The Legend of Lobo (1962)

An Exercise In Nonsense

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Another in a long line of enjoyable Disney nature films. This one tells the story of a wolf named Lobo (not Sherriff Lobo) from when he's a young pup to when he becomes an adult with a large bounty on his head. There's all sorts of corny cuteness with Lobo playing other animals and such, but the film was surprisingly realistic in the human hunters attempts to kill or capture Lobo with some pretty scary traps and hunting dogs. However, this remains a Disney films and is hardly a grim diatribe about the evils of hunting. At it's heart it's about cute animals and an appreciation for nature, which all goes down quite easy and without much pretension.

It's a Disney True-Life adventure shot near Sedonia, Arizona, with the cast and crew that was becoming standard for the series of pseudo-documentaries, with James Algar directing and Rex Bell narrating, with songs by the Sherman twins and incidental music by the Sons of the Pioneers.It's the story of Lobo, a wolf in the 19th Century, about the time cattle ranching was introduced following the wiping out of the buffalo, based on a story by Ernst Thompson Seton. There's the usual amazing photography, not just of the red butte-and-mesa land, but the amazingly trained animals.Enjoyable as the parts of the movie are, I noticed that the story-telling aspect had fallen into set patterns. When the young Lobo makes friends and goes frolicking with a young antelope, it struck me: in many ways, this movie is BAMBI, only Man has entered the desert, with guns and traps and dogs. There's clearly a character, an uncredited actor who has set himself against Lobo, but he is given no personality; he is referred to only as "the hunter."Disney was by no means a one-man operation; there were many creative people working for him. However, his management-by-wandering-around style meant that, although he might have one project at a time uppermost in his mind -- at this point, probably MARY POPPINS -- he might turn up at any point. The folks in the animation section had a warning for when was was around: "Man is in the Forest."

During his lifetime, producer Walt Disney did turn out some interesting animal-themed shorts and movies. However, "The Legend of Lobo" is one time where Disney was apparently unable to give sufficient inspiration to his filmmakers. There are a number of things I could list that illustrate why this effort is a misfire, such as the obvious padding even for a 67 minute running time, the too-cutesy narration, and an ending that is abrupt and without a satisfying payoff. But I think that the main fault with the movie is that the wolf Lobo never becomes a strong animal figure. Yes, the first half follows him around when he is a pup, but he is then an immature animal that lacks any soul. It's even worse when Lobo becomes a full grown adult wolf - you never get a sense of any kind of personality you can relate to or understand. By the way, no director is listed in the credits for the movie - if the director decided to take his name off the credits after seeing the end results, I can certainly understand his decision.

Ernest Thompson Seton's story has been brought to the screen in a remarkable and unique way. There is no dialogue in the whole movie. The story is told through narration by Rex Allen (who had the perfect voice for this sort of thing) and music performed by the Sons of the Pioneers. (The title song, which reappears throughout the film, was written by the Sherman Brothers.) Oliver Wallace provides a nice music score and the outdoor photography by Jack Couffer and Lloyd Beebe is beautiful. All of these elements combine to form a very entertaining film. May the legend live on.