Rascal

I have just seen Rascal for the first time and found it very enjoyable. One reason for me purchasing this movie was for two of its stars, who have played two of the most well known characters in science fiction: Billy Mumy, who played Will Robinson in Lost In Space and The Bride of Frankenstein herself, Elsa Lanchester who plays a school teacher in this.

A boy has just broke up from school for the summer and he finds a raccoon which he takes in as a pet and names it Rascal. The boy is on his own for most of the holiday as his sister and dad are working away. His mum is dead. So he, Rascal and his pet dog get up to all sorts of adventures, and cause chaos in the process. But time comes eventually to send Rascal back into the wild and does so at the end and meets a fellow raccoon.

Rascal is nicely shot in colour and contains some good scenery.

Also in the cast are Steve Forest and Pamela Toll. Narration is provided by another star who is well known for one of his sci-fi movies: Walter Pigeon (Forbidden Planet).

Rascal is a nice way to spend an hour and a half one evening. Excellent.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

This was my first time watching Disney's Rascal. I am not 100% sure I understand the reason for the movie, although I do know that it based off the book. Overall, I thought the movie had its humorous moments, especially the scene involving Rascal in the general store. I am glad that I was able to mark a "new" Disney movie off my list, but I am not sure I will have a desire or need to re-watch the film in the future. Rascal was an enjoyable way to kill some time on a rainy day.

I have read the original book 'Rascal-a memoir of a better era' by Sterling North. My younger brother, Sunil, who passed away at an early age loved this book and had translated it into Marathi, the regional language of Maharashtra, India.

I had heard about the Walt Disney movie on this story but did not know where and how to get to see it although I enjoyed the picturesque story and lived with the life of small Sterling and the Raccoon while reading this book. This is the great thing about such great writers as Sterling North who impact readers even from an entirely different environment and culture.

May I mention here about a writer from the 19th century, Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote 'Little House in the Big Woods' followed by the 'Little House series'. I have been reading these books ever since my childhood and have enjoyed the freshness at every repeat reading.

I would love to watch this movie 'Rascal' which I already rate Ten out of Ten in advance because the very idea of making a movie on such a book is adorable.

The year was 1969 and everything was groovy. Even Disney released "The Love Bug" which became the biggest domestic hit of that year. Squashed into uniplexes somewhere between "The Love Bug" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" kids were treated to a quiet little bit of Americana called "Rascal." About as Disney as you can get, "Rascal" is the story about a boy and his raccoon. We've seen it before and after, a boy domesticates a wild animal, animal causes mischief, neighbors blame for every mishap in the area, and by the end of the film the boy must release the animal back into the wild. No computer generated whales, talking pigs, or alien visitors, just the Disney crew doing what they did best. Disney has made a ton of these and they work. "Rascal" is one of the best. Considering the Sterling North classic novel is still popular and in print I wonder why it hasn't been released on video and/or remade. At the time of this writing odds of seeing this film at all are very rare and that is a shame considering the inferior product being released direct-to-video for kids today. Considering the Disney label it would seem this would be ripe for a release on video. Add to that the cult following of star Bill Mumy ("Lost in Space," "Babylon 5") and you have a winner.

A little long in the tooth but it does the trick. It needed something to jot it up in the middle but luckily the end does give us something plus a good message overall. Simple and well done. It doesn't even feel like something shot way back in 1969. Thank you classic Disney.