Customer Reviews

So Dear to My Heart [VHS]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"So Dear To My Heart" is a lesser-known Disney film released 3 years after "Song Of The South". It's one of Walt's loveliest films, with several scenes combining live-action with animation, just like the previous film. What I love and remember most about the film is Burl Ives and his singing voice. His songs here include the Oscar-nominated "Lavender Blue" and his duet with Beulah Bondi "Billy Boy". Bobby Driscoll (Jeremiah) is now close to being my favorite child actor of the past. This film, along with "Treasure Island", showed him real talent. Walt Disney discovered him and Luana Patten in the '40s, and they starred together in "Song Of The South" and this film. They were the first child actors put under contract at Walt Disney's studio. Interesting bit of trivia for film history buffs, huh? Anyway, I think "So Dear To My Heart" should be more widely seen by Disney film buffs.

Even among Disney films there are few that absolutely everyone in the family can watch without provisos of some kind. This movie is one of those. Fans of classic film stars will find this charming family film to be filled with several actors in the prime of their lives.

Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll, who voiced Peter Pan in the animated Disney movie, as well as appearing in "Treasure Island" and "Pecos Bill" and numerous other films as a child star) lives with his Grandma Kincaid (Academy Award and Emmy winner Beulah Bondi). Jeremiah's best friend seems to be Tildy (Luana Patten, who also appeared in "Pecos Bill," "Johnny Tremain" and numerous other films). Another important character in this movie is Jeremiah's Uncle Hiram (Burl Ives), who sings the Academy Award nominated song "Lavender Blue" in this film.

Jeremiah sees a beautiful and famous race horse near the beginning of the movie. Since Jeremiah and his grandmother are poor, owning such a horse is impossible. Jeremiah soon finds a lamb with black wool that is one of a pair of twins. The lamb's mother has pushed the lamb away in favor of the white-wool twin. Jeremiah decides to raise the lamb, in spite of his grandmother's misgivings.

Given that this is a Disney movie, we know that mayhem must ensue at some point. As the lamb grows older it becomes destructive, ripping our door screens, blasting through fences, and destroying furniture. Worse, the lamb does this in town as well as at home.

Jeremiah decides that his lamb is a champion, and wants to enter him in the county fair. To travel to the fair and enter the lamb, Jeremiah needs more money than either his grandmother or Uncle Hiram have. Jeremiah begins picking sassafras and selling it to the local storekeeper (Raymond Bond). However, Jeremiah is not earning money quickly enough. After overhearing a customer looking for wild honey, Jeremiah decides to find a honey tree. Tildy accompanies Jeremiah into the swamp to locate the honey tree, which earns Jeremiah enough money to get into the county fair.

The end of this movie is clever and heart-warming, and avoids being overly predictable. I have watched this movie several times and plan to enjoy it again in the future.

There are several other characters in this movie that I must mention. Harry Carey, Sr., father of Harry Carey, Jr., plays a judge at the county fair in his last role in a career that began in 1909. This movie also marked the end of Walter Soderling's career, a career that included more than 130 film appearances. I have already mentioned Burl Ives, but have yet to note that this movie was one of his first film appearances.

Even though this Disney film was the first Disney film featuring live performers to be shown on television, in 1954, Disney retained animation in this film. Throughout the movie are animated interludes where we meet several animated characters, including an animated lamb. These scenes are clever and foreshadow the style of Disney's animation in the various incarnations of the "Wonderful World of Disney" television show.

This movie takes place around the beginning of the previous century. The style and feel of the era is captured nicely in this wonderful family film that is suitable for children of all ages. The times may be different, but children will always be children, and Jeremiah and Tildy are two children that any parent would love to have in their family. Enjoy!

We borrowed this from the library. Although it has cartoon sequences with live action I think that this movie appeals more to the older child and adults. The scenery is beautiful. The cartoons are great with wonderful songs. The actors are great also. Burl Ives does a wonderful job as Uncle Hiram. His natural, effortless, singing ability jumps up through out the film.
The story is about a young boy being raised by his grandmother in the early 1900's. His dreams of owning a champion race horse change when a black lamb is born and is not accepted by its mother. Jeremiah soon falls in love with the lamb and dreams of taking him to the state fair. Without any extra money for train fare Jeremiah must raise money to pay his way.
Strong emphasis placed on faith in God and doing the best with what you got.

Reissued only once theatrically since its December 1948 release, this neglected film richly deserves to be counted among the Disney classics.
A personal favorite of Walt himself, it supplies a nostalgic look back at a byegone era, and contains much of value to recommend it for viewing by families... together. I was 13 when I first saw it on a warm Friday evening in May 1949 at a tiny theater in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale, where I'd recently moved with my parents. I'd been slow to make friends there, and two neighborhood boys whom I knew only slightly invited me to see it with them. By the end of the evening we'd become friends, and I at last felt accepted as a part of the community.
I can recall the effect that movie had on me in that it caused me to realize how time was passing in my life, and that someday I, too, might be paging through an old scrapbook in a dusty attic reliving some cherished childhood memory preserved there.
Bobby Driscoll, my favorite child actor by far, shines as young Jeremiah Kinkaid (he would go on to win a special Oscar for his performance in this film and in RKO's THE WINDOW, released in 1949). In fact, the entire cast is superb. I'm so glad that Disney has finally issued this wonderful title on DVD while I am still around to enjoy it. Now please do the same with SONG OF THE SOUTH!!

