The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) - Disney Under the Rug

"She's a good kid, practically takes care of herself. All you got to do is make sure she's eating right and she's getting her sleep...." 

Director

Jeremy Kagan

Cast
Meredith Salenger - Natalie "Natty" Gann
Ray Wise - Sol Gann

John Cusack - Harry
Lainie Kazan - Connie
Scatman Crothers - Sherman
Barry Miller - Parker

As I mentioned in my review of Disney's 1983 movie, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" which I posted back in May, the 1980s were a dark era for Disney. A number of movies Disney released during the decade have quite a sinister and, well, dark tone uncharacteristic of their usual IP. Most of Disney's movies from the 1980s are "dark" in either their story or depictions, such as "Watcher in the Woods," "The Devil and Max Devlin," "The Black Cauldron," and even "Return to Oz."
Disney even released a movie called "The Kids Who Knew Too Much" (1980) which centers around a political assassination plot. Their 1978 "Wonderful World of Disney" movie "Child of Glass" centers on the ghost a young girl who was murdered.  

The 1980s were also a lousy time for Disney until a certain little mermaid pulled the company out of their lack of successful movies slump. 

Not only were a lot of these mostly live action movies have this infamous dark tone to some degree or another, but some were not necessarily aimed at children. 

A lot of these adult oriented movies were released under their distribution company, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Otherwise, most of them Disney would rather forget about. You won't mind most of these titles on the streaming app Disney+. 

However, Disney's 1985 drama adventure movie, "The Journey of Natty Gann" is not as obscure as other movies I've mentioned, it's not completely forgotten nor unrecognized isn't among the most popular and long remembered titles. It's a decent and well-made movie. And it holds a respectable place in the company's history of feature films. It's also available in Disney+. 

So, maybe it's unfair to throw it among my other Disney movie reviews I've been slowly building up and titling "Disney Under the Rug." This movie isn't quite "under the rug" as I've described in previous posts. 

In this movie, Natalie Gann (Meredith Salenger), Natty for short, and her father, Sol, live in Chicago in 1935, and are two among millions of Americans struggling in the midst of the Great Depression. 

Sol is out of work, desperate to find a job, and has been raising Natty by himself as his wife previously passed away. 

A lumberjack position opens up for Sol if he wants it. There's a ton of other men in line waiting to jump at the opportunity. 

Meredith Salenger and John Cusack. 

However, the job is in Washington State and if he wants it, Sol will have to leave later the same day that it's offered. 

He desperately tries to find Natty in and around all the usual neighborhood spots where she generally hangs around. 

Unfortunately, Sol can't find her and has to leave for Washington. So, he leaves her a note with the hotel/boarding house manager Connie (Lainie Kazan) promising he'll send for her as soon as he gets enough money. 

Sol begs Connie to watch over Natty while he's gone, which she reluctantly agrees to do. 

Connie and Natty don't get along well. After Natty gets into some trouble and is dropped off back at the boarding house by police, Connie fumes at Natty. 

She locks the kid in her room, but Natty manages to sneak out. She overhears Connie reporting her as an abandoned child to police over the phone. 

She sneaks out of the house and decides she's going to make her way to Washington to find her dad. In the initial part of her journey, she rescues a wolf from a dog fighting den. It cautiously begins following her after she rides the rails for a bit but has to get off when railroad cops begin pulling homeless people off and haul them to jail. 

The story follows Natty across the country as she meets a variety of people including a young fellow named Harry (John Cusack) who has also been riding the rails to a better life...hopefully, and lives in a chanty town. 

There are several obstacles Natty encounters which she sets her back, tests her determination, and forces her to endure through. 

The two main characters in this movie are, of course, Natty Gann and the Great Depression. The latter being the antagonist. It's personified through the characters who are so adversely affected, and whom Natty runs into on her journey. 

I really like this movie. My mother often rented it in my childhood, especially on those days when I stayed home sick from school. I had a fondness for this movie already. I haven't watched it in years. I think the last time I saw it was about the time my wife and I were still dating over ten-years ago. 

The characters are memorable and easy to get invested in, especially Natty. The emotion and turmoil are sharp and well-honed. 

It's not necessarily dark but for a Disney family picture from the 1980s, it has some elements that seem, well, pretty un-Disneylike. Namely, there are a few choice words here, but not enough to merit a rating over PG. There's also a scene where Natty thumbs a ride and is picked up by a guy who at first genuinely seems friendly before he tries to take advantage of the young kid. It doesn't amount to anything that needs to be fast forwarded as the wolf attacks the driver and Natty is able to get out of the car and run into the woods. Still, how un-Disneylike!

Ray Wise as Sol Gann in "The Journey of Natty Gann."

It also has a more honest depiction of Depression era America than what other family-oriented movies of the time may have been reluctant to show. That's not to say I wouldn't recommend this movie for parents to watch with their children. I showed it to my children the other day and had to explain various things to them as we watched. 

It goes to show that at the time, Disney was certainly making an attempt to draw more adults to their movies than before. It's a tactic they seem to be repeating today. Except this time, Disney isn't trying to make good movies. Rather, they're trying to make "correct" movies, and it's hurting their audience numbers big time. 

I personally think Disney needs to return to its animated and live action roots and make movies that tell good and wholesome stories, especially ones depicting wholesome or historical Americana rather than a story that'll appease a political demographic that's out its mind. They should return to their family-oriented traditionally minded roots that Walt intended. 

Above all, Disney needs to overcome this shame it seems to have over its own IP. More on that when I comment on the live action "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which has been making headlines recently, ever before that movie comes out, and all with pretty much nothing but controversy and negativity. 

Meredith Salenger and John Cusack have great chemistry on screen. It's a shame they don't share more screen time. Though he's on the poster, John shows up around the beginning and then again near the end. He's not quite as main a character as the poster might make him seem to be.

It's Salenger who carries this movie right to the end. And she makes the audience take her side and cheer her on. 

Legendary actor and musician, Scatman Crothers, also has a supporting role as food vendor out in Chicago whom Natty looks to for advice. Crothers can be heard as "Scat Cat" in Disney's "The Aristocats," he's probably more well known for his role as Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's horror classic, "The Shining." 

The shots, too, in this movie are fantastic. I mean, there are some spectacular and stunning views that are both gorgeous and show the audience what Natty is up against. 

The movie has a proper amount of warmth, heart, generous appeal and a welcoming timelessness that audiences expect (or used to) in a Disney movie.