Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

Directed by Duwayne Dunham. Starring Benj Thall, Robert Hays, Kim Griest, Jean Smart, Veronica Lauren, Kevin Chevalia, (voices) Michael J. Fox, Don Ameche, Sally Field. [G]

Second Disney version of “The Incredible Journey”, Sheila Burnford’s story of three pet animals—a young American Bulldog (Chance), an aging Yellow Lab (Shadow), and a prissy Himalayan cat (Sassy), all variations on the original breeds and names—undertaking a long and, ahem, incredible journey across the wilderness to reunite with their human caretakers. Adequately-crafted family film makes the tactical error of giving the animals human voices—they can communicate with each other…telepathically?—to match their human personalities, even though the other creatures they encounter (a porcupine, a mountain lion, etc.) do not “speak”. Chance, Shadow and Sassy all look and move like animals, but their attitudes and slang-addled dialogue are self-aware, which opens up even more plot holes than these sorts of far-flung wilderness adventures already contain (e.g., Chance can’t understand human language but he knows who Arnold Schwarzenegger is?). Easily-amused children may be diverted by the animals’ antics, but I mostly sat there stone-faced, wishing the journey was less “incredible” than “brief”. The perilous portions of the odyssey are defanged by an omnipresent awareness there’s no way in hell any of these animals are actually going to come to serious harm. Bart the Bear makes an appearance (no points for guessing what kind of wild animal he plays). Followed by a sequel.

38/100