I never realised it at the time, but Duwayne Dunham’s ‘Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey’ was probably the first epic I ever saw. Now, almost 15 years later, and with an attempt at just a short movie staring a dog, I have real respect for the patience of all involved in a film where the animals give genuinely good performances and carry the film. The story is of three pets who are left with a stranger when the family goes away for a few weeks. They come to the mistaken belief that something is wrong and attempt to travel over mountains and through a national park to get home.
‘Homeward Bound’ could have easily been awful if not for the script by Linda Woolverton ('The Lion King', 1994) and 1993's most prolific screenwriter: Caroline Thompson (who also contributed to 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'The Secret Garden'). The dialogue is obviously written with intimate knowledge of pet behaviour. While they pick up the odd word, the animals for the most part don’t know what humans are saying, which leads to confusion and misinterpretation. It all rings true, and it’s to the credit of the three vocal performances of the main characters, Michael J. Fox, Sally Field and the excellent Don Ameche, who capture the voices of the animal performers and deliver the script in a way that couldn’t be improved. The choice to give the animals a voice, but not try puppets or training to make the mouths move is the best way to go. If the dogs were in anyway flapping their jaws it would become real annoying, real fast, but instead you quickly warm to the narrative style.
The only complaint I can really make is of the human side. While the human cast is non-offensive, the children’s obsession over the animals is just a bit too much. In a film where an animals voice is captured so correctly, its amazing the owner’s voices are not. Peter (Benj Thall) reacts to leaving Shadow for a couple of weeks with as much drama as I did leaving my old dog forever when I moved away, he doodles pictures of the dog in school, he seems to have no friends but the dog, but this is not a plot point. Shadows devotion to Peter is touching; his devotion to Shadow is worrying.
Thankfully, the movie just, just manages to walk the acceptable side of the mushy line, mostly thanks to Michael J. Fox’s infrequent but well written narration. This is a classic story, very well made with heart and sincerity and it manages to keep interest despite the focus on non-human performers.
****
(UK Release: 22nd October 1993)
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