El campeón

This is a good family film from the Disney vaults that has been tucked away in relative obscurity mainly because the lead child actor Gilles Payant, who was born in Quebec does not speak with a clear American speaking accent that Americans are always expecting to hear. Otherwise, this film is unfairly noted as a "foreign film". Such narrow mindness has its own reward that those open minded film goers who have seen Big Red still consider it a Disney classic some 56 years later.

A hero Irish Red Setter befriending a Quebec boy who is an orphan himself sets out into the middle of the wilderness to find his beloved pupil dog only to find out that Big Red has now become a father. Big Red wants his offspring pups and their mother to be granted the freedom to choose where to live rather than to have a wealthy dog breeder sell them off as damaged goods. Actor Gilles Payant who plays the orphan boy Rene Dumont is not concerned about his own welfare and decides to leave his job in a full blown effort to find Big Red and his soon to be mother of his offspring in the wilderness after escaping from their shipping container on a freight train.

Breeder and dog owner James Haggin (played by Walter Pidgeon) has one of those come to Jesus moments when he realizes that the orphan boy Rene Dumont who he had hired to simply exercise Big Red has sacrificed his job and decent way of life to find the lost dog, Big Red, in the middle of thousand of square miles of wild country. So dog owner James Haggin gets on his horse with his rifle in hand to find Rene Dumont and bring him home. The ending is a hero's welcome that Walt Disney is known for but back in 1962 Walt Disney was lesser known for making dramatic films and so this film received little recognition.....until now.

I hope the Disney vault releases a Blu Ray version sometime soon. I give the film a decent 8 out of 10 rating.

Big Red was shot around La Malbaie and Cap Aigle in the Charlevoix Region of Quebec. The falls are currently part of the Chutes Fraser Campground. The surrounding scenery is set at the Cabot Farm. The gardens of Francis Cabot, "Les Quatre Vents," can be visited or seen in his book, "The Greater Perfection, The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents." From a historical perspective this area was frequented by President William Howard Taft among others of high society, hence the story takes on new meaning with the wealthy owner of Red taking an interest in young french speaking Gilles. This film is suitable for young children and those who occasionally like to take a stroll down memory lane to a simpler time.

Disney seems to show a great many of the films they produced in the 50's and 60's on their cable channel extremely early in the morning 3, 4 am etc. So many of them like Big Red have probably never been seen by the younger generation of today. These movies have never lost their excellent story content. This picture is no exception. Walter Pidgeon delivers a solid performance as a dog owner who cares only for the Irish Setter he has as a potential winner in dog shows and nothing as a pet. A young boy who comes to work for Pidgeon develops a friendship for the dog. Big Reds life is changed but not without some dangerous events. Certainly a must see for any Dog lover and any one who enjoys non animated Disney films.

It holds some charm, but 'Big Red' is mostly average.

Gilles Payant gives a likeable, if wooden, performance as Rene, while Walter Pidgeon adds a touch of elegance to the film as James. Émile Genest and Janette Bertrand are alright, too. The cast I actually like, it's just the plot and how it is told that hampers the film for me.

The onscreen dogs are adorable and their story ends in a cutesy manner, but there's not much more to enjoy past that. It's a very basic premise which is revealed in a very basic way. Nothing necessarily bad, but nothing all that good either. Forgettable, in a word.

I find it interesting and a bit frustrating that so many speak of "Old Yeller" as the holly grail of "boy and his dog" films and that "Big Red" as been totally lost in the mix and is now even out of print. I actually don't understand as I personally found "Old Yeller" vastly underrated and I believe that if it wasn't for it's unusually sad ending for a Disney film,it probably would have not been hailed the classic as it is today.After all when you take off the shock ending of "Old Yeller" you are left with a pretty bland film with very little story except ..A boy left to take care of his home with the help of his new dog.. But enough of this and on to "Big Red". This is an absolutely charming little film. It avoids the certain things that makes other Disney 60's flicks age badly so in "Big red" we have no Cheesy theme song a la "Davy Crockett" (Thank goodness for that!) What makes this film work the most is the superb performance by the two main actors Walter Pidgeon and Gilles Payant. The Canadian kid was just natural and charming and it's surprising that it was his first and only film because he outdo in the acting department in a single film most of the Disney kids the studio were spitting out in the 60's.He was likable and the actor presence made us really care for the kid , I was surprise by this because normally in that sort of film the dog end up being more interesting then the kid but this time both the dog and the kid were equally interesting to watch.Talking about the dog , I usually don't think about the trainers when I watch films featuring animals but I had a lot of "How did they make the dog look so natural on screen?" moment , great work done with the dogs in this film. Walter Pidgeon who was a bit of a Walt Disney look alike is really good in this film and I enjoyed the fact that the film was as much about his character and his relationship with the kid then the boy and his relationship with the dog , unlike "Old Yeller" this film as a bit more layer. It's not just about a dog , It's also about a lonely man who lost the will to love until that kid shows up.So it makes this film more accessible then your typical animal film fare , I have friends that cant stand "Dog" films and they really enjoyed this one. The other supporting cast are great as well. The music is very pleasing,I love the main theme and the very short song by the Sherman, again , it was great not to have one of those silly songs. This film felt very short because I wasn't bored once. It is really unfortunate that "Big Red" did not find a public and that now it is a forgotten film but I couldn't recommend more for any fan of Disney live action flick of the past to give this wonderful film a try.