Truly Dreadful Film

i must have seen a different film!!

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie when I picked it up off the library shelf. I thought my daughter might watch a few scenes just because she likes the boy from Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson. She put it on, and we watched from start to finish, and we've re-watched several times since. It is pure fun, just an enjoyable family film that has somehow been forgotten.Part of what children will like is the animals, especially the chimp Mr. Stubbs. They got some great moments out of him. As an adult, I enjoy it as a period piece. There were some scenes that took place on the Main Street of an early 1900s small town that looked great. The circus workers were colorful characters and very likable. Kevin Corchoran does an amazing job as a kid who runs away to join the circus and has his ups and downs along the way. The story takes place in a more innocent time, and there was a charm in seeing how people might have dealt with these situations in a more innocent time. For example, the nastiest thing the villain does is hide the boy's mail from him. Most of the traveling workers are honest, hard working people, and the movie presents a fairly chaste image of this life. However, there are some moments that some parents may object to, particularly those who are sensitive to images of firearms in family films. Other than one or two non-pc spots, this is a harmless movie that is totally free from irony or the snide, wisecracking characters that fill family movies today.

Walt Disney who certainly liked to make films that take place in earlier simpler times like when he was young has Toby Tyler set during the era before World War I at the turn of the last century. Kevin Corcoran plays young Tyler who is an orphan and foster child of his uncle and aunt Tom Fadden and Edith Evanson. When the circus comes to town he neglects chores and when they tell him he's 'millstone around their necks' young Corcoran runs away.The rest of the film tells of Toby's adventures with the circus where he first works for concessionaire Bob Sweeney who has a really nice role as a not so lovable carny who takes really bad advantage of Toby. Fortunately he does not stay under Sweeney's tutelage and makes some real friends in circus strongman Henry Calvin and clown Gene Sheldon.Calvin and Sheldon were from the Disney TV show Zorro and Sheldon played Guy Williams's dumb valet Bernardo. Sheldon was a great pantomime comedian and rarely spoke in his performances on stage, film, or in Zorro. He's great here, but it was nice to hear him. Broke a bit of the illusion, almost like having Harpo Marx talk.And Toby also meets young equestrian performers Dennis Oliveri and Barbara Beird. Beird likes him, but Oliveri is rather full of himself, really odd for someone so young. Toby gets his chance as a performer and to escape Sweeney when Oliveri gets injured showing off.As this is a Disney film naturally it all works out in the end for everyone but Sweeney. And when you see the film I think you'll agree with me that he got off very lightly indeed.Toby Tyler holds up very well after over 50 years, still a nice children's classic.

But not quite as much as some make out...the circus characters in the book were not that grotesque, not was Toby in an orphan's home, constantly being punished for dishonesty. And, he did become a star, in a sense, on horseback. However, he was a glutonous boy who runs away to the circus, for no reason other than his own selfish ones. He does have a hard life. And his riding on the horses lasts for only about a day, but for that day, he and the girl who rode with them were required to do encores of their performances,Anyways....the story is cute. Yes, Mr. stubbs lives in the movie, but that is typical Disney giving a happy ending, and is to be expected. Watch it for fun, not because you want to compare it to the book. Personally, I like both.

I love Kevin Corcoran's acting in the first place, but this is most likely my favorite movie with him STARING! What sets this one above the rest is it does NOT rely on a sound-track to keep the interest of the viewers. Toby is an orphaned boy being raised by his aunt and uncle. His uncle tells him he is a burden, so Toby joins the circus. What makes this movie most entertaining is Toby's horse training! As I said, this movie does not rely on a sound-track to keep the interest of the viewers, but in fact it is this very aspect that makes it a charm! As Toby is trained to ride a horse, you see him fail, fail, learn, learn some more, then eventually succeed! All the time, the only thing you hear is the trot of the horse!