The Journey of Natty Gann

Starring:Meredith Salenger, John Cusack, Jed, Ray Wise, Lainie Kazan, Scatman Crothers, Barry Miller, Verna Bloom, Bruce M. Fischer, John Finnegan, Jack Rader, Matthew Faison, Jordan Pratt, Zachary Ansley, Campbell Lane, Max Trumpower, Doug MacLeod, Gary Chalk, Dwight McFee, Peter Anderson
Director: Jeremy Kagan
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

A sleeper when released in 1985, The Journey of Natty Gann has since become an enduring family classic. While following a familiar Disney formula (the perilous adventures of a girl and her pet wolf), director Jeremy Paul Kagan adds something fresh at every turn, aided by a first-rate cast and beautifully scenic locations. Then-promising newcomer Meredith Salenger is perfect in the title role--a scrappy kid in Depression-era Chicago who travels cross-country to the Pacific Northwest, hoping to find her father (Ray Wise), who had been forced to leave her with an awful landlady while he took a logging job in Washington. Natty befriends the wolf and a fellow drifter (John Cusack, in an early role), and her journey is a memorable one, intense and realistic but still appropriate for kids. Although Salenger's subsequent film career has been modest (she later graduated cum laude from Harvard), Natty Gann remains a worthy claim to fame. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Set in Chicago during the Great Depression, this inspirational story is about a young girl's search for her father after he is forced to suddenly travel west to take a job. Along the way, she is befriended by a young drifter with whom she develops a romantic attachment.

Customer Reviews:

Five stars for the film, but none for this lousy DVD........2007-03-30

A magnificent film, I love it. Very well done in acting, cinematography, story, etc. This DVD is crappy. It is fullscreen and it is not remastered. A total slap in the face of this classic. Please Disney give this film anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 surround sound and couple extras. If they would do that I would buy it. Until then, avoid this disk.

great adventure.......2007-01-20

Great story about a family torn apart in the Great Depression. A pre-teenish girl crosses the country looking for her dad while facing danger and resisting distractions. There is some frivolous swearing. The "haves" are generally shown to be heartless, while the "have-nots" often have the hearts of gold. Overall, a pretty good story and an exciting adventure.

why?.......2007-01-14

John Cusack in this movie looks exactly the same as he does now. Not a bad movie, I enjoyed it as a kid and it's family friendly even tho today's kids might be bored as it is lacking in human eating aliens, sex and graphic violence.

Only got a three because of no commentary and it was lacking in graphic violence ;) The characters are a little shallow and it's not a thinker.

Delightful adventure yarn.......2006-11-01

There's probably not a single thing in this movie that a person over the age of 13 couldn't predict before it's actually shown on the screen, but it's a totally enjoyable movie anyway. Set during the Depression, Meredith Salenger plays a tomboy who runs away from her caretaker in Chicago to find her father (played by Ray Wise) who's gone off to the Pacific Northwest to cut lumber - the only job he could find. Salenger, along with a wolf she befriends, has all kinds of adventures as she rides the rails west in boxcars, the most interesting being meeting up with John Cusack, who is also hoboing on the trains, and who gives her pointers and helps her out. It's sentimental but never corny, and the ending has just the right amount of suspense and good fortune the viewer expects. The photography is stunning. This Disney movie is a winner all around.

A Tale of the Being Lost During the Depression.......2006-09-15

This movie is the tale of a young girl separated from her father by need, and how she tries to find him again. The story will take young Natty Gann into the clutches of the worst of people and the best of people.

Natty Gann (Meredith Salenger, in her first movie role) lives with her father in Chicago. Unfortunately, her father does not have steady employment. Natty tends to run with a group of kids, and is on the verge of getting into trouble. One day Natty's father Sol (nicely played by Ray Wise) gets an opportunity for employment in Washington. Sol tries to find Natty before he leaves, but she is out with her friends. Sol asks Connie (Lainie Kazan) to watch out for Natty until he can send money for a ticket to Washington. Connie soon decides that Natty is too much trouble, and she calls the authorities. Before the authorities can show up, Natty is off to find her father.

The rest of the movie is devoted primarily to Natty's travels. She soon encounters Harry, played by John Cusack. I am usually lukewarm about John Cusack, but I liked him in this movie. Cusack convinced me that he was worldly in spite of being very young. He managed to care without seeming to, which is a difficult trick for any actor. Natty encounters Harry a couple of times on her journey, and the pair begins a budding romance.

Natty also encounters a dog that looks a lot like a wolf. Natty calls him Wolf. Jed, the dog that played Wolf, also played the title role in the movie "White Fang." Wolf is Natty's companion almost to the end of the movie. Wolf manages to get Natty out of trouble several times, and Natty does her best to return the favor.

Natty and Wolf make their way from Chicago to Washington, though Natty is not sure where her father is. Along the way, Natty is placed in a girls' home, a pervert molests her, she rides the rails, gets burned out of a shanty town, resorts to eating garbage, and much more. Natty's journey is a realistic trip through the depression-era United States. Of course the journey is scary, but this movie is a Disney movie so the movie is held to a PG level.

I missed this movie when it was in the theaters in 1985. It seems like I was one of many who missed the movie, because it did poorly. However, this movie has done well on video and DVD because it is a good family movie. While Natty seems plagued by poor judgment and the ability to encounter shady characters, her goal of reuniting with her father is a perfect central theme for a Disney movie. It helps that Meredith Salenger, who was about 15-years-old when she portrayed 12-year-old Natty, had the face and character to fill the role of Natty.

Though this movie has a PG rating, I think it is suitable family fare for all but the littlest of children, who would likely be bored by the movie, unless beautiful Wolf excites them. I have seen this movie several times, and consider it one of my favorites when I am looking for an interesting, uplifting story. I hope you will find it to be a movie that you like too.

Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

Five stars for the film, but none for this lousy DVD.
great adventure
why?
Delightful adventure yarn
A Tale of the Being Lost During the Depression

The Journey of Natty Gann [Region 2]
Starring: Meredith Salenger , John Cusack , Jed , Ray Wise , and Lainie Kazan
Director: Jeremy Kagan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD