Customer Reviews

The Wonderful World of Disney: Call It Courage & The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle

5 star:		(5)
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The first story is one of my favorite episodes from the original Wonderful World of Disney anthology series. A great adventure of a young man who suffers a family tragedy and conquers his worst fears. His ability to live off the land when he is stranded on an island is one that folks like us could not duplicate, since he was more prepared than we could ever hope to be due to his being raised in an island village to begin with. Filmed in 1972 on location on the Islands of Bora Bora and Tahiti over 8 months. It was filmed entirely in the local dialect with local actors. There is a soft and simple overlay of English narration to explain the basics. A musical score that is not overpowering, but fitting to the islands and the power of the sea. Totally unlike what you expect from this studio but it was wonderful to see the story come alive. They changed the ending from the book so it actually ends upbeat. On a trivia note, this is one of the few films that was directed by Walt's nephew Roy Disney. This film is worth tracking down, I had taped it from the Disney channel before they stopped showing these old films.

The second story is an older story released on the show in 1968, it is from a theatrical featurette that ran before a main feature. It a very old southwest Native American legend about a Hopi boy that fights against tribal tradition and frees an eagle that is to be sacrificed to the gods. He is thrown out into to the wild to survive alone as his punishment, and he uses lessons learned from the eagle to get by. Also filmed on location.

Both of these stories have a lot of heart, and no silliness. I reccommend.
I highly recommend this video and others in the series. Disney released many other titles from the TV episodes, just search on Amazon under "Wonderful World of Disney".

It was a joyful experience to watch Call It Courage. The movie was pure and awesome. Its black and white and the use of all native cast and simple narrative was one of a kind. It reminds me of the movie 'The gods must be crazy', only purer and more awesome. I did not have a clue what it was when I first watched it on TV. Now I understand why it is so expensive. Too bad Disney is not producing more copies of it anymore.

On this VHS cassette, we have two short films made by Walt Disney
and they are both gems.

"Call It Courage" was made in 1973 and has a running time of 46
minutes. This now abridged film was made for television and was
shown on The Wonderful World of Disney. It tells the story of a
South Seas boy named Mafatu (played by Evan Temarii) who overcomes
his fear of the ocean by sailing his canoe beyond the safety of the
island's barrier reef. This is a story of survival when he is swept
onto a deserted island by a storm and must fend for himself to survive.
The island is occasionally visited by a tribe of headhunters and
cannibals who come there to perform their fiendish ceremonies and this
heightens the fear and tension that Mafatu experiences. Mafatu left
his island home known by everyone to be a coward but finally returns
to a hero's welcome.

"The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle" was made in 1967 and has a
running time of 48 minutes. This short movie had a cinema release
and was used as a supporting feature for the main Disney release.
It tells the sensitive story of Tutuvina, a Hopi Indian boy (played
by Stanford Lomakema) who defied Hopi tradition by saving his pet eagle
from being sacrificed. For his misdeed, Tutuvina is banished from his
tribe and turned out into the arid wasteland where he must fend for
himself or die. With the help of his eagle friend, he finds food and
water and manages to survive. The ending where he returns to his tribe
and is again rejected is touching and very moving. To this day, the
Hopi Indians perform a traditional eagle dance in honour of his memory.

Both films are real life stories free from the constant bombardment of
special effects as in to-day's movies. This makes these stories all the
more believeable and interesting.

Both movies are highly recommended for family viewing and I give them
both a 5 star rating.

I have waited a long time to see if these titles become available on DVD
but to no avail. I therefore decided to hunt them down on VHS cassette
as I knew that they had been available many years ago in that format.
I found that they were still available and both on a single cassette at
Amazon Marketplace as an ex-rental but being rare was rather expensive.
It all comes down to how desperate you are to get something you want.
I obtained a copy and was pleasantly surprised to find that the tape was
in good condition. Both picture and sound were good and clear.

As a child (I'm over 50 now..) I was uplifted by "The Boy and the Eagle", a beautifully made film that adresses such momentous questions as.. social exclusion and persecution for being different. This is a film for all audiences that will grip you from beginning to an end which has its own logic, somewhat difficult to understand for our time, now.
I have never seen the other film, but Armstrong Sperry's BOOK won a Newberry ? Caldecott ? medal for outstanding literature for young (adolescent) audiences.
BOTH stories are ones that will shape, and give guidance, hope, and inspiration to a younger generation which does NOT need to be depressed by its often cynical, despondant elders, at this point.
But... WHEN WILL WE SEE THESE EXCELLENT FILMS ON DVD ?? Maybe after I'm dead, if ever ??

My sister had always loved the second story on this tape. I had hoped to have it on DVD, but she was thrilled to get it for her Christmas present. Well made story of the Hopi tribal custom of the eagle, based on actual custom and filmed on location.