Grizzly Adams

Just watched this lovely series from start to finish on DVD & I am almost embarrassed to say it made me cry. The beautiful location shoots, gorgeous animals & simple stories with the best moral messages I have ever seen on film, all rolled into one show. Grizzly Adams made me realise that life is a gift & we should not waste it. It also made me want to sling on my backpack (again!) & run off to live a simple, fulfilling life in the mountains! However it is almost a crime that this delightful show will never grace mainstream telivision today. This is so sad. The star of the show though is clearly Ben the Grizzly bear (in real life a female Grizzly called Bozo) who's bear acting skilled paved the way for Grizzly superstar "Bart the Bear" (Bart can be seen in the opening shots as he plays the cub rescued by Adams) who graced many excellent films.

Anyway onto some critique.

Most of the stories are very simple. Perhaps too simple to keep some people engaged. However it is the messages that these stories convery to the audience that make the difference. Grizzly Adams, Ben, Mad Jack, Nakoma & Number 7 teaches us lessons on the priceless values of having decent virtues & good, solid morality as well as friendship, trust, compromise, teamwork & a love & respect for nature & animals. Ofcourse Grizzly Adams does have it's faults, but it comes pretty close to being the perfect family entertainment show. But as lovely as it is this would never be shown on mainstram tv today. & even if it were the show would be accused of "white Saviousism" as Adams saves the life of a Native American Warrior (Nakoma) whithout looking at the fact that it is Nakoma who teaches Adams the life saving lessons of living in the wild & being a real mountain man. Adams would have never made it in the wild if it was not for Nakoma! & then there is the plain simple fact this show is simply "Too Nice" to be shown today.

If everyone today lived our lives with the lessons Grizzly Adams shares of freidship, teamwork, respect & compromise, this world would be a much better place...."Maybe..."

What a wonderful escape from all the drama and hostility of today's world. It's funny how many adults watch this with their kids, and end up loving it themselves! A sweet, sweet show full of ethical, likable characters and some good moral lessons. Both two and four legged.

While I know that this show was no emmy-winning fare, it brings backs memories of my youth and gaining an appreciation for nature and all animals.

Somewhere in all of us, lies that Walden-esque desire to abandon the trappings of modern life and live in the wilderness among nature. While this was merely a television program, and undoubtedly fraught with errors and impossibilities (i.e. raising an orphan cub to be your "buddy"), it allowed for soles young and old to live out that Western fantasy, albeit vicarisely. I miss those days curled up with a pillow on my Grandma's floor and imersing myself in Grizzly Adam's world.

I loved the character of James "Grizzly" Adams, who was played by the perfectly cast Dan Haggerty, whose warmth and caring was conveyed effectively. Denver Pyle as his friend Mad Jack was funny and memorable, and Don Shanks as his blood-brother Nacoma performed his part as a Native American with sincerity and respect. Then of course there was Ben, the big grizzly that Adams rescued as a cub from a mountain ledge and is now his protector and companion.

Like the 1974 film that preceded it, some will no doubt complain that the series is too simple, even corny, but I reject these views, since Adams is a good man, unjustly accused of a crime he did not commit, but has no way of proving his innocence, which is why he fled to the wilderness.

A series that presents respect for nature, Native Americans, and helping one's fellow humans and animals should be treasured, and I'm glad this series is at least on DVD, though would look even better in HD!

"Maybe", the show's theme song, is beautiful, and may bring a tear to the eye!

My father was a forest ranger at the Soapstone Guard Station for nearly 30 years. As a child and early teen, the Uinta Mountains, where many of Sun Productions' films and TV series were filmed, was "my childhood back-yard." With my dirt bike allowing me access to miles of travel all around the area, along with my intimate knowledge of the area and any big events occurring in or around it, I was able to watch many, many days of scenes being set-up and filmed.

Grizzly Adams with Doug Suess' huge grizzly-bear Ben, was one of my favorites. Doug and his son Clint still live in the Heber City area and have quite a stable of film-ready "wild animals" for hire. Another classic movie filmed in and around the area was Robert Redford's "Jeremiah Johnson." Still classic films... and even fonder memories.