Disney Plus-Or-Minus: Return To Snowy River

At the dawn of 1988, it seemed that Walt Disney Pictures had all but gone into hibernation. Apart from their periodic re-releases of animated classics, the studio had released exactly one theatrical feature in 1987 and it was only partially their movie: Joe Camp’s Benji The Hunted. As the calendar changed, that situation did not appear to be changing anytime soon. Their first new movie of the year would not only be an import picked up for distribution, it was a sequel to a movie Disney hadn’t had a thing to do with.

That argument could also be made about Benji The Hunted, although that movie wasn’t a narrative follow-up to Camp’s previous films. It was simply a new movie starring a very famous dog. You didn’t need to have seen any of Benji’s previous films to understand this one (in fact, it was probably advisable for you to have specifically skipped Oh! Heavenly Dog).

But Return To Snowy River really is a sequel to the 1982 film The Man From Snowy River. In its home country of Australia, the film’s title is The Man From Snowy River II. Disney presumably tried to pull a Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior trick to obfuscate its sequel status, although they could have picked a better word than “return” (in the UK, it was called The Untamed, which might oversell the drama just a hair). Neither of the Snowy River movies are exactly narrative labyrinths, so even if you haven’t seen the first one, it doesn’t take long to catch up. But Disney was absolutely counting on the audience that made the original a worldwide surprise hit to show up for round two.

The original Man From Snowy River, directed by George Miller (no, not the Mad Max one), arrived in the US on the crest of the Australian New Wave, following the success of such period dramas as My Brilliant Career, Breaker Morant and Gallipoli. But it also stood partly apart from those films. It was a bit more old-fashioned and traditional than the work of directors like Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. No doubt that helped Snowy River become more financially successful than its contemporaries. The film was a major hit, the biggest Australian film of all time until the release of “Crocodile” Dundee, the acme of 1980s Ozophilia, a few years later.

Based on a classic Australian poem by A.B. “Banjo” Paterson, The Man From Snowy River tells the story of Jim Craig (played by Tom Burlinson), a young man from the rugged Snowy Mountains with dreams of capturing a herd of wild Brumby horses led by an untamable black stallion. After his father dies in an accident, Craig goes to work for a wealthy American landowner named Harrison (played by Kirk Douglas, not seen around these parts since all the way back in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, although he’d also received an executive producer credit on Something Wicked This Way Comes). Turns out, Craig is also old friends with Harrison’s black-sheep brother, a one-legged gold miner named Spur (also Douglas in a community-theatre wig and fake beard). Jim Craig proves his mettle as an extraordinary horseman and falls in love with Harrison’s independent daughter, Jessica (Sigrid Thornton) before heading back to Snowy River, determined to make it on his own.

The Man From Snowy River does not reinvent the wheel in any way, shape or form. But it is sincere in its simple storytelling. Plus, Miller and cinematographer Keith Wagstaff do a phenomenal job capturing the spectacular Australian scenery and some truly epic horsemanship. The movie quietly sucks you in despite its cornier moments (which are plentiful), so it’s understandable why it became so popular.

Still, apart from the fact that film producers enjoy making money, it was not a movie that cried out for a sequel. George Miller, who was a prolific director throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, was too busy making other movies that weren’t Mad Max to return for part two. Producer Geoff Burrowes also attempted to lure back Kirk Douglas, who made his return contingent upon being allowed to direct himself.

Burrowes declined the star’s offer, evidently because he felt too personally invested in the material (although perhaps he just wasn’t a fan of Douglas’ prior directorial efforts, Scalawag and Posse). In the end, he opted to direct the film himself, cowriting the script with the first film’s screenwriter, John Dixon. Geoff Burrowes only directed two films in his career. We’ll see the other one over on the Touchstone side.

Tom Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton both returned for the sequel, while Brian Dennehy (last seen here in Never Cry Wolf) took over for Kirk Douglas. The recasting is one area where it may actually be preferable to go into the sequel with no knowledge of the original. Dennehy is noticeably younger and bigger than Douglas, so it takes awhile to realize he is indeed playing the same character. Sadly, Spur the miner has died in between movies, so we don’t get to see Brian Dennehy hobbling around on a pegleg while sporting a bushy fake beard.

