Old Yeller
It's not just a dog story; it's a rite of passage for American children. The book about a stray dog adopted by a pioneer family was destined to become a Disney classic, and the title character has long ranked as one of the best-known fictional Texans ever created. But a true measure of Old Yeller's importance is its universal familiarity. Besides its enduring status as a perfect ten on the heartbreak scale, Old Yeller is required reading (or viewing) for millions of elementary and middle school students. The title is a preferred nickname for vintage vehicles of the right hue as well as a mixed drink, a variety of corn, and (sniff) an online source for pet gravestones and memorials.
The author of Old Yeller, Fred Gipson, was born on a farm near Mason on February 7, 1908. He wrote the book in three months, basing it on a real incident in which a dog saved his grandfather from a rabid wolf. It was published in 1956.
Walt Disney Studios paid Gipson $50,000 for the rights to Old Yeller. He wrote the script for the movie and for three others based on his books, including Savage Sam (1963), the Old Yeller sequel.
Released on Christmas Day, 1957, the movie grossed $8 million its first year. It starred Fort Worth native Fess Parker, a.k.a. Davy Crockett, and Dorothy McGuire as the pioneer parents. Tommy Kirk debuted as the teenage Travis Coates; like Kevin Corcoran, who played Little Arliss, he became a Disney regular. Chuck Connors, later of TV's The Rifleman, portrayed the dog's rightful owner.
Originally the studio staff wanted a happy ending, but Walt Disney told them, "This is a Texas farm in 1869 and the dog has rabies; there's no way he can be saved. You gotta shoot him."
Old Yeller was played by a flop-eared mutt, mostly Labrador, named Spike, who had been rescued from the pound by Frank Weatherwax (of Lassie-training fame). Spike went on to star in another heart-warmer, A Dog of Flanders (1959).
References to Old Yeller have appeared in many TV shows, notably Friends, as well as in other movies. The best-known lines come from Stripes (1981), in which Bill Murray addresses his fellow soldiers: "Who cried when Old Yeller got shot at the end? Nobody cried when Old Yeller got shot? I'm sure. I cried my eyes out."
It's not just a dog story; it's a rite of passage for American children. The book about a stray dog adopted by a pioneer family was destined to become a Disney classic, and the title character has long ranked as one of the best-known fictional Texans ever created. But a true measure of Old Yeller's importance is its universal familiarity. Besides its enduring status as a perfect ten on the heartbreak scale, Old Yeller is required reading (or viewing) for millions of elementary and middle school students. The title is a preferred nickname for vintage vehicles of the right hue as well as a mixed drink, a variety of corn, and (sniff) an online source for pet gravestones and memorials.
The author of Old Yeller, Fred Gipson, was born on a farm near Mason on February 7, 1908. He wrote the book in three months, basing it on a real incident in which a dog saved his grandfather from a rabid wolf. It was published in 1956.
Walt Disney Studios paid Gipson $50,000 for the rights to Old Yeller. He wrote the script for the movie and for three others based on his books, including Savage Sam (1963), the Old Yeller sequel.
Released on Christmas Day, 1957, the movie grossed $8 million its first year. It starred Fort Worth native Fess Parker, a.k.a. Davy Crockett, and Dorothy McGuire as the pioneer parents. Tommy Kirk debuted as the teenage Travis Coates; like Kevin Corcoran, who played Little Arliss, he became a Disney regular. Chuck Connors, later of TV's The Rifleman, portrayed the dog's rightful owner.
Originally the studio staff wanted a happy ending, but Walt Disney told them, "This is a Texas farm in 1869 and the dog has rabies; there's no way he can be saved. You gotta shoot him."
Old Yeller was played by a flop-eared mutt, mostly Labrador, named Spike, who had been rescued from the pound by Frank Weatherwax (of Lassie-training fame). Spike went on to star in another heart-warmer, A Dog of Flanders (1959).
References to Old Yeller have appeared in many TV shows, notably Friends, as well as in other movies. The best-known lines come from Stripes (1981), in which Bill Murray addresses his fellow soldiers: "Who cried when Old Yeller got shot at the end? Nobody cried when Old Yeller got shot? I'm sure. I cried my eyes out."
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