Call It Courage (1973)
Director:
Roy Edward DisneyWriters:
Benjamin Masselink (as Ben Masselink) ,Armstrong Sperry (book)Stars:
Don Ho, Evan TemariiSoon Mafatu finds a sacrificial altar built by cannibals from a neighboring island. Mafatu realizes his days on the island are numbered and he begins designing his escape by making a canoe. He gathers things he will need to survive a trip across the ocean. He finds a spear point on the terrible altar and uses it to hunt.
After a number of encounters with natural foes, including a shark, a wild boar and an octopus, all of which he successfully kills, he realizes he is gaining courage and learning to deal with the things that have frightened him. The cannibals return and he makes a daring escape from them, returning home at last to his village. He has become transformed by the experience into an imposing figure. His father does not recognize him at first, then proudly accepts him on his return.
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A Sturdy Adaptation of a Juvenile Classic
Based on the Newbery-Medal Winning children's novel of the same name, CALL IT COURAGE comes to the screen as a narrative-driven photographic account of a Polynesian legend. This legend is re-enacted by what appears to be a young native about the same age as the book's hero. He rarely speaks and when he does, the performer uses native words, leaving accompanying action to explain them. This system works well, as do tropical island scenes involving lagoons, reefs, and a wild boar. Even a menacing tribe of cannibals and an attacking shark are portrayed with adequately suspenseful urgency, tweaked to greater dramatic impact by a descriptively apt music score. Boy and drama are well served by this Disney production. The message of independently overcoming fears is potently communicated.