Old Yeller is a 1956 book by Fred Gipson. The title is taken from the name of the fictional Mountain Cur dog who is a main character in the book. The book won the Newbery Honor in 1956. The 1957 film adaptation Old Yeller starred Dorothy McGuire and Tommy Kirk. Old Yeller is a classic 1957 film directed by Robert Stevenson, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... Frederick Benjamin Gipson (February 7, 1908-August 14, 1973) was an American author. ... The Mountain Cur is a type of working dog used for treeing and trailing game; mainly squirrel and raccoon, but also large game. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... The Newbery Honor is a citation given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA). ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Old Yeller is a classic 1957 film directed by Robert Stevenson, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution. ... Dorothy McGuire and Kent Smith in The Spiral Staircase Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. ... Tommy Kirk (born December 10, 1941 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a former American child actor, and later a businessman and adult actor. ...

Plot summary

The Coates family consists of the father Jim, mother Katie, older son Travis, and younger son Arliss. The Coates are settlers in the territory of Texas near a settlement called Salt Licks.

The father is away on a cattle drive when an "old yeller dog" visits the family uninvited. Travis tries to shoo him off, while his younger brother Arliss immediately takes to him. Their mother interferes and reasons that the family could use a good dog. Though Travis initially loathed the "rascal" and tried to find reasons to get rid of the dog, Old Yeller eventually proves his worth, saving Travis, Little Arliss and the family on several occasions. Travis grows to love and value Yeller.

Then the rightful owner of Yeller shows up looking for his dog. After Arliss throws a fit, and seeing that the family needs and is attached to the dog, he agrees to trade Yeller for a horny toad from Arliss (which he later sets free) and a home cooked meal.

Toward the end, Yeller develops hydrophobia (rabies) after being bitten while defending the family from a rabid wolf. To protect his family, Travis tearfully shoots Yeller and in doing so takes a painful first step into manhood. Old Yeller (1957 Film) Summary).

The film versions of "Old Yeller", and its sequel, "Savage Sam" tend towards the Disney fantasy of the "noble savage" which portrays the American Indian as more or less a lovable bumbling fool, and discounts most of the raw and savage violence in the original print novels. Most especially, in "Savage Sam", the details of Travis being horribly tortured for hours by the Apache after stabbing his Indian captor with a pocket knife are completely omitted.^{[citation needed]} Savage Sam was the 1963 sequel to Old Yeller. ... Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... For other uses, see Apache (disambiguation). ... A pocket knife is a type of folding knife with a blade that fits inside the handle. ...