Disney was riding high after the immense popularity of Old Yeller and followed it up with an admittedly more serious affair, The Light in the Forest. The movie is based on Conrad Richter's novel of the same name which Disney bought the rights to as soon as it was released in 1953. The movie deals with a young white boy who was raised by Native Americans until a treaty with the United States forces him to be thrust back into white society. This would be Fess Parker's last film with Disney as he had become dissatisfied with the roles Disney cast him in. He complained that he was always playing the exact same character, a claim that was given more validity because Disney refused to lend him out to other studios if said role was outside of the norm for what they would use him for. He was offered only a small part in the movie Tonka and subsequently refused, causing him to be put on suspension, as he was a contract actor for Disney. He left the studio shortly after. Parker would never see as much success in movies as he had with Disney, but he would go on to lead an ensemble cast in the popular 1964 series Daniel Boone (ironically another American hero like Davy Crockett).Story
In 1764, a new peace treaty between white settlers and Native Americans declares that all white captives must be released. Johnny Butler was taken captive early in his young life, and now at near fifteen he knows nothing of his life with his real family. He had been fully assimilated in Lenni Lenape tribe and was given the name True Son by his adoptive father, Cuyloga. He is taken to Fort Pitt accompanied by a young soldier named Del Hardy who looks after him. True Son is despondent that he must live with the white people, the very people he grew up hating. He tries to commit suicide on the way to Fort Pitt but is stopped by Hardy. Hardy introduces him to his real father and accompanies them back to their home acting as an interpreter (and basically mentor). As you can imagine, things don't go so smoothly. True Son refuses to acknowledge his family and is cold to them, pretending that he understands no English. At his homecoming party he has a confrontation with is Uncle Wilse, who claims that the Lenni Lenape killed nearby settlers and scalped women and children. True Son defends his adoptive family and gets slapped for it. A girl named Shenandoe, who is an indentured servant for Uncle Wilse's family becomes fascinated by True Son, though she has her own hatred for natives due to her family being scalped by an unknown tribe. True Son and Shenandoe eventually get to know each other, and they start to realize that their prejudices were completely wrong. With that understanding they also start to fall in love with each other. While things are starting to go better between True Son and his new family, things become complicated when True Son's old friend Half Arrow comes and visits him. Half Arrow gives him news that Little Crane, another member of their tribe, was killed by men in town because he was trying to visit True Son. Half Arrow attacks Uncle Wilse and almost scalps him but is stopped by True Son. True son and Half Arrow run back to the Lenni Lenape. The Lenni Lenape declare war on the white settlers and it looks like for a short time that things will go back to the way they were before the treaty for True Son. However, while he is in a raiding party and they are prepared to attack a boat of white settlers, he sees that Del Hardy is in the boat and decides to warn them of the attack. He is almost executed by his tribe but Cuyloga convinces his people to have him be cast out permanently. Hardy takes True Son back to his family, though they talk about how True Son had heard of murdered children by the Lenni Lenape. Hardy tells him that there are good and bad people everywhere. He returns back to his real family, but quickly gets into a fight with Uncle Wilse. They duke it out once and for all, with True Son winning the brawl and Uncle Wilse declaring that True Son is now a white man. True Son and Shenandoe reunite and begin to plan their future. 
The film follows the book pretty closely, but you can definitely see why Disney made the changes they made. In the book, Uncle Wilse is scalped by Half Arrow and True Son after Little Crane is murdered. Del Hardy is basically just in the beginning of the book and does not factor into the climax the way he does in the film. This was obviously done to give Fess Parker a bigger part in the film since he wasn't the lead actor. Shenandoe was added to the film to give True Son a love interest, something that would make the film more accessible to the younger movie-going demographic. The novel ends more on a not of uncertainty, with True Son being led back to a white road by Cuyloga and not sure where his future lies.
Cast
The cast is led by James MacArthur playing the young True Son/Johnny Butler. MacArthur signed on as a contract actor for Disney starting with this film and would go on to star in three more Disney movies. Disney was pretty good about keeping one consistent actor in a string of movies, so consider this the transition from Fess Parker to James MacArthur. MacArthur is perhaps more known for his role as Danny "Danno" Williams in Hawaii Five-O. Carol Lynley plays Shenandoe, her first of many roles. Lynley would be nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the Golden Globes in 1969 for her role in The Light in the Forest. She would go on to have prominent roles in Blue Denim and The Poseidon Adventure. Perhaps the most well-known actor outside of Fess Parker in this movie is Jessica Tandy, who played True Son's real mother. Tandy became famous later in her life in roles like Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Release
The film premiered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where the movie is supposed to take place, on July 9th, 1958. Reception to the movie was tepid at best. Most critics praised some aspects of the film, but most were superficial. Generally it was seen as not a worthy follow-up to the smash hit that was Old Yeller. I myself liked the movie just fine, but it certainly doesn't belong in the same conversation as the Disney greats. The next film I'll be covering did end up surprising me on how much I enjoyed it, and it showed how good of an actor that James MacArthur could be.
