It's 1935 Chicago. Sol Gann (Ray Wise) is struggling to find work. There's a job in Washington state but he has to leave behind his daughter Natty (Meredith Salenger). He leaves her in the care of the bossy Connie who runs the hotel they're living in. The plan is for him to send her money to take a later train. When Natty gets into trouble with the police, Connie tries to leave her to the authorities and she runs away. She rides the rails and rescued by Harry (John Cusack). While at a dog fight, she helps release a wolf. She survives a train wreck and is stranded in the wilderness. She befriends the wolf as the two journey across the land. Sol loses hope when he's told that they found her wallet in the train wreck. On the journey, she joins up with a gang of youth and reconnects with Harry.The only minor complaint is that the girl is suppose to be 12 and Salenger was probably 14 at the time. It's a close call but they may as well make the character 14 anyways. She looks older than 12 and it would also allow for her to be safely in puppy love with Harry. She's too nicely kept for somebody always on the road. It's a nice traditional light sentimental story. Salenger is compelling as the lead and it's a fine doggy movie.

My father wrote this script in 1982 and pitched it to a development executive at Disney. In his version, most of the story was the same, with the difference that the girl who dressed as a boy and rode the boxcars in the 1930s was running away from her father, not to him.I have read the original script my father pitched to Disney and it is virtually the same, just less Disney (no dog, for example).If you check out the screenwriter, Jeanne Rosenberg, you will see she specializes in sequels and adaptations. This was NOT her original work, and I challenge her to claim it was (I have nothing against her - I am confident she was simply given the basic plot and told to write the screenplay, and accuse her of nothing that could be construed as unethical).It was my father's great misfortune to have had this happen in the days when no L.A. lawyer in his/her right mind would sue the Walt Disney Corporation. That has since changed, but 25 years ago it was universally understood that taking Disney to court was an exercise in futility.Check my father out on IMDb: Bert Brown. He's a legitimate producer, not some crackpot with a grudge, and has no idea I am posting this message. I hope someone can put me in touch with Jeanne Rosenberg or the development exec. who headed up this film in order to set the record straight.email: [email protected]

I barely feel qualified to write a comment on this forgotten Disney live-action film from the mid-1980s, since I've only seen it once, and that was back when it first came out. But I do remember liking it, and it's probably worth a re-watch for those who saw it back in the day, and a first watch for those who've never seen it.It's notable for featuring a very young John Cusack, before anyone knew who he was. It seems to me that Disney had a pretty good track record of live action films during that decade ("Never Cry Wolf" is another forgotten one) but that few of them have had any staying power.Grade: B+

I got this movie out for the family, and yes there are unsettling bits in it, vis - the dog fight, the abuse, the orphanage, the tree scene, when you think about it probably the whole film. And why is that? Probably due to the verisimilitude of the film to the times, the grainy nature just added to the realism, the times were tough so lets not sugar coat the experiences of those who went through them. Disney probably made this film by mistake but i'm glad they did. And I just love a story where a wolf gets equal billing in the sensibility stakes, even if it's a dog actor. Good film, good acting, great trains and the U.S. countryside never looked more beautiful. Oh and the DVD did jitter but settled down after clean ?, and it was letterbox for the widescreen so I didn't have to suffer amputation. 10 - 10