Napoleon and Samantha
by Bernard McEveety
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Arch Johnson, Jodie Foster, Johnny Whitaker, Michael Douglas, Will GeerDirector: Bernard McEveety
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Cinematographer: Monroe P. Askins
Editor: Robert Stafford
Producer: Stewart Raffill
Writer: Stewart Raffill
Producer: Tom Leetch
Producer: Winston Hibler
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-06
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product features:
- There's magic in the memories as great Disney moments are captured right here for you and your family to enjoy. Two young children (Johnny Whitaker and Jodie Foster) suddenly find themselves in charge of a gentle, aging circus lion. However, when they are threatened with being split up by stern authorities, the trio embarks on a perilous journey across the wilds of the American Northwest. Duri
Movie Reviews of Napoleon and Samantha
Movie Review: My Favorite Disney Movie AND Favorite Movie of All Time!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Disney's little-known Napoleon and Samantha does not receive half the credit it deserves. Even as an adult, is is bar none, hands down, my favorite movie of all time. It is simply exceptional in every way.
I first became familiar with Napoleon and Samantha when renting movies from a local video (gasp! what's VHS?) rental store in Alabama back in the 90's. I was one, if not my top rented movie because we couldn't find it anyplace else back in the day, including Suncoast or even at Disneyworld on trip to Disney when we inquired about it.
I was very happy to get a copy of my own about 3 years ago on Christmas when it came out on DVD.
Now, what do i like about Napoleon and Samantha so much? Everything. It's hard to explain, but it has an incredible depth and charm so hard to find in other movies. The musical score is beautiful (and apparently equally rare, i haven't been able to find a copy of the soundtrack anywhere) and the scenery is equally beautiful and breathtaking. The acting of Johnny Whitaker (Sigmund and The Sea Monsters, Tom Sawyer movie), is great, and it is interesting to Jodi Foster and Michael Douglas so young, one of the first movie appearances for both of them. And, if you are a fan of The Waltons as i am, it is an added treat to see both Grandma and Grandpa Walton (Will Geer, Ellen Corby) in their respective roles as Napoleon's Grandpa and Samantha's housekeeper. As stated, the plot is slightly weightier than most Disney fare, with the death of Napoleon's Grandpa and a hinted-at child pervert named Mark (whom is only referred to as a "psycho")
The story starts with a lovable but slightly mischievous boy named Napoleon growing up in a small, unnamed rural town with his sidekick, best friend and next door neighbor, Samantha. The two are seen trading in bottles for candy at the local general store, and meeting Napoleon's horse friend, Charlie, at a nearby pasture.
Napoleon lives with his Grandpa, Seth Wilson, as his parents have unexplainedly died at some point, and there appear to be no living relatives left. The slightly better off Samantha lives much of her time with her housekeeper, Gertrude, as her parents always seem to be off an business trips.
As Napoleon and Grandpa walk home from the movies that same night, they pass a circus clown and his lion camping out by the river. DeMetri the clown invites them to join him by his trailer, with milk for Napoleon and wine for Grandpa. He smooth talks them into taking Major, his aging lion for their own, claiming he has tried the zoo and they have no place for a "milk drinking lion". A reluctant Grandpa can see thru the ploy, but nature-loving Napoleon is excited to be taking on a new pet, reminding Grandpa that grandpa said he use to be a lion trainer in Ethiopia (one of Grandpa's wild stories used to entertain his grandson.) Grandpa finally and lovingly accepts, unable to withhold the wishes of his grandson, but later reminds Napoleon not to spread the word at school that they are keeping a tame, but wild animal in the chicken coop out back ("If the authorities hear about him they'll take him away! Darned busybodies.") And Napoleon agrees with that logic.
Naturally, the only one Napoleon lets in on his secret is his pal "Sam", but otherwise its under wraps. Between Napoleon's pocket money and Grandpa's pension check they are able to buy all the milk major needs. When the reason for buying all the cow juice is raised by general store keeper and longtime friend of Grandpa's Mr. Gutterridge, Grandpa claims he is taking milk baths because "milk supples the flesh" and suggests the same for a taken-aback Gutterridge ("You outta try it yourself on that ornery hide of yours!")
