To see with children: a loyal dog with a tender heart in a great Disney adventure

With Fidèle Vagabond, Walt Disney invites us to go back in time to the days of the Far West where we follow a family whose father leaves to drive cattle quite a distance and must leave his wife and two children to take care of the farm. The meeting of the latter with Vagabond, a Labrador retriever crossed mastiff, will change their lives.

From the age of 8

The friendship between men and animals was not invented with Fidèle Vagabond, we can say that the film meets all the specifications expected with this kind of film for the whole family. The film is also an opportunity to address the absence of the father (temporary here) and mourning. In the hands of Robert Stevenson, one of Disney’s most prolific directors, we are in good hands here, and the film is devoured with almost disconcerting ease. It is available on Disney+.

What they will like:

The Walt Disney Pictures

• Wanderer, who is thought to be a thief and clumsy when he is a real brave, cunning and affectionate hero.
• If the big brother is initially hostile to the presence of Vagabond, he finally becomes the closest and we are satisfied that it happens like that.
• The courageous family who must maintain the farm and operate it while the father is away; mom is perfectly capable of handling things on her own.

What may worry them:

The Walt Disney Pictures

• Life in the cowboy era is different from today and the young Travis must hunt, fish, exploit animals and does it with the uninhibitedness of the pioneers of that time.

• The sequences where Vagabond saves Travis or his brother from various dangers, in particular the confrontation between the dog and a bear standing on its two legs, which is very impressive!

• Of course the end, which will make you shed hot tears –

  poor Drifter has caught rabies and needs to be shot by Travis! – and dad’s little speech at the end brings some comfort.