Oh, to see the world through the eyes of this dog. A dog who loved an old shepherd so much he'd follow his slowly-dying body from the moors to the streets of Edinburgh to the Greyfriars Kirkyard. Who then was fed by a guilt-ridden restaurant, bathed by a graveyard caretaker, and played with by poor children. Who was then...dragged before the the magistrate in an ownership dispute, but got to play with a cool quill? What a life for GREYFRIARS BOBBY, and what a Disny film for our hosts to be delighted and/or utterly baffled by.

We haven't been shy about our general malaise toward Disney's modern predilection for remakes and sequels that feel a bit creatively bankrupt. So imagine our surprise when we watched one of their first ever sequels, SAVAGE SAM, and discovered it's not necessarily a new trend. Ostensibly a sequel to the classic trauma vehicle Old Yeller, this movie is less a fraught coming-of-age tale about a boy and his dog and more a movie where Kevin Corcoran hurls rocks at people and animals before turning into a Disney-fied version of The Searchers.

We're closing out another decade of Disney this week with THE LITTLEST OUTLAW. The story of a little boy and a frightened horse attempting to avoid the wrath of a Mexican General and stepfather who's a real piece of work. It's not entirely unpleasant, at least until it starts extolling the virtues of bullfighting. And because we're finished with the 1950s, we also reminisce about the highs and lows of the movies we watched from this early era of Disney. 

Has someone at Disney been listening to us? Seems that way, since RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON gives us a lot of what we've been wanting from modern Disney. An original story instead of a sequel or a remake? Check. A "let's get a team together" structure filled with interesting and fun characters? Check. A con artist baby who can do martial arts? You better believe that's a check. This movie isn't perfect, but it's still a whole lot of fun.