Just as a 10 year old Napoleon (he'll be 11 in August) is thoroughly enjoying all of his adventures with Grandpa, such as watching the sunset, looking for Indian smoke signals, and feeding Major, things start to turn sad. One weekend morning when Grandpa isn't feeling so well (Napoleon thinks it's nothing more than stomach trouble), he offers to fix dear old Grandpa breakfast in bed, complete with melted iccream, a fried onion sandwich, and instant black coffee. Grandpa decides to bow out graciously and saves everything for later, but invites Napoleon sit on the bed so they can have a talk.
Grandpa tries to break it Napoleon gently that he is getting older and may not be around much longer, but Napoleon doesn't take the hint at first, logically stating that everyone gets older and gets sick. Grandpa poses a simply logic question to Napoleon, asking what you do when an old machine breaks down. "You fix it" says Napoleon. "What about when you can't fix it no more?" says Grandpa. "Well, you gotta trade it in for a new one", says Napoleon. And that's exactly what Grandpa says he's gonna do, trade his old "machine" in for a new one. Grandpa explains that no one ever really dies because "the thing that's real inside of you goes on and on forever and ever", leading to a tear-jerking (and very deep for Disney) scene of Grandpa kissing Napoleon's fingers.
The next day, a cheerful Napoleon who has put yesterday's conversation in the back of his mind, walks home from school with Sam and says he's gonna go check on Grandpa. While Grandpa is not shown, only the headboard of his bead, Napoleon has discovered that Grandpa has peacefully passed away in his sleep (Grandpa's "made his peace with The Almighty", so he says.) Grandpa's words echo in Napoleon's head that Grandpa is now free "to get around again."
(While not a blatantly Christian message, i like the fact that the eternality of the soul is emphasized, wherever Grandpa might be now.)
A shocked Napoleon is faced with telling Sam who has been carefreely playing hopscotch outside on the back sidewalk of the house. The ever brave faced-Napoleon tells her that the thing that's real inside of you goes on and on forever and forever. A saddened Samantha thinks its a beautiful sentiment, but wonders what the now-orphaned Napoleon will do to fend for himself. The two check the mailbox to see if any word has come a last-surviving relative of Napoleon's. A letter returns "unclaimed mail" from a supposed uncle Charlie in New York. The uncle, whom Napoleon has never met, was suppose to take up the responsibility of raising Napoleon after Grandpa was gone. (It is not clear whether Grandpa was unaware of Uncle Charlie's status or he was trying to hold out a well-intentioned false hope for Napoleon.)
The first order of business now tho is Grandpa's funeral. He requested no fancy funeral arrangements, so Napoleon, at Samantha's suggestion, heads off to the Employment Office to hire someone to help bury Grandpa. He scopes the line of would-be employers inside the building, and meets Danny Williams (a young Michael Douglas), a 20'sh something "hippie type", who is interested in a Master's degree and between jobs. The two become fast friends (well, i guess it was a bit safer back in the 70's) and Napoleon lets him know his request. He wants him to help him "bury his Grandpa." A disturbed Danny comes back to Napoleon's house to check out the situation, including meeting Major, his pet lion. Danny respects Grandpa's last wishes for no fancy funerals, but tells Napoleon they can't keep Grandpa's death or Napoleon's newly-orphaned state a secret. They build a homemade wooden coffin (not shown) for burial on the hill out back the house. The 4- Danny, Sam, Napoleon, and the gentle lion, have a mountain-top, graveside service for Grandpa, complete with a wooden cross, Danny's recitation of Ecclesiastes 3 (To everything there is a season...) and Grandpa's hat from his Navy days atop the earth. The graveside service is another very moving and poignant scene.
The movie changes gears a bit to a briter note, and everyone is refreshed in the morning with a beautiful sunrise over Grandpa's grave seen from the kitchen window. Danny has apparently spent the night at Napoleon's house (again, i guess we can go with that, seeing it is small town-70's, but not by today's terms), and Samantha joins them at the breakfast table. Now what to do about the newly orphaned Napoleon? Napoleon wants to live with his new pal Danny in his mountain cabin, but Danny lets him know that's not possible. Always independent and not wanting to be resigned to an orphanage, Napoleon lies and says he'll be fine til his (non responsive) uncle gets there. In the meantime, they reassure Danny he can stay at Samantha's house. (A boy staying over is permissible because her parents are away and it's "just me and Gertrude.") The fun loving and easy going Danny, maybe a bit too trusting on this one, agrees to the plan before hiking back to his cabin, but wants confirmation of when the uncle arrives to make sure everything is safe and sound.
