Customer Reviews

The Littlest Horse Thieves

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the sort of quality family fare that will rarely, if ever, be made again. Produced in the mid 70's when 'The Waltons' was popular and America wasn't so afflicted with Attention Deficit Disorder, it earns its place as one of the best in Disney's period piece library. The cinematography is excellent with many colorful landscape panoramas and some choice episodes including a dog racing event in the Yorkshire countryside, visually interesting shots of old-fangled colliery machinery, worklife inside the coal mines, and an honest rendering of family life inside the village homes.

The characters of the story are all cast with competent actors, both child and adult. The films' action derives from the resourceful efforts of the kids to save the colliery ponies whose fate is a grim one in the face of production efficiencies soon to be installed by mine owner Alastair Sim-(played Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol') The film has an innocent charm, although a little dated in both the period of history it covers and its storyline and humor. Even so its charm and quiet drama build to a surprisingly effective climax. There's a sense you've been treated to a unique glimpse of the past with a wide array of period detail providing rich realism. Anyone with patient appreciation for the concerns of children and an interest in the historic difficulties posed by economic/industrial evolution will find a gem in this film. Kids not addicted to video games may also find it enjoyable. Thanks Anchor Bay for a very good transfer to DVD.

The last time I saw this movie was in 1976 at a movie theater. I was 9 years old. This movie has been stuck vividly in my mind since the first and only time I saw it. I have been looking to rent and/or purchase a copy ever since. It is a movie set in (wales?) before the turn of the century. Around the advent of the steam engine. It centers around the lives of the "pit ponies" used to pull coal trolleys in the deep dark mines, and the local children who rally to save them from certain death when the mine owner decides to dispense the "pit ponies" and replace them with steam engines. It is a great story, I think, albiet dark, much in the same way as Oliver Twist. I highly recommend this movie, I can't wait to get my copy in the mail! Thanks to AMAZON for carrying this little known gem!

Its odd how the most underated films can really surprise you. I saw this film for the first time recently, and I regret now not seeing it as a child, I had put off seeing it for such a long time. I did not expect to get too involved about the welfare of a few pit ponies; but honestly the film; inc story; performances and attention to detail are so well done that it almost has a timeless quality about it. Modest as it is; be warned the happy ending only comes with a rather surprising price unexpected for disney in the 70s. Rosemary Anne Sisson,wrote the screenplay also penned 'Ride a Wild Pony' for disney which came out around the same time; also recommended as a companion to this film, hopefully one day that film will be released as well.

This movie was filmed in and around my 77 year old mother's home town of Doncaster, England. Her father was a miner until a mine collapse in the 30's left him permanently disabled. She saw this movie MANY years ago on TV & has been looking for a copy since. She and her sisters used to watch the ponies going down and coming out of the mines. It's a beautiful movie & brings back wonderful memories.

In early 1900s Yorkshire, England, three young children liberate a group of Shetland ponies that are being mistreated in the coal mines and whose reward for all their hard work is the glue factory. One pony in particular, dark-blinded Flash, is especially beloved by the kids. They get the miners behind their cause, and the whole town is turned upside down in the melee. The ending is quite sad, but that's the stuff of which Disney classics are made (Old Yeller, anyone?).

Staci Layne Wilson

I was an adult when I saw this film and not particularly keen on going to a Disney kid flick, but was quite surprised to find it engaging and moving. I've been a horseman most of my life (60 years) and the thought of how those ponys lived below ground, and how they met their end is still hard to take. Horses of all sizes evolved to run in the sun and breathe clean air. What we have done to them over the centuries - well, the SPCA and other protective organizations were born from the maltreatment of horses. To the person who couldn't bear the ending of this movie and gave it one star, I hate to say, but to see the end a horse's life is never easy. I can't tell you how many of mine have been put down when they were too old to go on, had debilitating, incurable diseases, and are buried not far from my house, where they lived happily for many years. The most recent one went down only a few months ago, and it gets harder for me, my wife, our daughters, and our veterinarian, every single time. We do have choices though - don't own animals if you can't bear to part with them at the end of their lives, and don't go to movies that give you a taste of reality. Seal yourself hermetically in a world of your own making, and pretend that tragedies don't exist. I'm not being nasty, the idea of doing this has tempted me too, but death is firmly a part of life. However, we can all do better by horses, care for them, understand them, work with them on their own terms, and treat them well. Thank god the days of the pit pony are gone, along with a lot of other things.

On a more positive note, the music of the Grimethorpe Colliery brass band in this movie was great. They also did the music for a gem of a movie made in 1996 called "Brassed Off." It's about another vanishing species related to the pit pony, the Yorkshire coal miner. Check it out, the story's realistic, the actors solid, and the music terrific. It's about people who just want to work for a fair wage, hold their heads up with pride for a hard job well done. When money, politics, and changing times intervene, like the pit ponys, they don't have many choices. Sad but true. There is a shining moment in the darkness of their dilemma, so you won't walk away totally depressed. The music will stick with you, as will the story.

BEHIND THE SCENES & TRIVIA: This excellent movies theatrical release in the U.S was on March 11, 1977. As released in Europe a year earlier in May 26, 1976 , the title was "Escape From the Dark". The working title originally planned for the film was `The Pit Ponies'. The screenplay was by Rosemary Anne Sisson, who wrote for the "Irish RM" series, as well as other Disney projects including "Ride a Wild Pony". The screenplay was based on a short story by Burt Kennedy. The film is directed by Charles Jarrott, who directed "Mary Queen of Scotts" . He later directed other projects for Disney including "Condorman", and "Last Flight of Noah's Ark". The period music in the film is performed by "The Grimethorpe Colliery Band", composed and conducted by Ron Goodwin. Shot on locations in Yorkshire including Langthwaite Village, Ripley Castle, the Oakley Railways Station, Thorpe-Hesley Colliery, and the Yorkshire moors. The various interiors and the underground mice scenes were all shot on sets at the Pinewood Studios in London. Solid acting and script, the costumes, set design, and equipment are all well chosen for an air of authenticity. Authentic steam engine scene for train buffs. Rated G, running time is 104 minutes, and it was first released on VHS in 1986.

THE STORY: A dramatic period piece set in Yorkshire, England at the turn of the 20th century (1909). The coal mines at the time employed "pit ponies" to pull carts of ore from the mines. This was before any mechanical power was used in the mines. Two local boys work in the pony stables and adore the ponies, naturally. The mines owner, Lord Harrogate, was played to perfection by Alistair Sim (Scrooge in A Christmas Carol - 1951) This was actually the last film Sim appeared in. Harrogate hires Mr. Sandman to help the mine become more profitable. The new manger determines that the ponies are not quick enough. With the announcement that steam powered machines would replace the ponies, elation turns to shock when it is learned the mines intend to send the ponies to the slaughterhouse instead of selling or retiring them. The stable boys and Mr. Sandmans daughter cannot bear to see the ponies killed, and plan to steal the entire herd of ponies and set them free. This film is a serious drama, and not typical Disney fare, but it is OK for children.

This film was filmed entirely in the forbidding Yorkshire moors. It tells the story about the small working ponies that have spent their entire lives down in the coal mines and are about to be sold to the slaughterhouse. Although many famous faces appear, the real star of the show must surely be Flash the pit pony. Wrinkles

I first saw this movie when I was about 40 years old. Thankfully, I was watching it alone because I cried so hard at the end. Whenever I tell someone about the movie, it was so SAD that I could start crying just explaining what the movie was about. It was really good until the end and the ending was so disturbing, I would never watch it again!