big strong mastiff/lab mix, so he was powerful yet very smart and train-able. I honestly don't understand how anybody can rate this as mediocre or poor, but there are those who lack heart and base their reviews on all sorts of technical nonsense. I feel sorry for them. This movie has tons of heart, so much that many people simple can't watch it again or they break down sobbing.
jpark4 This is what Disney did best in the 50's and early 60's with their live-action unit-no cynicism, no innuendo, just good family friendly storytelling with high production values and a moral.  It is so refreshing to see this sort of movie, a true family movie, not just a 2 hour fart joke like so many kids movies are today.  I watched this with my 9 year old daughter the other day, and, somewhat surprisingly, she remained completely engaged and enthralled throughout.  I say surprised because so much of what is in the theater and on television for kids these days is just downright lazy, using flash, glitz, and breakneck pacing to distract from the rotten storytelling.  Old Yeller, like most good stories, unfolds at a slower pace, but, because of the great storytelling, production, and acting, the payoff is not delayed, and the movie is satisfying throughout.  It seems that today there is no true "family movie" category in cinema anymore, just sophomoric garbage for the kids, and empty violence, sex, and superficial titillation for everyone else.  That is why it is so great to see movies like Old Yeller, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and other timeless live-action Disney family classics still getting some exposure.
TheUnknown837-1 "Old Yeller" is a prime example of a movie that goes for a sentimental approach but does not overstep itself and condescend into becoming schmaltzy. Sure, most everybody can identify and get involved of the tale about a boy and his dog, but the filmmakers and script-writers have to be conscious enough about what they are doing to pull it off. "Old Yeller" is not a movie that bends down on its knees and pleads for you to like it. It just plays it straight and sweetly and gets the exact effect it wants out of you.In the movie, young but world-conscious Travis Coates (Tommy Kirk) is sad about the passing-away of his previous dog and unwillingly comes upon another companion when a golden retriever comes a-bounding into his life. Travis is initially skeptical of this dog, but is forced to adapt to him when his younger brother wants to adopt him. However, as time goes on, Travis himself becomes more and more attached to the retriever than his brother. And he forms not merely a friendship, but a partnership with this lovable canine, whom he names Old Yeller.There have been many boy-and-dog (or substitute "dog" for any other animal) stories over the years, trying to be "Old Yeller." Some have accomplished it like that wonderful 2000 movie "My Dog Skip." But this incredibly sentimental and heart-warming tale has immortalized itself with its ways of getting the audience involved. I'd be even as daring to say that people who did not growing up with a dog will be undoubtedly moved by this story unless they are a moral-devoid curmudgeon. I won't give away the ending of the movie because of the Internet Movie Database's guidelines, even though I think we all know the way this movie culminates. There's a saying going around that if you did not cry at the end of "Old Yeller" you are either hopelessly lacking a heart or a lousy hypocrite. I mean, how can your heartstrings not be pulled at by the way this movie culminates? Please keep in mind that this review is coming from a 19-year-old college student who re-watched the movie in his early years as an adult, not somebody simply reminiscing about cinema experiences of the past."Old Yeller" aims for sympathy and it gets it. But it does not overplay its motives and storytelling techniques to the point where it becomes schmaltzy and unpleasantly over-sweet. From my personal experience, after having watched "Old Yeller" for the first time since sixth grade, I wanted nothing more than to walk up to my own dog and embrace him lovingly, which I did. Some movies are influential because of a revolutionary factor. Pictures like this work because they tread upon familiar ground, but do it right. "Old Yeller" is one of the best doggone dog movies in the West, East, North, and South. It's a wonderful little tale.