Watched: 04/18/2026
Format: Disney+
Viewing: First (that I can remember)
Director: Jeremy Kagan
The other day I watched a bit from Colbert where he and Patton Oswalt discussed a dog actor named "Jed". The connection was that Jed was the dog from the start of John Carpenter's The Thing, and he was a major character in The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) which stars Oswalt's wife, Meredith Salenger, who was in the movie at age 15.
I've seen The Thing plenty, but had vague memories of seeing The Journey of Natty Gann once, when teachers wheeled in TV's as we prepared for our fifth-grade graduation at Spicewood Elementary in 1986. My memory of *that* is everyone talking while I wanted them to shut up so I could watch the movie. But it was not to be - and I don't think we ever finished it.
Anyway, I *did* remember the movie was not exactly a Pollyanna-type story, but it was well produced and Salenger was good. Plus it had John Cusack, who I knew from comedies at the time.
I will flat out say - they don't make them like this anymore. And, man, do I miss things like pacing and cinematography and an acknowledgement that kids share the world with adults. I also am reminded that part of making movies for families not all cartoons about farting blobs and/ or superheroes was that you could make a movie a period piece and kids would get a general idea of what an era was like. Especially recent history, as the Depression still was in 1986.
The cast on this thing is kind of surprising. Yes, the lead is teen-aged Meredith Salenger, and John Cusack plays a vital role. And Jed.* But her father is played by Ray Wise just two years before he'd appear in RoboCop in a supporting role and then wind up as Leland Palmer forever. All-around star Lainie Kazan** appears, as does Scatman Cruthers. Verna Bloom is in the movie for one minute. And a group of young tramps is led by 70's and 80's star Barry Miller.
The Journey of Natty Gann starts in Chicago in 1935 as the Depression is roaring. Wise is a labor-rights leader who is also out of work. A widower, he's raising his teen daughter to be tough - this isn't any place to not know how to throw a punch.
But on a crucial day, he's offered work in a Washington State lumber camp and can't take Natty, who he can't even find, and his bus leaves at 6:00 PM sharp. Meanwhile, she's out dicking around in Chicago.
Natty tries to get along with Kazan, her landlord, but when Kazan calls authorities to come get her, Natty splits and jumps a train. The rest of the movie is a series of episodic adventures wherein Natty sees America and dodges the adult world - which looks to exploit her, imprison her, and occasionally treat her with rays of kindness. I won't get into each episode because that's the movie. Go watch it.
Along the way, she comes across a dog-fight wherein she meets Wolf (Jed) and frees him, and eventually the two bond, caring for each other on the journey across America.
As a series of incidents, it's strange family fare in 2026. It, in fact, starts with kids sharing a smoke in a toilet stall. Natty is constantly verbally abused, sometimes physically abused - and, yes, they acknowledge the possibility of SA when a young girl is on the open road. And it's clear she's only got herself and Wolf to count on.
The world is both beautiful and dangerous. If I made note of the cinematography before, Dick Bush - a British DP - and director Jeremy Kagan clearly understood the lyricism of the story. A lot needed to be conveyed in visuals that was not going to be spoken in dialog. Natty is exploring the American west, from Chicago to Colorado to Seattle in places still wild and open. Humans live in outposts, and cities are a rarity. Sure, we start in Chicago, but we're soon in mountains and plains, forests and fields.
The story itself is about grit and home being where the heart is. It's a modest goal - just finding one's father (and a father thinking his daughter is dead). As a coming-of-age story it's dumping a teen into the adult world only semi-ready.
Worth noting, because I read and I'm older and this is something apparently The Kids(tm) on Threads seem totally unaware of - in 1935 at age 15, you could easily be getting married off with two kids by 19. What constituted an adult has changed drastically just in my lifetime, jumping from about aged 18 to about 25. And Natty is just on the cusp of that adulthood. It is truly a coming of age tale.
The movie I kept wanting to compare this to was The Black Stallion, a family/ all-ages movie that is so beautifully made it's kind of a shock that so few movies even try for that kind of sweeping nature and understand the child's heart in the world of grown ups and those who know better, and what it means to received kindness as a youth. The story of an animal and a kid. Not to mention the lovely locales and sweeping cinematography.
Well, this movie shares a screenwriter with The Black Stallion. One Jeanne Rosenberg. So, good work, Jeanne!
I do think maybe the movie could have used a joke here or there to lighten the mood from time-to-time, it does have a tendency to feel a bit like it's hitting the same chords over and over. But by and large, for me this was a really solid movie. Salenger kind of shows up as a teen actor who doesn't feel like the product of a system. Her Natty feels buyable and knows to play it close to the vest with big eyes that tell the audience everything.
Anyway, really glad I sung back to rewatch this one. I'd meant to during COVID and just never got around to it. Still on Disney+.
*During COVID I watched a lot of the Animal Watch YouTube channel, which went from all animals, to canines and wolves to very large dogs to Wolfdogs, which are a very real thing, and with which the host is deeply preoccupied. And so I knew what Jed was on first sight seeing him again.
**and reportedly Jack Kirby's inspiration for Big Barda
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