Incredible Journey: Two Films

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford was one of my favorite books growing up. I recently reread it for book club. It is a neat, well-written, non-gaudy and slender tome that covers the cross-country journey of a lab, bull terrier and Siamese cat to find their family. There are several fine things about the book. One is that the animals are animals; when they leave home, Burnford drops their names--Tao, Bolger, and Luath--so they become the "cat" and the "dogs." Occasionally, they are referred to by their breeds.

They also gain a ruthlessness that is appealing for those of us who don't think animals are humans wrapped in fur. The animals stick together; other than that, they use and abandon humans for their own ends. They also have no trouble treating other animals with the kind of indifference that is usually reserved for lions on Natural Geographic specials. Yet despite the lack of internal dialog, the animals retain very specific personalities.

The 1963 movie also keeps the animals animals. The entire film is narrated. No voices for the pets! In addition, the movie delivers many of the book's adventurous moments: the cat getting nearly drowned, the retriever versus the porcupine (the porcupine wins); the most stressful part of the book when the cat gets chased by the lynx.

The only downside is that the narrator keeps insisting, "By this time, the animals were feeling very hungry. They were emaciated!"

Every time this happened, I looked at the screen and thought, That cat and those dogs could star in pet food commercials.  I've never seen such healthy animals.

All in all, however, the 1963 is accurate to the book with the book's touching ending.

Okay, I have to admit, despite the extreme anthropomorphism, Homeward Bound (1993) is a cute film. It helps that the whole thing is narrated by Michael J. Fox voicing Chance (Bolger's character) who captures nutty, overactive dog nature to the nth degree. He also supplies the emotional arc for the animals, namely the need to bond with his new family.  Don Ameche voices stolid Shadow (Luath) while Tao is now female, renamed Sassy, and voiced by Sally Field. These are three actors who carry personality in their voices.

There are a number of hilarious moments, such as when Jean Smart's character holds the phone to Shadow's ear. He dryly pronounces, I don't understand why they do this, to which Sassy replies, Yeah, I know. Just bark. 

 Of course, these clever "animal" characteristics immediately fall to pieces when the celebrities--oops, I mean, animals--make entirely human references.

"Go get some porridge," Chance tells a bunch of bears, referencing Goldilocks & the Three Bears. He later makes an "Arnold Schwarzen-kitty" reference.

"I have a note!" Sassy argues like a human student when Shadow tells her to swim across the river.

The end of the 1993 film is given to the retriever, not the

bulldog/terrier.

But yup, the near drowning scene is in the movie! It establishes a strong problem near the beginning of the journey--and sets the stage for a great reunion scene.

Speaking of which, the ending is just as tearful and sweet as in the book and 1963 movie.

There's a detective element to the story, specifically in the book and 1963 movie, which I would have liked to see expanded--in fact, it could be interesting to produce the entire story from the point of view of the hunting humans. The detective of the movie would track down the animals by piecing together reports, even put together the forensics of each adventure! ("At this point, the cat was nearly attacked by a far larger animal...")

Hey, I would watch it! But maybe nobody else.