Watch Old Yeller

In this drama, a frontier family forms a deep bond with a stray dog they take in. The heartwarming tale of the love between a boy and his dog is best known for traumatizing generations of children with its tragic twist of an ending. In the late 1860s, Jim Coates leaves his wife Katie, his teenage son Travis, and his small son Arliss to collect cattle in Kansas. While Jim is away, Travis sets off to work in the cornfield, where he encounters a Black Mouth Cur he names "Old Yeller", as "yeller" is a dialect pronunciation of "yellow" and the dog's bark resembles a human yell. Travis unsuccessfully tries to shoo the dog away, but Arliss defends him from Travis. However, Yeller's habit of stealing meat from smokehouses and robbing hens' nests does not endear him to Travis. Later, Arliss tries to capture a black bear cub by feeding it cornbread and grabbing it. Its angry mother hears her cub wailing and attacks, but Old Yeller frightens her away, winning over the family. Travis grows to love and respect Old Yeller, who comes to profoundly affect the boy's life.