Westward Ho the Wagons! would be Disney's first live action Western film. Adapted from Mary Jane Carr's 1934 book, Children of the Covered Wagon, Disney picked up the rights to the book in 1949. Westerns had been money-makers starting in the 30's, with films like Stagecoach in 1939 being one of the biggest box office hits of the year. The trend would continue into the the 40's, but wouldn't start to truly hit it's stride until the 50's, when Westerns were among the most popular genres in film. This was the perfect time for Disney to jump onto the bandwagon, and Disney wanted another vehicle to use Fess Parker in.Story
The story details a wagon train on the Oregon Trail in 1846. The wagon trail is informally led by James Stephen, who had taken the trail before and is now bringing family along. John Grayson, known as Doc for his ambition to study medicine, soon becomes the de-facto leader of the group. The wagon train faces many perils, including bad weather and antagonistic Pawnee natives. Things start to look grim when a group of Pawnee raid the wagon train and drive away the group's spare horses. They find respite at Fort Laramie, and the children from the wagon train become friends with the Sioux children. Things take a turn when the Sioux chief's son gets hurt and Grayson is the only one who can help him. After he is able to heal the chief's son, the Sioux offer to escort them through Pawnee territory, thus guaranteeing that they have a clear path to Oregon.Cast
Fess Parker played doctor John Grayson, marking Parker's second lead role for Disney outside of Davy Crockett. Other notable actors in the film were Sebastian Cabot, who played Bissonette. While Cabot's name might not be extremely recognizable, his voice will. He voiced such Disney characters as Bagheera in The Jungle Book, Sir Ector in The Sword in the Stone, and the narrator of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. James Stephen was played by Adventures of Superman actor George Reeves. This would unfortunately be Reeves last film, as he passed away in 1959 from an apparent suicide.Reception
Westward Ho the Wagons! was released on December 20th, 1956 to mixed reviews and was only a moderate success for Disney. Most reviewers commented on the beauty of the film thanks to being shot in Cinemascope, giving the film a larger than life feel. Outside of the scenery and Fess Parker's reliable acting, the film suffered from being predictable and just not that interesting compared to Disney's other ventures like Davy Crockett. Disney attempted to build up excitement for the movie, as they had done for others before, by releasing a TV special on the Magical World of Disney a month before Wagons would hit theaters. Titled "Along the Wagon Trail", it focused on the making of Westward Ho the Wagons. Fess Parker would also release a single for the movie titled "Wringle Wrangle".Unfortunately there isn't a lot of information on this movie. Much less than the past Disney live action movies, so that's why this one is a little lacking. Next up is the story of Johnny Tremain!
