The Yearling (1994 film)

The Yearling (1994 film)
File:TheYearling1994.jpg
Directed by	Rod Hardy
Produced by	Edwin Self
Written by	Joe Wiesenfeld (screenplay)
Based on	The Yearling 1938 novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Starring	Peter Strauss Philip Seymour Hoffman
Music by	Lee Holdridge
Cinematography	David Connell
Edited by	Richard Bracken
Production company	RHI Entertainment Showcase Productions International
Distributed by	CBS Turner Entertainment
Release dates	April 24, 1994
Running time	90 min.
Language	English

The Yearling is a 1994 TV movie based on The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings that aired on CBS on April 24, 1994. It was produced by RHI Entertainment and was sponsored by Kraft General Foods. This TV version was also a remake of the 1946 film The Yearling starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman.

Plot

A young, impoverished 12 year-old boy named Jody Baxter (Wil Horneff), the lone surviving child of four, lives on a farm in 1870s Florida Everglades shortly after the American Civil War. Jody develops a lasting bond with an orphaned deer named Fawn.

Cast

• Wil Horneff as Jody Baxter
• Jean Smart as Ora Baxter
• Peter Strauss as Ezra 'Penny' Baxter
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Buck
• Jarred Blancard as Fodder-Wing
• Brad Greenquist as Lem Forrester
• Mary Nell Santcroc as Ma Forrester
• Richard Hamilton as Pa Forrester
• Scott Sowers as Boyle
• Ed Grady as Doc Wilson
• Susan F. Allen as Lyla
• Kerry Wallum as James
• Bart Hansard as Milwheel

Reception

Reviewer Drew Voros of Variety wrote that "the absence of true grit and dirt-under-fingernails feeling weaken the believability of the drama," though "like the novel and the ’46 film version, death is taken very seriously, and life is not taken for granted. For this alone, despite the glitches, young viewers should be encouraged to watch."

External links

• The Yearling at IMDb
• The Yearling at AllMovie
• The Yearling at the TCM Movie Database