Where the Red Fern Grows movie dogs

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the movie casts an unflinching gaze on the hard lives of its characters. Kids who watch this movie will see a boy take a fatal fall onto an axe and a dog die in a mountain lion attack. The film extols the value of hard work and loyalty to build character, and offers a realistic, unflinching look at backwoods life in the 1930s.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (14)

December 7, 2019

Family movie

I honestly believe this is a great movie for a family movie night. My 8 year old and I watched this movie hoping it would be ok. I had to explain a few parts to her but other than that it’s a great move that showed Love.

This title has:

Great messages

Great role models

August 13, 2014

Book is better

We just finished the book as a summer read-aloud (and yes, all three of us cried at the end) and I had found the movie at a yard sale so we watched it tonight. I was surprised to hear a "d--n" and "h--l" several times in a G rated movie, especially circa 1974. These are in the book, too, but since I was reading it out loud, I replaced them with a more acceptable term. We were expecting the violence (which in my opinion is much more graphically described in the book than shown in the movie) and sad ending so that was OK. As is usually the case, the book is faaaar more descriptive and you are in Billy's head much more than came across in the movie. A lot is omitted and some scenes are changed completely, including the great coon hunt ending. But enjoyable - just wanted to point out the couple of bad words that are not mentioned on this site :)

What's the Story?

In WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS, young Billy Coleman works odd jobs so he can buy a pair of coonhounds. The dogs, Dan and Ann, don't disappoint. With training, they develop quite a reputation, and soon the raccoon pelts are piling high. They even tree the notorious "ghost coon," which wins Billy a two dollar bet with some hillbilly boys, one of whom falls on Billy's twin-bladed axe in a scuffle and dies. "Momma," Billy says, devastated, "you can stop worryin' now 'cause I ain't never gonna go huntin' again." But the Championship Coon Hunt is too great a temptation to pass up. Dan and Ann make the finals, but a fierce storm forces Billy to give up a sure win to find his injured Grandpa. More hard choices follow for Billy, each carrying him one step closer to manhood.

Is It Any Good?

If the performances seem a bit over-starched at times, they never fail to do their job. Like the acting, the songs (written by the Osmonds and performed with utmost sincerity by Andy Williams) are obviously of another era. Adults may find it amusing to hear Williams crooning about running free as the wind while Billy adoringly trains his pups, but they'll be touched in spite of themselves. It's just that kind of a movie.

Based on the Wilson Rawls novel, set in the Ozarks of the 1930s, the film is about a place where people are good to one another, during a time when hard work and compassion are rewarded. But there's a deeper layer as well, which slowly unravels to expose a boy struggling toward adulthood, grappling with the large issues of life and death and the heartaches that lie in between.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

• Families can talk about its message. What do you think the filmmakers were trying to get across? How did this film influence you?

Movie Details

• In theaters: June 24, 1974
• On DVD or streaming: January 1, 2004
• Cast: Beverly Garland, Jack Ging, James Whitmore
• Director: Norman Tokar
• Studio: Westamerica Film
• Genre: Family and Kids
• Topics: Book Characters
• Run time: 97 minutes
• MPAA rating: G
• Last updated: October 19, 2022

The story opens with Billy Colman, a grown man, coming upon a vicious dog fight between a Redbone Coonhound and neighborhood street dogs. Billy scares the other dogs away and takes the hound home to help it recover. When the dog is on its feet again and noticeably restless, Billy realizes that the dog has a home somewhere and that he must set it free so it can find its way back. As the dog trots off, it turns and appears thankful to Billy for his kindness. The experience releases a flood of memories from Billy’s boyhood past.

Ten-year-old Billy lives on a farm in the Ozark Mountains with his parents and three younger sisters. He desperately wants two good coonhounds, but his family is poor and cannot afford them. One day Billy finds an advertisement offering a pair of Redbone Coonhounds in Kentucky for $25 each. Billy decides to work to earn the money. For two years, he works hard, selling food, supplies and bait to fishermen, and manages to save $50. His grandfather contacts the dog kennel and discovers that the two puppies will now cost only $40. Billy gives the money to his grandfather, who orders the dogs. The puppies are sent to the town depot.

