The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 2, 2018

Disney was undergoing a turbulent change in leadership and corporate identity in the 1980s. It was a strange time for the studio, caught between maintaining family friendly entertainment they built their reputation on and trying to compete with other studios enjoying the riches of edgier product. 1985 alone was a bizarre year for Walt Disney Pictures, who tried to flex some creative muscles with “Return to Oz” and “The Black Cauldron” (creating a few nightmare machines in the process), while also remaining true to their roots with “The Journey of Natty Gann,” a throwback effort to the heyday of heartwarming Disney entertainment, only this version of the plucky kid making her way in the world isn’t nearly as candied as it initially seems, and thank goodness for that.

As the Great Depression sweeps across America in 1935, Sol (Ray Wise) is a widower struggling to find work in Chicago, trying to raise his streetwise 15-year-old daughter, Natty (Meredith Salenger), on his own. While Natty is away on her daily adventures, Sol is offered an immediate position with a lumber company in Washington, forced to take the job without consulting his kid. With Sol away, planning to send for Natty when he gets the money, the teenager is left on her own, dodging worthless guardians as she plans to find her father, hitting the rails and backroads, picking up a companion in Wolf, a feral creature who befriends the lonely human, with the pair encountering all types of setbacks and challenges along the difficult journey.

What’s immediately clear about “Natty Gann” is how impressively constructed it is. Director Jeremy Kagan doesn’t have a massive budget to work with, so he creates the Depression-era experience in pieces, building a suffocating world of poverty, antagonism, and hopelessness for Natty to escape, finding her freedom in the great wide open of America (actually Canada), giving the tale a sense of expanse without having to fuss over major technical challenges. Cinematic beauty is everywhere, with costuming wonderful, set design memorable, and cinematography by Dick Bush is exquisite, giving Kagan much to work with while assembling a fairly straightforward tale of an eventful trek that’s motivated by fatherly love and concern. Also helping “Natty Gann” achieve its wingspan is music by James Horner, who recycles ideas (a common trait with this composer) to secure the spirit of the picture, previewing themes for “The Land Before Time” and “Aliens” for this period story.

“Natty Gann” has heart, but Kagan is more interested in peril, concentrating on screenwriter Jeanne Rosenberg’s desire to keep the titular character in a constant state of unrest, feeling the burn of travel in 1935 as she deals with derailed trains, a detention center, a family of thieving tramps, suspicious families, and a sexual predator before she finds comfort with drifter Harry (John Cusack), who’s rushed into position as a possible love interest for the adolescent, but does much better as a mindful companion with growing respect for the kid and her tenacity. Wolf helps to give Natty a partner for the long, silent stretches of the movie, providing compelling animal behavior and four-legged heroism to meet studio demands. However, “Natty Gann” isn’t cheery, taking the quest seriously, giving viewers a feel for the dangers of the trip and the melancholy of the era, offering dramatic depth to what would normally be an apple-cheeked Disney production.

The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Disney hasn't been kind to "The Journey of Natty Gann" when it comes the movie's numerous appearances on physical media, with both VHS and DVD releases offering only a pan and scan version of the film, which wasn't respectful to the production's wonderful cinematography. 33 years after the feature's original theatrical release, "Natty Gann" finds a proper home on Blu-ray, with the AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation finally providing a proper look at the effort's creative triumphs. The widescreen frame is bright and detailed, offering deep vistas and fibrous costuming, getting a feel for period atmosphere and locations. Facial particulars are inviting, surveying intense close-ups and wear and tear, while Wolf's participation delivers touchable fur. Colors are supportive, keeping the seasonal mood and Depression-era decay, favoring darker hues that remain secure throughout. Delineation is adequate, with a few evening encounters coming close to solidification. Grain is filmic. Source is in fine shape, without obvious points of damage.

The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release doesn't go all the way with "Natty Gann" support, only providing a 2.0 Dolby Digital mix. There's certainly clarity to enjoy here, with the track free of hiss and distortion, but power is lacking, most notably with scenes involving explosions, which carry little oomph. Dialogue exchanges are appealing, tracking emotional responses and charged encounters, with a few softer lines getting a bit buried along the way. Scoring is supportive, delivering reasonable instrumentation and position. Atmospherics are satisfactory, providing a feel for combative gatherings and wide open spaces. Obviously, a lossless listening event is missed, but what's here is palatable, just not remarkable.

The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this disc.

The Journey of Natty Gann Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Natty Gann" is gorgeous, with painterly photography and a true sense of time and place, and the acting is superb, finding Wise doing something profound with very little as the despondent dad, while Salenger is an ideal mix of moxie and vulnerability, never slipping into cutesiness. It's easy to believe this character could cross America on her own, and make friends with a snarling wolf. While pacing isn't as tight as it could be, "The Journey of Natty Gann" emerges as a bold reminder of the cinematic appeal Disney is capable of producing and where the company was at in 1985, trying to find a way to preserve the legacy of the company and still appeal to kids raised on "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." It's a gem, and one that's finally polished to satisfaction on Blu-ray.