This is a great movie to watch with you kids! We all watched it every Christmas on tv and it became so much of a tradition that I bought it for each child once they turned an adult to watch over the holidays. It is heartwarming and a delightful movie to watch. Highly recommend it.

This is a quietly touching adult film made by Disney long before they had their Touchstone division. Meredith Salanger gives a star-making performance as a teenage girl growing up with her father during the depression. A young John Cusack has a nice turn as well, already showing the kind of quiet and surprising talent he would become known for in coming years.

Natty's father (Ray Wise) finds the only work he can during the depression and reluctantly leaves Natty with someone who turns out to have no love or compassion in her heart for anyone but herself. He has gone to Washington to cut trees and leaves a letter promising to send for her, along with a locket containing a picture of her dead mother. But when no word arrives she runs away to find him, riding the rails. Ray Wise gives a fine performance as a loving father forced by the depression to leave the daughter he adores in order to support them both and survive.

The great beauty of the Pacific Nortwest is the backdrop for a beautifully filmed and realistic journey of a time and place long gone. It is not the rose-colored journey one might expect from a Disney film, however. The people and places are real and she is met with both kindness and cruelty, including a brief scene when she hitches a ride with a pervert who tries to molest her.

She meets Cusak early on in this film and later when their paths cross again they tramp together, feelings for each other beginning to form. Meanwhile, due to a chain of events which causes her father to believe Natty dead, he is devastated and takes a very dangerous job. A wolf becomes Natty's friend and they travel together, looking out for one another. Though this may sound corny, it is handled in a realistic and believable way.

When Cusak finds work in California she must continue on to find her father. But there are sweet moments when she writes to him and we hope that somewhere down the line they will be together. There are some truly touching scenes which make this memorable, and an excellent film for parents to enjoy with young adults. Sort of forgotten today, this is a really special film I highly recommend.

Great movie that isn't sappy or simplistic. You'll be at the edge of your seat several times, especially at the end.

I saw this movie when it first came out- i loved it... i recently purchased it for my grandsons....

A very good movie about a journey of a little girl who would not give up.