Product Description

Sam is no ordinary dog. He is the son of Yeller, the four-legged hero who won your heart in Walt Disney's classic adventure, OLD YELLER. With his two young masters Travis and Arliss Coates (Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran), gentle Sam faces even greater dangers than Yeller did. From the ferocious attacks of wolves and wildcats to the hostile actions of renegade Indians, Savage Sam presents a heartwarming story of love, devotion, and trust set in the sprawling pioneering days of the untamed West.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45446 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Customer Reviews

Fine, no frills presentation
Disney's "Savage Sam" is an entertaining and authentically staged presentation of the Fred Gipson story. It's presented in square-screen format, but since Disney films of this type were produced with eventual TV airings in mind, the cropping of the image is minimal and no action is lost. The quality of the image is good. It's not a "Vault Disney" piece like the other Gipson story, "Old Yeller," but it's worth having even without bells and whistles.

One thing that didn't age as well as the rest of the film is the title song. Really hokey. But after that's over, the story is told in a no-nonsense style. It dramatizes something Texas settlers contended with for four decades: the abduction of children in an Indian raid.

As befits a family film, "Savage Sam" soft-pedals the realities of such raids. Tommy Kirk's character, a teenage boy, would have been treated more harshly. Torture on the trail and a horrendous death upon arrival at the tribe's base camp would have been his fate. The teenage girl would have been raped right off. But Kevin Corcoran's character, a young child, would have been taken for adoption, just as the film shows, and the Indians' good-humored toleration of his combativeness is right in line with that.

All in all, a serious depiction of a slice of history that few Americans learn about in school anymore.

"SAVAGE SAM" LIVES UP TO "OLD YELLER'S" STANDARDS
The sequel to Disney's family favorite, "Old Yeller" and every bit as good. Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran reprise their roles as frontier brothers, Travis and Arliss Coates. Both mother and father (originally played by Fess Parker and Dorothy McGuire in "Old Yeller") are away visiting McGuire's sick mother and have left oldest son, Travis in charge of things. Travis and Arliss are once again at odds with the old issue "who's in charge?" with Travis trying to get the work done and Arliss wanting to go off hunting with Savage Sam. Brian Keith plays the uncle who comes by to check on how the boys are doing and gives advice to Travis on how to handle Arliss a little better. During the story, Travis, Arliss, and their neighbor's daughter, Lisbeth are taken by Indians. Brian Keith gathers up some neighboring men to go in search of them, which include Lisbeth's father, Bud Searcy (once again played comically well by Jeff York) and Slim Pickens joins the group for a well rounded western adventure. The dvd plays with a clean transfer and good sound. I've not seen the newly released "Old Yeller 2 movie-collection" including "Savage Sam," but I don't think it features "Savage Sam" in the widescreen format either. I highly recommend "Savage Sam" as well as it's predecessor, "Old Yeller." These films will never lose their power to entertain and their appeal and charm are timeless.

**UPDATE!** "Savage Sam" and "Old Yeller" are now avaialble on one DVD disc in Disney's "Old Yeller & Savage Sam - Two Movie Collection." And for a "nice price," too!

excellent
I enjoyed seeing another movie with the two boys and another dog that remind me of old yeller it was a another great movie.