The film was a personal favorite of Walt Disney, since it re-created on film one of the most memorable times of his life, growing up on a small farm in the American Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century. Walt said: "So Dear was especially close to me. Why, that's the life my brother and I grew up with as kids out in Missouri". Walt had intended that this would be the first all live-action Disney feature film, but his distributor, RKO, convinced him that when audiences saw the word "Disney", they expected animation. Thus they split the difference.[5]
So Dear to My Heart was the final film appearance of Harry Carey.
Set in Indiana in 1903, the film tells the tale of Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll) and his determination to raise a black-wool lamb that was once rejected by its mother. Jeremiah names the lamb Danny for the famed race horse Dan Patch (who is also portrayed in the film). Jeremiah's dream of showing Danny at the Pike County Fair must overcome the obstinate objections of his loving yet tough grandmother Granny (Beulah Bondi). Jeremiah's confidant Uncle Hiram (Burl Ives) is the boy's steady ally. Inspired by the animated figures and stories, the boy perseveres.[6]
Bobby Driscoll received a special Juvenile Award from the Academy, honoring him as "the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949".[7] In addition to So Dear to My Heart, he had garnered critical acclaim for his dramatic performance in the RKO melodrama The Window.
Film critic Bosley Crowther wrote on The New York Times that "a little aphoristic fantasy (…) has the imagination and special charm which the film, in general, lacks. For, with all its innocence and simplicity, which are commendable on the modern screen, So Dear to My Heart is not distinguished by its story or cinematic style. It is just a pleasant fiction for the kiddies who fancy lively pets and for the oldsters who like to vision childhood in an illusory, kerosene-lamp glow."[9]
Release
The film returned rentals to RKO by 1951 of $2,775,000 with $2,200,000 being generated in the U.S. and Canada.[3]
The film was re-released in 1964 and earned an estimated $1.5 million in rentals in the U.S. and Canada.[4]
So Dear to My Heart was released on home video in 1986. It was then re-released in 1992 and released on video in 1994 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. The film was originally planned for a US DVD release as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection, but was cancelled, with no particular reason given. Six years after seeing a region 2 DVD release, it was released in the US on DVD in July 2008 as a Disney Movie Club Exclusive.
In Italy, So Dear to My Heart was released on home video in 1997.[10] It was re-released on DVD format in 2003.[11]
Trivia
In the DVD's bonus material, it is stated that the formerly Frontierland Station is an exact replica of the railroad station built for So Dear To My Heart and remains in Disneyland today, although it now belongs to New Orleans Square. The original prop ended up in the hands of Disney Animator Ward Kimball, which he used for his Grizzly Flats Railroad. The station would later be acquired by former Pixar film director John Lasseter, moving them to his private Justi Creek Railway.[12][13]
^ ab"Richard B. Jewell's RKO film grosses, 1929–51: The C. J. Trevlin Ledger: A comment". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 14, Issue 1, 1994. Domestic earnings $2.2 million; Foreign earnings $575,000.
^ ab"Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, January 6, 1965, p. 39. 1964 revenue anticipation: $1.5 million
