FAQ for
Old Yeller (1957) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Old Yeller can be found here.

Yes. Old Yeller is a 1956 novel of the same name by American author Fred Gibson [1908-1973]. It was adapted for the screen by screenwriter William Tunberg.

When Travis (Tommy Kirk) first laid eyes on the dog, he called him an "old yeller" dog, the "yeller" referring to his yellow color. The name stuck.

In the novel, Old Yeller is a Black Mouth Cur. Spike, the dog who played Old Yeller in the movie, was purchased as a pup from the Van Nuys Animal Shelter in Van Nuys, California by trainers Frank and Rudd Weatherwax. At the time of his purchase, Spike's ancestry was unknown. In the commentary on the two-disc Old Yeller DVD, it is revealed by a Weatherwax relative that Spike was a 170+ pound Labrador Retriever/Mastiff cross.

"Hydrophobie" (hydrophobia) is another term for rabies.

Yes. Savage Sam, Fred Gibson's 1962 sequel to his novel Old Yeller (1956), was made into a movie, also called Savage Sam, in 1963.

Old Yeller is one of those movies that is considered a classic, a movie that no other movie can equal. However, the sequel, Savage Sam (1963) reunites Travis and Arliss (Kevin Corcoran) with Yeller's son Sam. Another movie that seems to come close to the mood of Old Yeller, in the opinion of those who have seen both, is Marley & Me (2008).