When I saw this movie in the theater the audience spontaneously burst into applause. It was not in Hollywood. It was not in a city where appreciation of film achievement was typically a thing. But the people who saw the film were moved. I was moved. I love great movies and fancy myself a bit of a connoisseur, but this is one of my favorites even though it is not on the critics' radar.

Unforgettably undeniably Disney movie set in the 1930s, in which a 14-year-old girl (first lead major starring role of actress Meredith Salenger) travels across the country in search for her father (Ray Wise) who is 2,000 miles away, because there was work there . With the help of a wolf (stunningly portrayed by a dog called Jed) and a drifter (John Cusack) she goes out to the dangerous adventure . Gripped Chicago and along the way she is befriended by a half-breed dog she calls Wolf and other sympathetic characters . As she joins a roguish gang of young people (Grant Heslov , Barry Miller , among others) until she is detained at a reform school . Meantime , Natty gann has a series of misfortunes and mis- adventures in several farmhouses, orphanage , dog-fighting cages , police stations, and hobo camps . With innocence behind her and danger ahead, only courage and love were on her side . This is a journey that made the impossible come true . A touching and warming film about a tomboyish girl who runs away from her guardian to join her daddy who has gone to Washington state and only love, hope and courage can help her find him. A top-notch Disney-Silver Screen Partners representation of life during the Great Depression in which a girl runs thousand miles of danger separate her from her father. There's a return of the old values of Disney studio with this stirring tale of a brave teen who tough as any boy runs away from Depression until Washington state . Remaing cast is excellent as John Cusack as a young drifter for whom she feels the first moving of love . Support cast is pretty good such as Ray Wise , Scatman Crothers , Lainie Kazan , Verna Bloom , Barry Miller , Bruce Fisher , Ian Tracey and Grant Heslov . It packs a colorful and evocative cinematography by Dick Bush . The film got Oscar nominated in the Best Costume Design category for costume designer Albert Wolsky but lost out to Emi Wada for Akira Kurosawa's Ran . Special mention for the marvelous musical score by the great James Horner , he composes a a sentitive and emotive soundtrack . Although he replaced Elmer Bernstein as the film's music composer .Director Jeremy Paul Kagan conjures up an attractive , unfailing sense of period in creating one of the best family films the Disney company had resulted out in decades . Kagan is a fine craftsmas who has directed various films of all kinds of genres as ¨Color of Justice¨, ¨Conspiracy : the trial of the Chicago 8¨ , ¨ Descending Angel¨, ¨Courage¨ , ¨The sting 2¨, ¨Bobbie's girl¨, ¨Roswell Ufo Cover-up¨, being his greatest hits the followings : ¨The big Fix¨, ¨Heroes¨ and ¨The chosen¨.

I first learned of "The Journey of Natty Gann" in kindergarten when a video that I watched featured an ad for it. In fifth grade, the teacher showed the class another video that featured an ad for this movie, and she mentioned that it starred a young John Cusack. I've finally seen the movie. Like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Matinee", it uses a child's eyes to focus on surrounding events. In this case it's the Great Depression witnessed by a tough but kind-hearted girl venturing from Chicago to Seattle in search of her father. Even though this is a Disney movie, there are some intense scenes showing what the authorities did to people. Watching the movie, it's easy to get the feeling that almost no one has any street smarts anymore: Natty does some pretty gutsy things in the course of the movie.I recommend "The Journey of Natty Gann". While not the grittiest movie ever made, it shows the lengths to which a person will go out of love. As for the wolf, Natty has an easier time relating to him than to many humans. And beyond that, we get some great shots of the British Columbia wilderness (where the movie got filmed). It's the right balance of fun and seriousness.As for the cast. I mentioned John Cusack. The star is Meredith Salenger, who also appeared in 1982's "Annie". Also starring are Ray Wise (the henchman in "RoboCop"), Lainie Kazan (the mom in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), Scatman Crothers (Halloran in "The Shining"), Verna Bloom (Mrs. Wormer in "Animal House") and an early appearance of Grant Heslov (the photographer in "The Birdcage" and later the producer of "Argo"). So the cast worked with Rob Reiner, John Huston, Paul Verhoeven, Stanley Kubrick, John Landis and Mike Nichols.Anyway, good movie.

'The Journey of Natty Gann' was a film that I watched several times when I was a child. I enjoyed it because there are few movies in which there is a female lead character who is a tomboy, and I could easily relate to this character, being a tomboy and seeking adventure myself.This film is about Natty, a girl during the Great Depression, who is separated from her father. She runs away from her guardian to try to find her father and finds compassion in an captive wolf in a similar situation. During her travels, she meets many new people, including a love interest, and puts herself into danger. She's always on the run in her attempt to get to her father.This film is a good family historical film, and it is packed full of adventure and danger. It has some good messages behind it, and it is easy to see the similarities in the two lead outcasts: wolf and girl. It's a great film because it has a female lead character who is a tomboy.