Movie Thoughts: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

• Released: February 3, 1993
  
• Directed by: Duwayne Dunham
• Running time: 1 h 24 min
• Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

After three pets are temporarily left behind by their owners on a ranch, the trio escapes in search of their beloved people. However, the journey is long and perilous.

My Thoughts

This is actually one of the first movies I actually rented as a kid. We did have a tiny DVD and VHS rent store in town back then (not a Blockbuster, but comparable) and usually each small vacation me and my brother would be allowed to borrow one or two movies. We never did this all that often (sometimes we skipped a vacation altogether) and soon enough with streaming services rising the rental store went out of business and we haven't had one since. But this is one of the movies I clearly remember I rented there. Honestly I don't recall if I liked it as a kid or no (probably did, though), but now as an adult I can definitely say I do think this is a solid film.

It's got strong and likable characters, an epic journey and just a whole lot of peril and heart to it. It's definitely a pretty simple film plot-wise, but that doesn't mean it's bad in the slightest. It just has its story laid out and you probably can predict how it will ends, but it doesn't make the journey feel any lesser because of it.

This is also actually a remake movie of an earlier Disney live-action film, The Incredible Journey. Which in turn is based on the eponymous book by Sheila Burnford. I have mixed thoughts on both the earlier movie and book, not liking them a whole lot, but this remake is definitely what I would consider an improvement. I like the journey more, the characters are more rounded and intricate, and there's less scenes of animals in uncomfortable or dangerous situations (regarding the earlier film adaptation). There's still one or two shots in this movie of dogs interacting with (for example) bears, but it's nothing as major as in The Incredible Journey. So this is definitely a case where I consider the remake to be superior to the original.

The characters are especially what I like about the film. In the prior movie, they weren't too rounded or developed, but this time around we really have three unique characters. Shadow is the old, wise and determined leader. Sassy is the cat who thinks highly of herself and her kind, but at the same time she really grows close to the dogs and learns to get her paws dirty. Chance has the biggest change of all probably, with him going from being an independent and inexperienced loner to being close friends with the other two pets, as well as his human boy. All of these characters are wonderfully distinct and memorable and it's just so neat to each see them have their own arcs. 

There's of course the lowest part of the film where for the first time Shadow does give up hope after injuring his leg, and Chance and Sassy are forced to go on without him, with them both admitting how much he means to them as a friend and mentor. But of course there's the happy ending in the end where all three make it home and they're a proper family once again. Just...wholesome stuff.

Overall I'd say this is a solid movie. Maybe as an adaptation of the book it does fail (the original The Incredible Journey movie does stick a lot closer to the book), but as a film and piece of media in and of itself I genuinely think this is both superior to the prior movie and the book. A rarity, but it's true. Definitely recommend this one if you love animals.