Review of The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) by Elisa L — 24 Mar 2008

It's 1935, Chicago, and Sol Gann (Ray Wise) is having a tough time providing for his teenage daughter. Following the promise of a well-paying (but stunningly hazardous) lumberjacking position, Sol is forced to leave his beloved Natty (Meredith Salenger) behind before making the trek to Washington. Under the mistaken impression that her Dad has abandoned her for good, Natty promptly hits the backroads and begins a colorfully exciting quest to reunite her small family. Along the way, our plucky heroine is befriended by a vicious-looking (yet surprisingly loyal) wolf whose as independent and lonely as she is; and a good-natured vagabond (and would-be boyfriend) named Harry played with rascally charm by a young John Cusack.

Natty's journey sees her coming across a variety of unsavory Depression-era characters, most of whom aim to see the wayward lass remanded to some dank old orphanage. With the help of Harry and her beloved wolf, Natty makes one daring escape after another, always resuming her westward trek to find her Dad. The poor girl has to withstand some truly horrifying travails during her perilous pilgrimage (she survives a train wreck, shares some tender moments with a pregnant woman, joins a gang of youthful hoboes, spends time in a grim orphanage, receives help from a disfigured blacksmith, and escapes from a molester) which make for quite an adventure.

The outdoor photography is nothing short of breathtaking, the depression-era production design is uniformly fantastic, the (sometimes quite dark) 'moral lessons' are offered with a minimum of Disney-esque schmaltz, the performances are strong across the board, and the action bits are realized with style and flair. The Journey of Natty Gann is one great family flick, easily one of Disney's finest live-action releases of the 1980s.