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| Doggone mountains! |
The animals in question are the brash young Chance (an American Bulldog,) the smart-mouthed Sassy (a Himalayan cat,) and wise old Shadow (a Golden Retriever). They are pets of the Burnford children: Jamie (Kevin Chevalia,) Hope (Veronica Lauren) and Peter (Benj Thall.) This film has some of the best “pet performances” I’ve seen, with the dogs and cat hitting every mark perfectly and even getting some emotion across through their expressive eyes and body language. They are further brought to life with the use of voice-overs to interpret their thoughts and communications with one-another: Chance is voiced by Michael J. Fox, Sassy by Sally Field and Shadow by the late Don Ameche.
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| I don't think that I can take it, 'cause it took so long to bake it... |
Fox’s Chance also serves as the de-facto narrator, his thoughts and impressions from an unidentified point in the future adding additional perspective to the journey. Having seen (and heard) Fox in many, many roles over the years (the most memorable, of course, being that of Marty McFly from the Back To The Future trilogy,) but soon his familiar voice melded with the rascally young pup. He also gets many of the best lines, such as his joyful “I’ve died and gone to Kentucky” upon arriving at a farm full of chickens, and his quotable sigh, “I’m too pooped to poop.”
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| The world's largest scratching post |
Field’s Sassy is just as flighty and dismissive as one imagines a cat would be, hopping daintily from uppity detachment to warm adoration when dealing with her canine companions. Her sarcastic “Uhm, sweetheart, Sassy can’t breathe” while being hugged during the sunnily upbeat ending perfectly sums up the feline outlook she provides.
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| Drama queen |
Ameche’s vocal performance for Shadow likewise hits all the right notes for the aged and experienced dog. While his delivery can sometimes dip into melodrama, as when the family leaves the animals with a friend (“Peter … no … stay …”) or when they are reunited at the film’s conclusion, it fits well with what one would expect an old and faithful companion to sound like. His best moments are when he attempts to mentor the impatient Chance while they’re in the wild, his vocal going from soothingly sage, to growling befuddlement, and finally tired resignation.
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| Meanwhile, at the J. Crew household... |
I’m spending a lot of time on the animal performers, for the simple fact that they are far more entertaining and interesting than the humans in the movie. The subplot involving the coming-together of a family with a new father is dull, despite its (somewhat) mirroring of Chance coming to terms with his new family. Robert Hays’ Bob Seaver is a blank cypher, existing mostly to provide a voice of reason to challenge the children’s desperation to locate their wayward pets. Kim Greist, who’s vanished from the face of the Earth since 2002, wanders in and out of the storyline as the mother, Laura, proving my theory that only Terry Gilliam and Michael Mann had any idea how to direct her particular brand of detached acting. The children are not bad, though Peter’s laser-focused obsession with the missing Shadow sometimes borders on Fatal Attraction-style fetishism, as he absent-mindedly sketches pictures of the dog in school, then shrilly attempts to turn the (clearly over-worked) forces of the San Francisco police department to finding him.
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| I mean, I'm not going to be ignored, Shadow... |
Also working against the movie is a later sequence in which the animals, not understanding that they've been rescued, stage a sort of prison break from an Animal Control facility. Sassy's constant references to a portly employee as “lard butt” come off as poor taste; and repeated scenes of the apparently hapless Animal Control officers (who can’t seem to, you know, control animals) tripping over themselves is a much wackier sequence than any found in the rest of the film. Perhaps these scenes were staged like this to grab the attention of any young viewers with ADD? Or maybe to fulfill a low “wackiness quotient” that all Disney films have to meet?
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| Duh, uh-oh Spaghettios! |
Much better are the numerous sequences of the animal trio making their way through the wilderness - running through fields, climbing over trees and clamoring up rocky cliff sides. The sequence in which Sassy falls into a river, and the subsequent attempts to rescue her as she mews helplessly from the rapids, is surprisingly affecting. When she’s eventually reunited with the two dogs, a pleasantly warm feeling washed over me – a feeling which was much more muted during the exuberant reunion of pets and family at the film’s conclusion.
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| You boys ever hear of a Chinese finger trap? |
More so than the 1963 film (and 1961 novel) on which it’s based, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey makes audiences identify with the adventurous animals much more than with any human character they encounter. The spot-on voice casting, appealing animal actors and well-framed outdoor photography help grown-ups enjoy this film almost as much as kids do. While not the most clever or involving animal movie made (sorry, no gifted pigs here,) there are certainly a lot less pleasant ways to spend 89 minutes.
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