Upon Danny's departure, Napoleon, Samantha, and pet lion "Maje" are in for one adventure after the other. Napoleon doesn't stay at either his or Samantha's house, but instead heads out a journey with Major in the wild mountains, convinced that he can hike the mountains just like Danny does, and once he finds Danny's place, Danny will feel sorry for him and let him live with him. Not to be left out on an adventure with her best bud, Samantha follows shortly after, with sandwiches and their chicken friend "Doodle". Napoleon wants to do it on his own, and feels she would be a bit too sissy for the mountain adventure. After a promise of "never to cry" he agrees and the two head off together with Major in tow.
The two run into many mishaps in the wild, with Major saving the day all along the way. They come up against a mountain lion, a bear, camp in a deserted barn, and try roughing it, scrounging for food such as snails and fish in the nearby stream.
Meanwhile, back home, housekeeper Gertrude has grown worried sick as she thought Samantha was only going to be spending a couple nights with Napoleon and his Grandpa, not yet knowing that Grandpa is dead. The police begin their investigation, with two missing kids, a questionable hippie guy (whom Gertrude had seen briefly with Napoleon) and the cross of Grandpa's grave atop the hill.
Just as Napoleon and Samantha think all hope is lost, and they will be lost, hungry and tired in the wilderness forever, Samantha spies a fold of sheep and a figure in the distance, whom happens to be Danny. The 3 run excitedly to meet each other, with a hug for Napoleon and kiss on the cheek for Samantha. Danny's excited to see them but worried-what about Napoleon's uncle, and Sam's parents? It's a long story that will have to hashed out over the supper table at Danny's cabin.
While Danny is disappointed that Napoleon didn't tell him the truth about his uncle in the first place, he is also quick to act. Danny will hike back over the mountains into town over the next day and night and straighten the whole thing out with Gertrude. He will (again, trustingly) leave the kids in the care of a wanderer whom he assumes is another hippie type named Mark.
While it is never specifically stated that Mark is a child perv, he looks ominously over the kids, whom are sleeping by the roaring fireplace, but Major the lion roars in defiance should he come near his to young masters, thus ending a very poignant but progressive scene for Disney. (It should be noted that while kinda scary, the scene is subtle enough that kids would not detect exactly what is wrong with Mark, other than a "crazy" or "bad stranger".)
Meanwhile, back in town, Danny finds Samantha's address, and is ready to tell Gertrude that the kids are alright. Instead of a quick settling of the mess as he'd hoped, he is soon met by police, and the easy going Danny cannot understand "what this hassle's all about" or why he'd be suspected of being a creep.
News spreads quickly in a small town, and Gertrude, her friend Ida, and a group of townspeople gather at the police station to see this infamous "kidnapper" they've been hearing about.
While Danny waits to be interrogated, he sees a wanted poster on the billboard behind that a "Mark Pierson" has escaped recently from a mental ward. It's the same Mark of course! Danny, scared for the kids, safety, urgently tells the police that Mark is up in the cabin with the kids and they have to act fast! When the police don't seem to take him too seriously, Danny becomes angry and flies out of the police station, thus establishing himself as the true "good guy" and Mark as the "bad guy" with Gertrude and Ida as witnesses.
A wild police chase ensues with Danny first on foot and then hiding behind a building and in a backyard fence. While not able to run way of mountain on foot of course, he steals a motorcycle from a guy filling up at a nearby gas station. Now its wailing police sirens against Danny cutting up thru back roads and woods on the motorcycle. A chopper is sent out next, with a radio police report coming in that a Mark Pierson has been confirmed missing. "Looks like he was telling the truth."
Danny arrives that the cabin, but trouble was starting to brew when Mark suggested to unknowing kids that they play a "prisoner and wicked giant game." Luckily, he only got as far as tying their hands to a chair, as confirmed by the kids. Demented Mark takes off out of the cabin and is soon wrangled in by police and taken back by jeep.
The innocent kids wonder why their new "friend" is being escorted away by the police, and Danny tells them they are taking him to a hospital, because Mark's been very sick. In an incredible moment of irony that adults will understand, Napoleon says "Gosh, he sure didn't look sick to me."
All's quickly resolved except for one thing- Napoleon's run away again! Danny soon catches up, and in his wisdom explains that there are no wild Indians around that part anymore to live with, and that everybody needs help in life, no matter how independent or strong.
This little-known classic ends with Danny, Major and Napoleon heading back to the cabin, and, whatever Napoleon's fate, we can be sure he WILL make it with the love of lion and the help of a new good friend.
Summary of Napoleon and Samantha
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