The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Old Yeller
Adventure · Drama · Family · 1957
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.
Movie details
Old Yeller
“All the heart, all the excitement of a great frontier adventure!”
1957 Adventure · Drama · Family 1h 24m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.9 / 10
Community rating
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Old Yeller?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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A Dog's Way Home
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Balto
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An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska.
A Dog's Purpose
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A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.
The Fox and the Hound
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When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!
Where the Red Fern Grows
Drama · 2003
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Dances with Wolves
Adventure · 1990
Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.
Dog Gone
Family · 2023
When his beloved dog goes missing, a young man embarks on an incredible search with his parents to find him and give him life-saving medication.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robert Stevenson
Written by
Fred Gipson · William Tunberg
Tommy Kirk
Travis Coates
Dorothy McGuire
Katie Coates
Fess Parker
Jim Coates
Kevin Corcoran
Arliss Coates
Jeff York
Bud Searcy
Beverly Washburn
Lisbeth Searcy
Chuck Connors
Sanderson
Court is in session
Put Old Yeller on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.