The second movie made by Walt Disney that employed live actors, SO DEAR TO MY HEART was released in 1949 with the same two child stars used in SONG OF THE SOUTH. SO DEAR was reportedly one of Walt Disney's favorites because it reminded him of his childhood home in Missouri.

SO DEAR TO MY HEART was shown on television during the first season of Walt Disney's television program in 1954, then again in 1957, and was released theatrically in the early 1960s. It was shown on television once more in 1992. The movie was released on VHS, but never in the United States on DVD. No less an authority than Leonard Maltin, the movie critic and Disney historian, has said that the Disney Company has no plans to release it on DVD in this country because it is politically incorrect, in spite of his efforts to convince them otherwise.

An Asian import DVD is easily found for sale on eBay and other sites, but is of poor video quality, is clearly not restored, and contains a menu with Chinese characters. Burl Ives' name is also misspelled on the case insert. It was released in the United Kingdom, but if found, won't play on standard DVD players sold in the United States. Finally, SO DEAR TO MY HEART has been released in Brazil in a format that will play on North American DVD players. It is almost impossible to find in the US so grab this copy. The audio and video quality of the restoration by Disney is excellent and there is a superb 20 minute extra that shows how the film was made.

The child stars, Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, were the first two contract actors signed by Walt Disney. Luana Patten was again seen in Disney's JOHNNY TREMAINE (1957) and FOLLOW ME BOYS (1966). She also had numerous guest appearances on television. Luana Patten died in 1996 at age 57.

Bobby Driscoll starred in TREASURE ISLAND (1950) and was the voice of Peter Pan (1953). He won an Academy Award for Best Juvenile Actor (1949) for the RKO release THE WINDOW and for SO DEAR TO MY HEART. After he left Disney he continued acting, mostly on television, but his life took a tragic turn as a teenager when he began using drugs. He died destitute at age 31 in 1968 in New York City. Initially unrecognized, he was buried in Potter's Field. Though he was identified by fingerprints over a year later, he remains there still.

At the time of this review, there is only one copy remaining from this vendor. Buy it!

This movie is one of the long forgotten Disney classics that have gotten far less star treatment that it deserves. It should go on record that I think that this movie is one of the best yet least known movies Disney has ever made.

It's about a boy named Jeremiah Kincaid who dreams of owning a champion race horse, but soon tosses away that dream when he falls in love with a little black lamb named Danny.
Danny is the most mischievous lamb ever who drives Jerry's granny to near distraction, but Danny makes up for it all when he wins the special prize at the county fair.

If you are looking for a good, clean movie to show your kids, this is the one. The kids are respectful to their elders, there is no hard language, and this movie is very heartwarming indeed. I promise you, if you see this movie, you won't regret it. It's an all time classic!

The most moral Disney film out. Speaks of the things that our Grandparents knew, faith in God respecting your elders, doing the best with what you the Good Lord gave you; placing the things of the spirit before the things of the fleash. A very heart warming innocent movie. They don't make them this way any more.

This movie is worth owning for Burl Ives performance alone -- what a wonderful, gentle, talented man. But the story also captivates my young son and helps teach him about some of the values needed in life: perseverance, faith, obedience. And it's fun! (Also check out Balto. One of our family's favorites.)

If you love Song of The South, you'll probably like this one almost as much. It stars the same boy, Bobby Driscoll, and has animated sequences. The cartoons aren't as funny as Uncle Remus's tales, but the rest of the story is better. The little boy raises a black lamb to enter at the fair. The lamb gets into a lot of mischief, and the boy learns some valuable lessons. Great performances by Beulah Bondi, Burl Ives, and Harry Carey help make this a memorable family classic. Great technicolor too!

"So Dear To My Heart" is a lesser-known Disney film released 3 years after "Song Of The South". It's one of Walt's loveliest films, with several scenes combining live-action with animation, just like the previous film. What I love and remember most about the film is Burl Ives and his singing voice. His songs here include the Oscar-nominated "Lavender Blue" and his duet with Beulah Bondi "Billy Boy". Bobby Driscoll (Jeremiah) is now close to being my favorite child actor of the past. This film, along with "Treasure Island", showed him real talent. Walt Disney discovered him and Luana Patten in the '40s, and they starred together in "Song Of The South" and this film. They were the first child actors put under contract at Walt Disney's studio. Interesting bit of trivia for film history buffs, huh? Anyway, I think "So Dear To My Heart" should be more widely seen by Disney film buffs.