The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

With the 1930's depression in full swing and work hard to come by, a struggling single father (actor Ray Wise) leaves his street-smart daughter, Natty (Meredith Salenger), in order to get work across the country. He leaves his tom-boyish daughter with a custodian (Lianie Kazan) until he can save enough money to send for her. After the father leaves and the custodian betrays her, Natty runs away and starts on a cross-country trek in search for her father.

And there in lies the story of the 1985 Disney release of The Journey of Natty Gann.

During her journey she befriends a wolf, a young and handsome hobo (John Cusack), a gang of abandoned children, a small farm family and a strict orphanage. Riding the rails with no money or guidance, Natty struggles to survive. Through the growing reliance on the wolf for protection and his reliance on her for freedom, they form an unlikely friendship.

Natty Gann was one of Disney's first non-G rated releases in the mid-80's when they were trying to branch out. They released other non-G films such as Something Wicked This Way Comes during this time. Eventually, they formed the company Touchstone to release such work for them. But, at the time, Disney releasing a PG rated flick was real news.

Natty Gann is a good old fashioned family flick with perhaps one or two light four letter words sprinkled in. The story moves quickly from one scene and one location to the next. Salenger as Natty is cute and does a very nice job in the lead role. This was to be her breakout performance, but she never reached a very high status in Hollywood.

Cusack adds a touch of innocent, child-like romance to the plot. Actor Wise, as Natty's father, is perfectly cast as the struggling father. He has a classic handsomeness that fits the timeframe extremely well.

On a side note, the film soundtrack was composed by James Horner, whom I had learned to like with his work on Star Trek II. Horner's work on Natty Gann is very good and its sad to think that his work for this film was never released as an album or soundtrack.

The Journey of Natty Gann accomplished what it set out to do... to create a period children's film with a slight gritty edge. It's not brilliant, but it does work.