Savage Sam (1963)

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Wait, this film  is about a dog? Coulda fooled me! You could have removed him from the film and it would have made no difference! But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Unbeknownst to most people, Disney’s classic “boy and his dog” film, Old Yeller, had a sequel, Savage Sam. Based on the novel of the same name (which was actually the sequel to the Old Yeller novel by Fred Gipson), Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran reprise their roles as brothers, Travis and Arliss, respectively.

Their parents are absent in this film though, as they are visiting Travis’ and Arliss’ sick grandmother. Instead, the boys are home alone taking care of themselves while being looked in on every now and then by their uncle, Beck, played by Brian Keith.

Jeff York also reprises his role as loudmouth, Bud Searcy, with his daughter, Lisbeth, now played by Marta Kristen.

Things take a turn though when a group of Native Americans kidnap Travis, Arliss, and Lisbeth, and it’s up to Uncle Beck, Bud, and some other adults to go rescue them.

Firstly, as I’ve hinted at before, the title character is Savage Sam, a dog owned by Arliss. Notice I didn’t once mention him in my plot description. That’s because he’s so unnecessary as a character, it’s unbelievable! You could have totally removed his character and this film wouldn’t have been any the worse for it!

Secondly, this has got to be the worst portrayal of Native Americans ever in a Disney film! They’re portrayed as loud, rowdy, uncivilized, and clearly the bad guys of the film whereas we’re meant to be rooting for Travis, Arliss, Uncle Beck, etc. The film tries to put some level of nuance in this film with one of the adult characters, played by Dewey Martin, saying how the Native Americans have been here for hundreds of years and hinting that the white men are the true savages here.

Also after Travis and the gang are saved, Uncle Beck and the others go back home instead of pursuing the Native Americans further. But both of these cases pale in comparison to the uncomfortable portrayal of the Native Americans.

Was there anything good about this film? Some of the performances were pretty strong such as those from Kevin Corcoran (whose voice seemed to have broken during the filming of this), Brian Keith, Jeff York, Slim Pickens, and Tommy Kirk. I also thought the title song written by Terry Gilkyson wasn’t bad.

Even the film itself started off promising and interesting, but went downhill once the Native American plot was introduced. There is also really no reason for this film to be considered a sequel to Old Yeller! Maybe the novel has more connection, I dunno!

In other news though, this is the last of Norman Tokar’s films he directed for Disney that I had left to review for this blog. Farewell sir, it’s been a fun ride!

So, my final score for this film is 17/35 = 48.57% (F) !

The next review will be posted on July 21, 2026.