Napoleon gets into mischief with his friend Samantha (Jodie Foster). They steal empty bottles and resell them to the store owner for candy. He lives with his grandpa. Her parents are away and she lives with Gertrude. Napoleon and grandpa encounter Dimetri the Clown with Major the Lion. Dimetri is going home to Europe and has to leave Major behind. The lion is old with bad teeth and can only drink milk. Napoleon and grandpa adopt Major putting him in with the chickens. Grandpa passes away. Danny (Michael Douglas) is a student traveling through the area looking for work. Napoleon hires him to bury grandpa. Napoleon claims to be waiting for his uncle while Danny sets off for a goat herding job. Fearing the orphanage, Napoleon sets off with Major to find and stay with Danny. Samantha joins him with her prized rooster. When the kids get there, Danny goes back to tell Gertrude and she promptly has him arrested. At the police station, he sees that he left the kids with Mark Pierson who is actually a wanted criminal.
I checked this out for Jodie Foster and Michael Douglas. Damn, Jodie was just a kid and it's sad to read that she was mauled by one of the lions. The kids are cute and charming. There are a lot of darker elements in this kids movie. The locals are a little too much of bumpkins. The most compelling aspect is the two kids on the journey with the lion. That's a small part of the movie. It's an odd little Disney adventure.
