Customer Reviews

Daniel Boone, Volume One: The Warrior's Path

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an episode from the TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC in 1961. It includes the original opening comments from Walt Disney, and was part of a 4 episode story about Daniel Boone, starring Dewey Martin. The episodes in order are: The Warrior's Path; And Chase the Buffalo; The Wilderness Road; The Promised Land. Disney regular Kevin Corcoran appears in the last 3 episodes. Slim Pickens is in the last 2 episodes.
This 4 episode story arc aired about 6 years after the 1954-55 success of the Davey Crockett episodes that made Fess parker a household name. This version of Daniel Boone is not to be confused with the long running Daniel Boone series created by 20th Century Fox, starring Fess Parker, premiering in September 1964 and running for the next 6 years and a total of 165 episodes. There are 6 seasons of that later show on DVD.

It is tempting to draw comparisons between the two shows, but it is like apples and oranges. The Disney Studios version of Boone was a quick 4 part story, almost a mini-series whose budget was squeezed as a minor part of a very expensive anthology show, that might have dozens of productions a year in different genres and themes. The later show was able to focus its writing, art design, cast including the by then expensive Fess Parker, sets and locations, and everything else that goes into a production with a long term goal of a regular series, and the big money that makes that possible. With so many episodes, the vast majority of the material for the Century Fox series was fictionalized, giving much more room to the writers. So for Daniel Boone lovers, the 1964 series was a great long television series, but the Disney version was a decent condensed version of the Boone story.

This first episode has Daniel, a North Carolina farmer, hearing about the "promised land" in Kentucky and the push to go west. Daniel decides to move try and homestead there, by taking a dangerous trail called the Warrior's Path.

I review for what an item is supposed to be, in my opinion. This is a good Disney show for the 1960 standard. It is not a "Classic" film but is fun to watch if you grew up in that time and like many love the Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett tales. If you don't like those then you probably will not care for this. Great to watch with a child or grandchild. Has some singing, quite a bit actually and could probably be called "campy" like Batman of the 60's, but you know, somtimes that's not so bad.

Nice to have Walt Disney's introduction, but the quality of the script and sincerity of the delivery hardly compares with the TV series that starred Fess Parker (and Ed Ames etc). Story tells of a barely-settled Daniel Boone deciding to Go even Wester.