Old Yeller



""Old Yeller was a hunter,

a rearin', tearin' hunter.

In any chase, he knew just how to run!

And when he got in trouble,

he always found it double,

and that's when Old Yeller had fun!""

- from the opening credits of Disney's Film of the Book

Old Yeller is a book by Fred Gipson about a boy and a stray dog in post-American Civil War Texas, later made into a Walt Disney film in 1957. 15-year-old Travis Coates has enough responsibility taking care of his mother, little brother Arliss, and the family farm while his father goes away on a cattle drive. Then the wilderness blows a stray "yeller" dog into his life whom he initially takes a strong dislike to... until Old Yeller saves Arliss from a Mama Bear (kids shouldn't play with bear cubs). The two become inseparable partners, hunting and facing the dangers of The Wild West together. Then a rabid wolf comes along...

Warning, this page has Spoilers, but most people already know what they are.


 * Adaptation Expansion: The dog does get shot in the book, but it happens just after the fight with the wolf, taking up less than a page, instead of being drawn out for two weeks for prime Emotional Torque like in the film.
 * All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game": Old Yeller contracts rabies, there's a lot of crying, and he eventually gets shot.
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Little Arliss.
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * A Boy and His X
 * Bratty Half-Pint: Arliss at times.
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Cub Cues Protective Parent: Arliss plays around with and tries to catch a bear cub, resulting is a rather displeased mother bear showing up.
 * Death by Newbery Medal
 * Determined Homesteader's Wife: She cooks and cleans, works the farm, is able to handle a gun, settles disputes between Travis and Arliss, and doesn't bat an eye at stitching a wound shut.
 * Disappeared Dad: Gone for most of the action selling cattle.
 * The Film of the Book
 * Go Look At the Distraction: Mom asks Arliss to get her a horned toad, so he won't be present while she's dressing the injury that a boar gave to Old Yeller.
 * Heroic Dog
 * "I Am" Song: "Best dog-gone dog in the West..."
 * Mercy Kill: Wow, is every trope about Old Yeller about the ending?
 * Promotion to Parent: Travis.
 * Replacement Goldfish: Savage Sam.
 * Shoot the Dog: Trope Namer present and accounted for, sir!
 * The So-Called Coward: Old Yeller.
 * Spin Offspring: Savage Sam: Son of Old Yeller -- also filmed by Disney, although deviating more strongly from its novel than the first film did.
 * Zombie Infectee: This is why they need to Shoot the Dog, substituting "rabies" for "zombie".