Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain is based off of the Newbery Medal-Winning novel by Esther Forbes, which details the events in Boston that led to the Revolutionary War. While the book deals with actual historical events, the exploits of Johnny Tremain are all fictionalized. Walt had originally wanted to adapt the book into two separate episodes for his TV show, Disneyland, and then release it as a package in theaters. Walt had done this before with Davy Crockett, and would do it again for Zorro. Rising production costs would cause Disney to reconsider this, and instead package it for theaters first and release it in 1957. He would later release the episodes separately on his newer show, Walt Disney Presents in 1958.



Story

Johnny Tremain is an apprentice silversmith in Mr. Lapham's shop. One day, the wealthy Jonathan Lyte asks for Mr. Lapham to make him a sugar basin to match his silver set. While Lapham initially declines due to how old he is, Johnny feels that he himself is able to do it, so he accepts. Johnny can't seem to get the handle right and has to ask a fellow silversmith, Paul Revere, for some help. After getting good advice from Revere, Johnny is too eager to finish the product and purposefully breaks the sabbath. The Lord seemingly punishes Johnny for his hubris by having Johnny badly burn his hand on molten silver. Johnny is unable to use his hand, and therefore is not able to continue on as a silversmith apprentice. Lapham's granddaughter Priscilla, a young women near the same age as Johnny, is sad to see him leave under such circumstances. Before the fateful accident, Johnny had revealed to Priscilla that he believed he was a relative of the wealthy Jonathan Lyte. His mother had given him her christening cup and told him to seek out the Lytes if God had ever forsaken him. Johnny is a very proud young man and doesn't want to receive anything he hasn't earned, so he had not bothered to approach Lyte before since he had a job and was making his own way.

Johnny's disability causes him to be unable to land a job, so out of desperation he stops Mr. Lyte one day and shows him his mother's christening cup. He tells Johnny to meet him at his home later. When Johnny arrives, he expects to be welcomed with open arms, but is instead accused of stealing the christening cup from Lyte earlier that year. Johnny is arrested and his only hope is the Sons of Liberty. Through his association with Revere and other members of the Sons of Liberty, Josiah Quincy agrees to represent him for free. Johnny had heard about the unrest in the town, but was apolitical due to his comfortable life as a silversmith. Quincy and Priscilla are able to keep Johnny from the hangman's noose, as Priscilla reveals that Johnny showed her the christening cup before Lyte claims it was stolen. Johnny is set free and he quickly finds an in with the Sons of Liberty. From here, the story focuses much less on Johnny Tremain, and much more on historical events, such as the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, along with the ride of Paul Revere. Johnny's injury barely factors into the rest of the story either, so I'm glad we had all that set up!

Cast and Thoughts

The cast of the movie does include some Disney staples, such as Luana Patten as Priscilla Lapham, and Sebastian Cabot as Jonathan Lyte. Patten had been in The Song of the South, Fun and Fancy Free, So Dear to My Heart, and Melody Time. Cabot is more recognizable in voice than in person. He had previously been in the Disney film Westward Ho the Wagons. As I mentioned in Westward Ho the Wagons, Cabot is better known for his voice work in The Jungle Book and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Richard Beymer is probably the most recognizable actor outside of those two, though he is most known now for his role as Tony in West Side Story, and Ben Horne in Twin Peaks. Hal Stalmaster plays the lead character of Johnny Tremain, which is basically the only acting credit he has.

The first half of the movie is definitely the highlight. It's interesting to see the lead up to the war through a young person's eyes, but he has very little to do in the second half. A modern reviewer had compared Tremain to Forrest Gump, and I can't really disagree. In terms of educational value, I can maybe see this still being used in elementary school classrooms, but only as a general overview of events. The movie never really delves too deep into each historical event, but I can see it keeping kid's attention, at least in the first half. The film as a whole is just fine, as most of Disney's live action films are. Cabot's blustery Lyte is the highlight for me. I kind of hoped he would have stuck around for the whole movie. The weak spot in the film is unfortunately Hal Stalmaster. He just isn't very good in the role and is very wooden most of the time.

Release and Legacy

Besides Disney releasing the movie on The Wonderful World of Disney, sections of the film would be used for educational videos, namely  The Boston Tea Party, and The Shot Heard 'Round The World. The legacy of Johnny Tremain lives on in Disney World. Walt had originally wanted to create an area next to Main Street USA in Disneyland called Liberty Square. This area was announced in 1956, one year after Disneyland opened, and the same time that Johnny Tremain was in production. Walt had wanted buildings representing each of the thirteen colonies along with a show dedicated to The Declaration of Independence and a Hall of Presidents. The technology wasn't quite there, as Walt had wanted audio-animatronics to fill these shows. Besides that, the imagineers were also busy making the Matterhorn a reality, so Liberty Square never came to be in Disneyland. The idea, like many at Disney Studios, never went away, and when Disney World was being planned, they decided to include Liberty Square as one of the lands, though a little different from Walt's original vision. The Hall of Presidents came to fruition, but something that also populates the land is the Liberty Tree from Johnny Tremain. The tree has thirteen lanterns on it to represent the thirteen colonies of America. The tree was originally miles away from Disney World, but was transported into the park. Speaking of the Liberty Tree, the only song to come out of this movie is "Liberty Tree", which later was included on the 1964 Disneyland Records album Happy Birthday and Songs for Every Holiday. In the present day, this isn't one of Disney's more popular films, though it is at least recognizable, which I think has a lot to do with Disney using sections for educational purposes. I don't think anyone understands the link between the Liberty Tree in Disney World and the Liberty Tree in Johnny Tremain. I was honestly surprised that this movie wasn't available on Disney Plus, as I thought it was a little more well known. I wouldn't say you should seek this one out. It's nothing special, thanks in large part to the acting  and long periods that are pure history lesson and no story. Moving on from the Revolutionary War, our next movie concerns a dog that captured the hearts of a generation.