Westward Ho the Wagons! | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | William Beaudine |
Screenplay by | Tom Blackburn |
Based on | Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr |
Produced by | Bill Walsh |
Starring | Fess Parker Kathleen Crowley Jeff York Sebastian Cabot George Reeves David Stollery |
Cinematography | Charles P. Boyle, A.S.C. |
Edited by | Cotton Warburton, A.C.E. |
Music by | George Bruns |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2.75 million (US) [1] |
Westward Ho the Wagons! is a 1956 American Western film starring Fess Parker and Kathleen Crowley and produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on Mary Jane Carr's novel Children of the Covered Wagon, the film was produced by Bill Walsh, directed by William Beaudine, and released to theatres on December 20, 1956 by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The supporting cast features Mouseketeer Cubby O'Brien, Jeff York, Sebastian Cabot (in his first film role for Disney), David Stollery, and George Reeves (his final feature film appearance).
A small group of families join together to travel to Oregon in 1846. Their leader is ostensibly James Stephen (George Reeves), who has made the trip before, and is now bringing his family along. John Grayson (Fess Parker), known as Doc for his ambition to study medicine, proves to be the real leader of the wagon train.
The pioneers deal with the elements and occasional raids, but after hostile Pawnees drive off their spare horses, they realize they may not make it to the Oregon Territory. While stopping at Fort Laramie, the pioneer children make friends with Sioux children. After the Sioux chief's son is injured in an accident, Doc Grayson helps heal him, earning the trust of the Sioux. As the story ends, the Sioux warriors escort the wagon train safely through Pawnee territory.
Additionally, several actors appear in the film uncredited. They include: Max Wagner as a Wagon man; Chuck Courtney as a Wagon man, Gertrude Astor as a Wagon woman, Eddie Little Sky as a Pawnee Indian, and Carl Mathews as an Indian.
Fess Parker stars in the film, which also features the final big-screen appearance of George Reeves. It was released on videotape in 1986 and on March 18, 1997. The film was shot in Janss Conejo Ranch, now known as Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California. [2] [3] Four Mousketeers from the "Mickey Mouse Club" were in the film: Tommy Cole, Doreen Tracey, Cubby O'Brien, and Karen Pendleton.
The film was only a moderate success, and received mixed reviews. Fess Parker's version of the song "Wringle Wrangle" from the film was released as a single.
Variety noted: "Cinemascope treatment allows a vast panorama against which to limn the simple, yet stirring, narrative, and there's the marquee lure of Fess Parker for the younger trade particularly." [4] Harrison's Reports wrote: "Set against highly impressive outdoor backgrounds and beautifully photographed in CinemaScope and Technicolor, this Walt Disney live-action western should go over well with the family trade, particularly the youngsters, for children play an important part in the proceedings." [5] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Walt Disney's latest western adventure contains neither the excitement, the good humour nor the high spirits of his Davy Crockett films. There is a sense of strain; the humour hangs heavy; the action and its outcome is always predictable. The undaunted Fess Parker, however, remains as resolute as ever, and sings with the same charm and style." [6]
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC. This original run featured a regular, but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during the 1958–1959 season, airing right after American Bandstand. The show was revived three times after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977 to 1979 for first-run syndication as The New Mickey Mouse Club, then from 1989 to 1996 as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club airing on The Disney Channel, and again from 2017 to 2018 with the moniker Club Mickey Mouse airing on internet social media.
Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its roster of pop, teen pop, and country artists.
Fess Elisha Parker Jr., was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of the titular characters in the Walt Disney television miniseries Davy Crockett and the television series Daniel Boone.
Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gold rushes along with some influence from American history and North America in general. It is named Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland and Grizzly Gulch at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Westward Ho may refer to:
Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier is a 1955 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is an edited and recut compilation of the first three episodes of the Davy Crockett television miniseries. The episodes used were Davy Crockett Indian Fighter, Davy Crockett Goes to Congress, and Davy Crockett at the Alamo. The film stars Fess Parker as Davy Crockett.
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn. It was introduced on ABC's television series Disneyland, in the premiere episode of October 27, 1954.
Karen Anita Pendleton was an original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer on the ABC television series from 1955 to 1959. She was one of only nine Mouseketeers who were on the show during its entire original run.
Paul J. Smith was an American music composer and violinist best known for his work at Disney.
Patricia Crowley is an American actress. She was also frequently billed as Pat Crowley.
The Vanishing Prairie is a 1954 American documentary film directed by James Algar and released by Walt Disney Productions.
Jeff York, aka Granville Owen, was an American film and television actor who began his career in the late 1930s using his given name, Granville Owen Scofield. He was also sometimes credited as Jeff Yorke. He died in 1995, at age 83.
David John Stollery, III is a former American child actor and, as an adult, an industrial designer. He appeared in numerous Disney movies and television programs in the 1950s. He is best known for his teenage role as the loner Marty in the Spin and Marty television serials on the Mickey Mouse Club TV series in the mid-1950s.
Thomas Wakefield Blackburn was an American author, screenwriter and lyricist. His work included various Western novels and television screenplays, as well as the lyrics to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and other songs.
In the mid 1950s Blackburn worked in the story department at Walt Disney's studio and it was there, in addition to working on the Davy Crockett films and teleplays, that he also began composing lyrics. Among his most successful efforts are "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and "Farewell" for that series and "Johnny Tremain" and "The Liberty Tree" for Johnny Tremain.
Carl Patrick "Cubby" O'Brien, better known by his nickname Cubby, is an American drummer and former child actor. He is known as one of the original Mouseketeers on the weekday ABC television program The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955 to 1958.
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates is a 1956 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. A prequel to Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier, it was thought of as a means to salvage revenue from the blunder of Disney killing off the Davy Crockett character too soon within the three program arc ending in the Alamo massacre, greatly diminishing the value that could've been derived from what surprisingly had exploded into a worldwide phenomenon. The feature film is an edited, repurposed and recut compilation of the last two episodes of the Davy Crockett television miniseries. Episodes from the miniseries with footage from the film include: Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. The film stars Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as Crockett's amiable sidekick.
Edward Holcomb Plumb was a film composer and orchestrator best known for his work at Walt Disney Studios. He served as musical director of Fantasia and orchestrated and co-composed the score for Bambi, and orchestrated and expanded the film's main composer Frank Churchill's menacing but simple three-note theme.
Davy Crockett was a five-part serial which aired on ABC from 1954–55 in one-hour episodes, on the Disneyland series. The series starred Fess Parker as real-life frontiersman Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as his friend, George Russell. The first three and last two episodes were respectively edited into the theatrical films Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956). This series and film are known for the catchy theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett".
John Henry St Pierre, a.k.a. John War Eagle was a Yankton Sioux film and television actor. He was born September 24, 1901, in Wagner, Charles Mix, South Dakota. He is Dakota of the Sioux people and was raised on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is often confused with a John War Eagle born 1902 in the U.K.
The Light in the Forest is a 1958 American Western historical fiction drama film based on a novel of the same name first published in 1953 by American author Conrad Richter. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and stars Fess Parker, Joanne Dru, James MacArthur and Wendell Corey. Though it is a work of fiction and primarily features fictional characters, the novel incorporates several real people and facts from American history.