Perri (film)
Perri is a 1957 film from Walt Disney Productions, based on Felix Salten's 1938 Perri: The Youth of a Squirrel. It was the company's fifth feature entry in their True-Life Adventures series, and the only one to be labeled a True Life Fantasy. In doing so, the Disney team combined the documentary aspects of earlier efforts with fictional scenarios and characters.[2]
| Perri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | N. Paul Kenworthy Ralph Wright |
| Produced by | Winston Hibler |
| Written by | Ralph Wright Winston Hibler Felix Salten (Book) |
| Narrated by | Winston Hibler |
| Music by | Score: Paul J. Smith Songs: George Bruns Winston Hibler Ralph Wright Paul J. Smith Hazel "Gil" George Song arrangements: Carl Brandt Orchestrations: Carl Brandt Franklyn Marks |
| Edited by | Jack Atwood |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution |
Release date | August 28, 1957 |
Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.75 million (US rentals)[1] |
The story's title character is a young female squirrel who learns about forest life, and finds a mate in Porro, a male squirrel. In the film, there are seasons called the Time of Learning, Time of Beauty, Time of Peace, and Together Time.
Instead of the European forest in which Salten set his work, a nine-man camera crew led by Paul Kenworthy and Ralph Wright shot Perri in Utah's Uinta National Forest and Jackson Hole, Wyoming (for the winter sequences). Some 200,000 feet were shot during production; only 8,000 were used in the finished product.
True Life regular Winston Hibler not only continued as the series narrator, but for this film also served as a screenwriter, songwriter and producer.
Upon its release, Perri was generally well received by critics and audiences. Along with all of the other True-Life Adventures, it premiered in December 2006 on Disney DVD as part of the Legacy Collection. It was also one of the titles available on Disney+ when the subscription streaming service launched on November 12, 2019.
Production
Parts of the film were shot in Salt Lake City and the Uinta National Forest in Utah.[3]
Awards
- 1958 Berlin Film Festival: Golden Bear (Best Documentary)
See also
References
- "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30
- Chris, Cynthia (2006). Watching Wildlife. U of Minnesota Press. p. 40. ISBN 1452908702.
- D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
Literature
- Maltin, Leonard (2000). The Disney Films, 4th ed., p. 142–144. Disney Editions. ISBN 0-7868-8527-0.
- Wills, John (2015). "Felix Salten's Stories: The Portrayal of Nature in Bambi, Perri and The Shaggy Dog". In Jackson, Kathy Merloch; West, Mark I. (eds.). Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations. Jefferson (N.C.): McFarland. pp. 45–61. ISBN 978-0-7864-7232-1.