The Legend of Lobo

During his lifetime, producer Walt Disney did turn out some interesting animal-themed shorts and movies. However, "The Legend of Lobo" is one time where Disney was apparently unable to give sufficient inspiration to his filmmakers. There are a number of things I could list that illustrate why this effort is a misfire, such as the obvious padding even for a 67 minute running time, the too-cutesy narration, and an ending that is abrupt and without a satisfying payoff. But I think that the main fault with the movie is that the wolf Lobo never becomes a strong animal figure. Yes, the first half follows him around when he is a pup, but he is then an immature animal that lacks any soul. It's even worse when Lobo becomes a full grown adult wolf - you never get a sense of any kind of personality you can relate to or understand. By the way, no director is listed in the credits for the movie - if the director decided to take his name off the credits after seeing the end results, I can certainly understand his decision.

Someone here said that his father-in-law wrote the screenplay for the movie. He must be immensely proud of him. My mother took me to the movies in 1962 when it was released and as an 8 year old I was gripped. Disney was in it's 'animals' stage and Lobo was one of the best. I hadn't seen the film again until earlier this year but it was as wonderful as I remember it. Over the years that song "Lobo, Lobo, Lobo, Lobo your name will survive..." was all I could remember but I remembered it a lot over the years so it was great to hear the full song once again.

I see there's a number of people here that didn't get it, probably expected a kind of Jaws with wolves. No. This is a scary yet heartwarming film and it's beautifully filmed, the narration is excellent. I loved the way Disney filmed the wolves and through editing created a story - they did this with their other animal movies also.

Once upon a time innocence meant something to a child, movies like Lobo helped create that innocence.

I'm a little biased; the writer (Dwight Hauser) is my wife's father. We were looking for a copy and came across this site. It was fun for me to watch Marcia (my wife) watch the movie. And as with many thousands of other old folks, I remember it from my own childhood.

I wonder if Lobo's mother was really injured. It certainly looked like it. I asked Marcia, but she didn't know. It seems doubtful Disney would have gone about it that way. Kinda heart wrenching, but an accurate reflection of the disdain held for wolves in those days...heck...even these days by a remaining few.

This is a great find! We are passing it out to all the grandkids...:-)

Derek

Being the big fan of wolves that I am, finding a copy of "Legend of Lobo" on VHS a few years back at the local Musicworld was a real treat for me.

This movie is one of my all-time favorites; I just cannot give it enough praise. For once, the wolves are portrayed the way they should be. They are neither sugarcoated nor villified, but rather are shown to be both a efficient predator and a devoted parent in times of encroaching human settlement. The scenery is excellent, as is the storyline which is not too complicated for young ones to follow. I love the theme song catchy and the characters are believable.

About the only thing I can say negative about this movie is the extensive use of canned sounds, especially for the wolves, but this really does not detract from the rest of the film. Legend of Lobo is a beautifully made movie that I would recommend to anyone!

Another in a long line of enjoyable Disney nature films. This one tells the story of a wolf named Lobo (not Sherriff Lobo) from when he's a young pup to when he becomes an adult with a large bounty on his head. There's all sorts of corny cuteness with Lobo playing other animals and such, but the film was surprisingly realistic in the human hunters attempts to kill or capture Lobo with some pretty scary traps and hunting dogs. However, this remains a Disney films and is hardly a grim diatribe about the evils of hunting. At it's heart it's about cute animals and an appreciation for nature, which all goes down quite easy and without much pretension.