I find it interesting and a bit frustrating that so many speak of "Old Yeller" as the holly grail of "boy and his dog" films and that "Big Red" as been totally lost in the mix and is now even out of print. I actually don't understand as I personally found "Old Yeller" vastly underrated and I believe that if it wasn't for it's unusually sad ending for a Disney film,it probably would have not been hailed the classic as it is today.After all when you take off the shock ending of "Old Yeller" you are left with a pretty bland film with very little story except ..A boy left to take care of his home with the help of his new dog.. But enough of this and on to "Big Red". This is an absolutely charming little film. It avoids the certain things that makes other Disney 60's flicks age badly so in "Big red" we have no Cheesy theme song a la "Davy Crockett" (Thank goodness for that!) What makes this film work the most is the superb performance by the two main actors Walter Pidgeon and Gilles Payant. The Canadian kid was just natural and charming and it's surprising that it was his first and only film because he outdo in the acting department in a single film most of the Disney kids the studio were spitting out in the 60's.He was likable and the actor presence made us really care for the kid , I was surprise by this because normally in that sort of film the dog end up being more interesting then the kid but this time both the dog and the kid were equally interesting to watch.Talking about the dog , I usually don't think about the trainers when I watch films featuring animals but I had a lot of "How did they make the dog look so natural on screen?" moment , great work done with the dogs in this film. Walter Pidgeon who was a bit of a Walt Disney look alike is really good in this film and I enjoyed the fact that the film was as much about his character and his relationship with the kid then the boy and his relationship with the dog , unlike "Old Yeller" this film as a bit more layer. It's not just about a dog , It's also about a lonely man who lost the will to love until that kid shows up.So it makes this film more accessible then your typical animal film fare , I have friends that cant stand "Dog" films and they really enjoyed this one. The other supporting cast are great as well. The music is very pleasing,I love the main theme and the very short song by the Sherman, again , it was great not to have one of those silly songs. This film felt very short because I wasn't bored once. It is really unfortunate that "Big Red" did not find a public and that now it is a forgotten film but I couldn't recommend more for any fan of Disney live action flick of the past to give this wonderful film a try.
