So Dear to My Heart

So Dear to My Heart


Walt Disney Productions / RKO, 1949, Color, 82 minutes, ****

Premiere release November, 1948

General release January, 1949



One of Walt Disney's most precious film classics, So Dear to My Heart combines live action and animation to tell the heartwarming story of a young boy with big dreams and an even bigger imagination.



Jeremiah is the determined country boy who adopts a rejected and mischievous black lamb named Danny. While drawing a picture of Danny in his scrapbook, Jeremiah daydreams of winning a blue ribbon at the county fair. Then, from the pages of the scrapbook, Danny and other animal pictures magically come to life and convince Jeremiah to enter the real-life Danny - a pet without a pedigree - into the upcoming county fair. But the road to the fair is filled with tough challenges for Jeremiah, who must learn the importance of dedication, love and responsibility.



Featuring the Academy Award-nominated "Lavender Blue" (performed by Burl Ives), and a host of enjoyable songs for children and adults, So Dear to My Heart is high-spirited, sentimental fun for everyone.


Setting: Fulton Corners, Pike County, Indiana, 1903. Filmed on location in the mountains of northern California.



Produced by: Walt Disney

Associate Producer: Perce Pearce

Directed by: Harold Schuster

Cartoon Director: Hamilton Luske

Screen Play by: John Tucker Battle

Adaptation by: Maurice Rapf, Ted Sears

From the Story by: Sterling North (Midnight and Jeremiah)

With thanks to Department of Conservation - State of Indiana and Department of Animal Husbandry - California State Polytechnic College

Musical Score: Paul Smith

Vocal Direction: Ken Darby

Orchestration: Ed Plumb

Music Editor: Al Teeter

Songs by: Larry Morey, Eliot Daniel, Don Raye, Gene DePaul, Irving Taylor, Ticker Freeman, Bob Wells, Mel Torme

Technical Director: Larry Lansburgh

Cartoon Story Treatment: Marc Davis, Ken Anderson, William Peed

Cartoon Art Treatment: John Hench, Mary Blair, Dick Kelsey

Photoplay Art Director: John Ewing

Photoplay Set Decorator: Mac Alper

Makeup: Ted Larsen

Hair Stylist: Vera Peterson

Sound Director: C. O. Slyfield

Sound Recording: Max Hutchinson, Robert O. Cook

Special Process: Ub Iwerks

Director of Photography: Winton C. Hoch

Color by Technicolor

Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus

Associate: Morgan Padelford

Film Editors: Thomas Scott, Lloyd L. Richardson



Cast: Burl Ives [Uncle Hiram], Beulah Bondi [Granny Kincaid], Harry Carey [Head Judge at Fair], Luana Patten [Tildy], Bobby Driscoll [Jeremiah "Jerry" Kincaid], Raymond Bond [Storekeeper], Daniel Haight [Storekeeper's Son], Walter Soderling [Villager], Matt Willis [Horse Trainer], Spelman B. Collins [Judge at Fair], Voices in animated sequences: John Beal [also Narrator, as adult Jeremiah Kincaid], Ken Carson [Owl], Bob Stanton, The Rhythmaires (background vocals)



Musical Program: [0:00] So Dear to My Heart (instrumental arrangement played by Orchestra with a few bars sung by Chorus behind titles); [0:02] So Dear to My Heart (sung by John Beal?); [0:08] Ole Dan Patch (excerpt sung by Burl Ives); [0:19] It's Whatcha Do with Whatcha Got (animated sequence sung by owl and various barnyard animals, voiced by John Beal, Ken Carson, Bob Stanton, and The Rhythmaires); [0:28] Bah, Bah Black Sheep (excerpt sung by Burl Ives); [0:34] Lavender Blue (Dilly-Dilly) (sung by Burl Ives); [0:36] Billy Boy (sung by Beulah Bondi and Burl Ives); [0:40] Cricket on a Frying Pan (played on the Edison [introduced as by The Kentucky Quintet], danced by Beulah Bondi, Burl Ives, Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten); [0:44] Stick-To-It-Ivity (animated sequence sung by owl and other animals, voiced by John Beal, Ken Carson, Bob Stanton, and The Rhythmaires); [0:56] Jerry Kincaid Followed a Bee (to the tune of "Ole Dan Tucker," sung by Burl Ives); [1:10] The County Fair (animated sequence sung by John Beal, Ken Carson, Bob Stanton, and The Rhythmaires); [1:21] So Dear to My Heart (short reprisal by Chorus at end of film); There are also a number of very short snippets of songs sung by Burl Ives as improptu songs