| The Journey of Natty Gann | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 57 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2833
Category: Video
Actors: Meredith Salenger, John Cusack, Jed, Ray Wise, Lainie Kazan
Director: Jeremy Kagan
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Label: Walt Disney Video
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original Recording Reissued, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 101 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.3 x 1.3
UPC: 786936178333
EAN: 0786936178333
ASIN: B000066795
Release Date: May 21, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: September 27, 1985
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Families drift apart when faraway jobs beckon. In this masterful, atmospheric adventure, a courageous young girl (Meredith Salenger) confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. During her extraordinary odyssey, she forms a close bond with two diverse traveling companions: a magnificent, protective wolf, and a hardened drifter (John Cusack). A brilliant, moving tapestry, woven of courage and perseverance.
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 52 more reviews...
 A Touching Depression Era Story July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a quietly touching adult film made by Disney long before they had their Touchstone division. Meredith Salanger gives a star-making performance as a teenage girl growing up with her father during the depression. A young John Cusack has a nice turn as well, already showing the kind of quiet and surprising talent he would become known for in coming years.
Natty's father (Ray Wise) finds the only work he can during the depression and reluctantly leaves Natty with someone who turns out to have no love or compassion in her heart for anyone but herself. He has gone to Washington to cut trees and leaves a letter promising to send for her, along with a locket containing a picture of her dead mother. But when no word arrives she runs away to find him, riding the rails. Ray Wise gives a fine performance as a loving father forced by the depression to leave the daughter he adores in order to support them both and survive.
The great beauty of the Pacific Nortwest is the backdrop for a beautifully filmed and realistic journey of a time and place long gone. It is not the rose-colored journey one might expect from a Disney film, however. The people and places are real and she is met with both kindness and cruelty, including a brief scene when she hitches a ride with a pervert who tries to molest her.
She meets Cusak early on in this film and later when their paths cross again they tramp together, feelings for each other beginning to form. Meanwhile, due to a chain of events which causes her father to believe Natty dead, he is devastated and takes a very dangerous job. A wolf becomes Natty's friend and they travel together, looking out for one another. Though this may sound corny, it is handled in a realistic and believable way.
When Cusak finds work in California she must continue on to find her father. But there are sweet moments when she writes to him and we hope that somewhere down the line they will be together. There are some truly touching scenes which make this memorable, and an excellent film for parents to enjoy with young adults. Sort of forgotten today, this is a really special film I highly recommend.
Excellent family movie June 6, 2008
Great movie that isn't sappy or simplistic. You'll be at the edge of your seat several times, especially at the end.
the journey of nattie gann November 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw this movie when it first came out- i loved it... i recently purchased it for my grandsons....
The Journey of Natty Gann September 1, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A very good movie about a journey of a little girl who would not give up.
A journey of hope and persistence against great odds! August 29, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Set in 1935, the Depression is the main villain in this emotional, coming-of-age adventure tale of a young girl's journey from Chicago to Washington in search of her father. When Natty Gann's father is offered a job as a logger in Washington, he must leave his tomboyish daughter with a friend until he can afford to send for her. Natty's habit of getting into trouble immediately lands her on the road, however, forced to become a rail-rider and having to avoid the law and adults in general, most of whom want to lock her up or worse. Along the way, she teams up with an intelligent and protective wolf that she helps escape from a dogfighting den and a more experienced young drifter seeking work wherever he can find it. Together, the three give each other the support they need to stay the course. Meanwhile, when Natty's father is informed of her wallet being found at the scene of a train wreck, he sinks into despair believing she has been killed and takes on the most dangerous jobs at the logging camp. If Natty doesn't find him in time, he's sure to be the next accidental death.
"The Journey of Natty Gann" is a gem of a film coming from the Disney Studios at a time when their live-action features were thoughtful and low on glitter and plastic. Released in 1985, this was the era of Disney films like "One Magic Christmas," "Never Cry Wolf," and "Flight of the Navigator." Introducing 80's cutie Meredith Salenger in the title role and John Cusack as the fellow drifter she befriends, "The Journey of Natty Gann" does a marvelous job of recreating the world of the Great Depression and truly makes its presence felt throughout the film. The story is touching, beautifully shot, and frequently unpredictable, and the performances are wonderful. You may not like Natty much at the very beginning, but by the end you'll adore her.
The DVD release is another matter. Unfortunately, there's nothing really positive I can say about the release, and forget what I said about this film being beautifully shot when you sit down to watch it. It's got bad picture quality, horrible pan and scan, bad audio, zero extras... For something like that to happen to a movie like this is nothing short of a crime! All I can say is, this is a film everyone should have in their video library, but don't pay too much for this edition of it. It really is just like watching a VHS tape. Let's hope a better edition comes along someday, but I picked this one up just in case. Poor quality is better than not having this charming Disney classic at all.
Oh, and if you like this Disney film, please seek out other Disney live-action classics. Try the ones I mentioned in this review, and also checkout "White Fang," "Iron Will," and "Napoleon and Samantha" among others.
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