L'aigle et l'enfant

I appreciate the earnest simplicity of this movie. The soundtrack is defined almost exclusively by Franklyn Marks' duly varied score, and by Frank DeKova's narration, with only sparing audio that was collected alongside the film footage. 'The legend of the boy and the eagle' almost feels like a logical extension of the techniques of the silent era, with DeKova's voice substituted for the plain text of intertitles that would relate essential plot between scenes. As someone who absolutely treasures silent films, this can only be a point in this feature's favor, and perhaps it's crucial in this specific instance. There is no cinematic embellishment here: the picture presents as relating a Hopi legend, and so what we plainly see before us are beautiful landscapes, video of wildlife, and depictions of the lifestyle and tools of a culture that exists in balanced harmony with the natural world. There are no narrative hooks or twists, no stylized dialogue or character interactions, no special effects - only the most fundamental of direction and editing, arrangement of scenes, and drama and action in accordance with the uncomplicated essence of the title.

With Disney being best known for churning out animated features and various shows appealing to modern youth, it's easy to forget or overlook the vast wealth of live-action titles they produced for several decades that haven't had the same level of attention. This is most certainly one of them, and it falls neatly within the company of features that centered nature to one extent or another; even as the focus is on the story, in the visuals and in DeKova's descriptions we're treated to honest examination of the world around us. Yet while the approach here to film-making and storytelling may be unfamiliar or even off-putting to some audiences, it's not forced, contrived, or hokey - for whatever heavy- or ham-handedness one may arguably perceive at times, 'The legend of the boy and the eagle' is a gratifyingly frank and sincere picture. At risk of overusing a root word, the style here can only be described as naturalistic; one gets a sense that each passing moment is staged only insofar as producers set the pieces in motion to capture certain desired shots, and otherwise each scene and the narrative at large are precisely how this sequence of events would play out, no more and no less. With that, there's a grace and ease to it all that is a great pleasure to watch as a viewer.

That this lacks the flourishes and grandiosity of any major motion picture may surely be a turn off for some. As far as I'm concerned, however, that's exactly what makes it so terrific. The bare candor of the production, the outright beauty of the cinematography, and the endearing, unadorned truthfulness of the small narrative all stir together into an enticing, fluid, quietly captivating viewing experience. It may not appeal to all moviegoers, but so it is for the medium at large. For my part, I think 'The legend of the boy and the eagle' is a superbly well made, capably entertaining slice of cinema that's worth more than the mere 50 minutes it takes to watch, and boasts more value than many titles that are far longer. One maybe doesn't need to go out of their way to watch this, but if you have the opportunity, it's well worth one's while to do so.

As the other reviewer commented, I would love to see this again. I saw it in the theater as an opening short to another Disney film in the late sixties. I forget which film that was, but I certainly remember this one. I do recall seeing this movie on the Sunday evening broadcast of "The Wonderful World of Disney" at least twice after having seen it in the theater. The boy's name is Tutuvina (not sure if I spelled it correctly) and the movie was/is very enjoyable. I would love to see it again!

I've been trying to remember details of the movie for years! I've been talking with almost every guy I know of my age for decades in the attempt to recover information about this masterpiece. None seemed to remember. I just remember that name "tutubina" and that last scene when he jumps off the cliff and turns into a eagle (does he?)and the fact that i started crying and feeling totally unified with that Indian kid. I've tried several web-searches in the recent years but I couldn't get nothing. Yesterday night I was talking about that with a friend a this morning before leaving I typed hopelessly "tutubuna" on the engine another time. But I made a mistake and I typed Tutuvina!!! Please help me if you know where to buy or get the movie. Forgive my English. Thank you.

I've also been looking to find this movie for quite some time, and how great it would be to find it on DVD...

I saw this movie when I was about 6 years old, in the Netherlands. And I was very impressed by it. It was shown before Walt Disney's JUNGLE BOOK!

What I remember of this movie is fragmented. I remember that an Indian boy was friends with an eagle. This impressed me very much. For some reason he was thrown out of his village (did not grasp the reason for this). When other boys threw stones at him, he climbed a rock and jumped off. At that time he turned into an eagle and flew away with his eagle friend. As an eagle he was still wearing his turquoise necklace.

CB

I read so many comments that I, too, shared about remembering this movie and wanting so badly to see it again but I didn't know the name of the movie. Thankfully, because of doing a search and finding the title on this site, I read the comments left here and realized that this was the movie I remembered. I then did a search and did find the movie and was so thrilled to be able to watch the movie once more 40 years later. Because of this site and your comments, you helped me and so I want to thank all of you. I want to share how I was able to find this movie for all of you who were looking for a copy as well. It was on the VHS version of Wonderful World of Disney's "Call it Courage" which contained 2 movies, the second one being "The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle." It touched me now as much as it did 40 years ago and now I own my own copy of it. I think it is only available on VHS. I found it on ebay and I have seen several copies of it there. Enjoy it, I know I did!

It is a wonderful story about the love of a boy and the eagle he took care of. When it was time to sacrifice the eagle, the boy set the eagle free because he couldn't allow it to be killed. After the boy was forced to leave the tribe for punishment after freeing the eagle, the eagle, too, saved the boy's life and more than that, taught him how to survive. The closeness that the boy and the eagle shared in the wilderness was so moving and the filming was really remarkable. What a wonderful era this was. I have never seen anything come even close to this movie!