The film picks up a few years after the events of the original with Jim Craig returning home with a herd of wild horses he intends to either sell or breed. Now that he has a stake he can build on, he hopes that he and Jessica can finally start their lives together. But it appears Jim may have been gone too long. Harrison, never Jim’s biggest fan in the first place, is trying to get a loan from Mr. Patton, an influential banker (Rhys McConnochie). And Patton’s arrogant son, Alistair (Nicholas Eadie), has set his sights on making Jessica his wife. Harrison forbids Jim from seeing his daughter and Jessica, understanding how badly her father needs this union between the families, agrees to stay away.

Unsurprisingly, Jessica and Jim can’t stay apart for long and she defies her father to go stay with Jim on his ranch. Things begin to look up for the couple when a military man named Hawker (Bryan Marshall) arrives looking to buy some of Jim’s stock as cavalry horses. Jim doesn’t have quite enough, so he makes deals with some of the other mountain ranchers to make up the difference. All the while, the Brumbies continue to roam the countryside. When a local man is trampled by the wild black stallion, the mountain men warn Jim that if he doesn’t kill it, one of them will. Jim tracks the Brumbies down but still can’t bring himself to shoot the stallion.

Spurned by Jessica, Alistair plots revenge by rounding up a band of lowlifes to steal the horses Jim planned on selling to Hawker. Jim pursues them on his own but Alistair shoots him as he’s careening down a steep mountain, killing Jim’s beloved horse. As Jim recovers, the black Brumby finds him. Using some serious horse whisperer mojo, Jim calms the horse and saddles up, ready to restart his chase. But this time, he’s not alone. Realizing that his daughter is more important than money, Harrison has had a change of heart. Together with Harrison and his friends, Jim gets his horses back and delivers a richly deserved beatdown to Alistair. Before returning home, Jim sets the black Brumby free once again.

While it’s not quite up to the level of its predecessor, Return To Snowy River remains a pleasant if undemanding watch. The first movie was essentially a coming-of-age story, showing Jim Craig maturing from an ambitious but naïve and untrained youth into a strong, capable horseman. This time, Jim’s already a bit of a legend around town, so all he has to do is live up to his reputation. Burlinson’s modest, folksy demeanor keeps Jim from being overbearingly cocky but the character development is still missed.

Of course, the real reason to watch either of the Snowy River movies is eye-filling footage of majestic galloping horses and on that score, Burrowes delivers. There was an on-set accident that resulted in the death of one mare. The incident prompted an investigation into alleged inhumane treatment of the animals. But after thorough scrutiny, Burrowes and his crew were completely exonerated of any wrongdoing, which is a relief because there are a lot of horses in this movie. So if all you require from a film is pretty scenery and plenty of horses, you’ll get your money’s worth. More demanding viewers may be left wanting more.

The Man From Snowy River II opened in Australia on March 24, 1988. Disney brought their retitled version to the States a couple of weeks later on April 15. It didn’t do too badly, opening in fifth place (former Disney employee Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice held on to the top spot). It ended up earning a bit over $13 million. Not too shabby but not as impressive as the original. Audiences had grown a bit tired of The Man From Snowy River, at least this man. In Australia, Banjo Paterson’s poem later inspired a TV series also called The Man From Snowy River (retitled Snowy River: The McGregor Saga in the US) that had nothing to do with the films. It ran for four seasons and provided early roles for the likes of Guy Pearce, Josh Lucas and Hugh Jackman.

Between Return To Oz and Return To Snowy River, Disney learned they probably shouldn’t go around making sequels to other people’s movies. Today, Snowy River is a footnote in the studio’s history, a reminder of an odd time when Disney didn’t seem to know what kind of movies to make or even if it needed to continue existing at all. But by the end of 1988, there would be signs they’d started to figure it out.

VERDICT: There’s nothing really wrong with it, I guess, so let’s call it a very minor Disney Plus.