Any time you settle in for a talking animal movie, one never knows how cheesy of a movie they are in for. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, the 1993 feature by director Duwayne Dunham was not plagued by some of the common problems in talking animal movies. The two dogs and a cat who make the incredible journey to find the owners they think have abandoned them, are well-written and given interesting enough personalities for the audience to get engaged in their stories and sit at attention with them until the very end. Setting out to find their owners and the only home they've ever known, the animals learn a lot about love and comradery along the way.
Life is good for Shadow (Don Ameche), Chance (Michael J. Fox), and Sassy (Sally Field). Both dogs and the cat are cared for and loved incessantly by their wonderful attentive owners. After their owners marry and their family grows, something unusual happens. They notice a lot of suitcases and they go to a strange place. Unbeknownst to them, Bob Seaver (Robert Hays) has gotten a researching job in San Francisco and will be temporarily locating the family there until his project is done. Leaving the animals at a friend of their female owner's, the family leaves with promises misunderstood by the animals of returning for visits. Perplexed at their loving owner's abandonment, Shadow is convinced a mistake has been made and encourages the dogs to follow him in an attempt to find their owners. Traversing the rough and wild terrain proves more than the animals anticipated, and soon wonder if they will be safe and loved ever again.
The visuals in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey were strikingly captivating, much grander and more beautiful than I expected from a children's movie. The establishment shots in the beginning especially, were breathtaking capturing the true wilderness the animals would have to endure. Watching a family movie, one expects a decent amount of clean packaging, which did occur in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, it is easily forgiven however because the creatures were so well-written. It was fun to follow along with the main characters despite them not being human. Talking animal films are usually in a class by themselves as far as cheesiness. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey doesn't suffer from such cheese, however. I believe, a large reason why Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey is so tolerable is because the animals mouths don't move in sync with their dialogue. I always thought that the synced mouth movements and dialogue was a peculiar choice for filmmakers of talking animal movies. The decision makes it no more believable that animals are actually talking simply because their mouths move like human's when they speak. A few brilliant filmmaking decisions, a beautifully shot film, and a perfect ending scene make Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey the perfect film from one's childhood with their own blossoming families.
Life is good for Shadow (Don Ameche), Chance (Michael J. Fox), and Sassy (Sally Field). Both dogs and the cat are cared for and loved incessantly by their wonderful attentive owners. After their owners marry and their family grows, something unusual happens. They notice a lot of suitcases and they go to a strange place. Unbeknownst to them, Bob Seaver (Robert Hays) has gotten a researching job in San Francisco and will be temporarily locating the family there until his project is done. Leaving the animals at a friend of their female owner's, the family leaves with promises misunderstood by the animals of returning for visits. Perplexed at their loving owner's abandonment, Shadow is convinced a mistake has been made and encourages the dogs to follow him in an attempt to find their owners. Traversing the rough and wild terrain proves more than the animals anticipated, and soon wonder if they will be safe and loved ever again.
The visuals in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey were strikingly captivating, much grander and more beautiful than I expected from a children's movie. The establishment shots in the beginning especially, were breathtaking capturing the true wilderness the animals would have to endure. Watching a family movie, one expects a decent amount of clean packaging, which did occur in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, it is easily forgiven however because the creatures were so well-written. It was fun to follow along with the main characters despite them not being human. Talking animal films are usually in a class by themselves as far as cheesiness. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey doesn't suffer from such cheese, however. I believe, a large reason why Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey is so tolerable is because the animals mouths don't move in sync with their dialogue. I always thought that the synced mouth movements and dialogue was a peculiar choice for filmmakers of talking animal movies. The decision makes it no more believable that animals are actually talking simply because their mouths move like human's when they speak. A few brilliant filmmaking decisions, a beautifully shot film, and a perfect ending scene make Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey the perfect film from one's childhood with their own blossoming families.