Movie Type: Family-Oriented Adventure, Animal Picture
Themes: Mischievous Children, Man's Best Friend
Main Cast: Michael Moriarty, Blake Heron, J. Madison Wright, Scott Wilson, Ann Dowd, Rod Steiger
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Based on the Newberry Award-winning novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, this heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog reaches for greater significance and depth than the typical entry in the kids' movie genre. Blake Heron stars as Marty Preston, a kid who lives in a rural town with his mom and mailman dad (Michael Moriarty). One day, Marty finds an injured beagle that's run away from its abusive owner, a hunter named Judd Travers (Scott Wilson). Kindly neighbor Doc Wallace (Rod Steiger) tends to the dog's wounds, but Marty's father explains that they must return the beagle to its rightful owner. Travers continues to abuse the dog, and it runs away again, returning to Marty. The boy, who has named the puppy "Shiloh," attempts to hide the animal from his family in the woods, but a scrap with another stray dog leaves Shiloh hurt and in need of medical assistance once again. Now Marty's in deep trouble with his dad, until he comes up with a plan to buy Shiloh from the nocuous Travers. Shiloh inspired a sequel, Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (1999). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Boy-and-his-dog movies don't get much more prototypical than Shiloh. In fact, it may surprise viewers that Shiloh was released as recently as 1996, since it's quaint and old-fashioned enough to have come out 30 years earlier. But something about Shiloh found an audience, or, at least, enough of one to prompt sequels in 1999 and 2006. The film is quite straightforward -- hunter abuses dog, dog finds boy, boy embraces dog, hunter tries to get dog back, boy fights to save dog from hunter's evil clutches. As this sequence takes a surprisingly long time to play out, other details color the film in, such as the fact that the nasty hunter (Scott Wilson) was mistreated by his father, and that the kindly veterinarian (Rod Steiger) lost a son and daughter-in-law to a car accident. So the film is not quite as fluffy as most live-action children's movies, but it does share with them a certain stagnant quality that has generally afflicted the live-action kiddie fare released by Disney, for example. Characterized by the dusty tones of a small country farm town, Shiloh lacks the colorful pop that makes animated movies so popular with the demographic. There's no doubt that Shiloh has its heart in the right place -- maybe too much. Parents probably appreciate it more than their kids, thinking it will serve a function for their kids that it probably doesn't. The dog sure is cute, but the modern generation of children grows increasingly less satisfied with such folksy simplicity, especially once they're old enough to choose for themselves. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
An abused beagle runs away from his cruel owner and meets Marty Preston. The dog follows the boy home, but is not allowed to stay. Marty immediately bonds with the dog and names him Shiloh. His stern father won't let the boy keep the dog because it belongs to Judd Travers, a local hunter. They return Shiloh to the owner but after Shiloh is mistreated again, he runs away and returns to Marty. Knowing his father will once again make him bring Shiloh back to Judd, he makes a home for the dog in an old shed and hides him from his family. His secret is soon revealed when the Baker's German Shepherd attacks the dog one night and he must turn to his father for help.
Later on, the boy makes a deal with Judd in hopes that he would own the beagle if he could work around Judd's property for a while. Marty makes Judd sign the deal on a calendar. After all of Marty's hard work, Judd simply says that there weren't any witnesses to sign and that a contract is no good without it. Marty continues working, though, sometimes overtime with out being paid a penny more. When the work is finally over, Judd gives Marty not only Shiloh, but also a dog collar for him: "Might be a little big, but he'll (Shiloh) grow into it."
Sheena Easton sings the theme "Are There Angels" for the soundtrack.