Billy sneaks out of his home one night to walk to town to pick up his new pups. With the extra money he has saved, he buys presents for his family. While in town, other children pick a fight with him, but Billy stands up for himself and is helped by the town’s kind marshal.

On his way home, Billy and his two puppies seek shelter in a cave. As Billy builds a fire, they hear a mountain lion screaming from far away, and the pups run to the entrance to howl into the darkness. Billy decides to name his dogs Old Dan and Little Ann. Old Dan has the brawn and the bravery, while Little Ann is intelligent.

With his grandfather’s help, Billy traps a raccoon and uses the skin to teach his new pups how to track a raccoon. Both dogs prove to be natural hunters. They are fiercely loyal to each other and to Billy. As the hunting season begins, Billy makes a promise to his dogs: If they get a raccoon up a tree, he will do the rest. The dogs chase their first raccoon into one of the largest trees in the woods, and Billy, not wanting to disappoint his dogs, undertakes the job of cutting down the tree, a Herculean task that takes him a few days of chopping. When he is most of the way through the tree, Billy feels he can’t continue, and he prays for the strength to finish the job. A wind starts to blow, and the tree comes crashing down. The eager dogs take the raccoon down.

Billy and his dogs hunt every night, and the team soon grows to be among the best hunters in the area. Two local boys named Rubin and Rainie Pritchard dare Billy into a raccoon-hunting bet. Billy wants to ignore the dare, but the Pritchard boys only taunt Billy and his grandfather. Billy’s grandfather grows frustrated with the Pritchards and says that Billy and his dogs will take the bet. After several days of tracking the elusive raccoon, Little Ann finally chases it down. The animal’s tricks have earned Billy’s respect, and he doesn’t want to kill the coon. Rubin and Rainie become angry with Billy and allow their dog, a blue tick hound, to pick a fight with Old Dan. Billy’s dogs stand their ground against the blue tick hound, and he slinks away. Furious, Rubin Pritchard picks up Billy’s ax to go after Old Dan. Billy trips the Pritchard boy, and he falls onto the blade and dies. Billy feels awful about the incident, and he is unable to hunt for many days. He is haunted by nightmares of the tragedy.

Time passes, and Billy’s grandfather shows him an advertisement for an upcoming coon-hunting contest. Grandpa has been counting the coonskins that Billy has brought into the store, and he is confidant that Old Dan and Little Dan can win the championship and the $300 prize money. Excited for the opportunity, Billy and his dogs, along with his grandfather and father, pack up their gear and travel to the contest. Before the main hunting event, Little Ann wins first place in a hunting dog “beauty” contest.

The hunt begins and Billy’s dogs gradually make it to the final round. A terrible storm lashes the mountain on the last day of the hunt, and Billy’s team gets separated. His grandpa breaks his ankle, and Billy begins to despair, believing his beloved dogs are dead. The next morning, several other hunters from the contest track down Billy and his team. The dogs have been nearly frozen to death from the ice storm, and Billy helps them recover by warming them next to a fire. Billy is declared the winner of the championship and is given a gold cup as well as the $300 prize money.

Weeks later, Billy is hunting with his dogs on the trail of what they think is a coon. But the animal turns out to be a mountain lion. Old Dan and Little Ann get into a vicious fight with the creature. The lion tears at the dogs, especially Old Dan, who gives his life to save Billy from the attacking lion. Billy fights his way to his feet and finally kills the lion with his ax. Soon after, Little Ann also dies, as she no longer has the desire to live without her companion. Billy grieves the loss of his beloved hounds and dutifully buries them on a hillside near the family’s farm.

The following year, Billy’s family prepares to move into town, where the children can get a good education. As they are leaving, Billy visits his dogs’ gravesite to say a final goodbye. He is surprised to see a tall red fern growing between the graves, and he remembers an old Indian story about how red ferns are supposedly planted by angels. Once planted, the ferns live forever. Billy feels a new peace about the death of his dogs, and he leaves to join his family.

What dogs are in the movie Where the Red Fern Grows?

What has happened to the dogs Where the Red Fern Grows?