In case you hadn’t noticed, I decided that this month of January would be a good time to catch up on some classic kids’ films that I’d somehow missed out on. Inevitably, that led me to Old Yeller and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, two of the most notorious tear-jerkers in cinema history. As such, I decided it would be best to just get the depression over with and do them both in one fell swoop.

First up is Old Yeller. My first impression upon firing up the DVD is that this film has not aged well. Pretty much every narrative beat and line of dialogue has become cliched and boring in the decades since. There’s one particular sequence involving Old Yeller’s previous owner that made me groan at literally every plot point.

The characters are even worse by modern standards, with most of them coming off as one-dimensional “Little House on the Prairie” types. For example, Bud Searcy — a neighboring farmer — is probably among the worst examples of greasy white trash that I’ve ever seen on film. But easily the worst of them is Arliss Coates — the little brother character — who is simply rock stupid. Despite having grown up far from civilization, in the wilderness of Texas just after the Civil War, this kid is still dumb enough to play with every single potentially dangerous beast he comes upon. This young boy even goes so far as to try catching a live bear cub with his own two hands while mama bear is within shouting distance! Naturally, I blame his parents for this. His dad is absent through most of the picture and Katie Coates — despite that she’s clearly a loving mother — looks like a total idiot when she’s indulging Arliss in his flights of fancy.

Ah, but this film isn’t about any of them. The star attraction of this movie is of course its namesake, and Old Yeller himself is quite entertaining to watch. The canine actor playing Yeller is wonderfully trained and surprisingly emotive, which helps to make this mongrel rogue instantly lovable. Equally impressive is Tommy Kirk as Yeller’s master, Travis Coates. Even though it’s Arliss who first claims Yeller as a pet and Travis starts out hating the pooch with a vengeance, there’s no mistaking that Yeller is Travis’ dog. The whole film is about Travis’ acceptance of Yeller as a companion and the loving bond that gradually develops between them. This character arc nicely dovetails with Travis’ own coming of age in a way that’s very satisfying to see. There’s no denying that the story beats will probably look cliched to modern viewers and Travis does have a few stupid moments of his own, but it’s nevertheless the core of this movie and it still works.

Naturally, this serves entirely to make the ending all the more heartbreaking. You know what happens just as well as I do, and there’s a reason why this ending has become so famous. There is indeed a very hefty emotional punch to seeing this faithful companion suddenly turn completely hostile. That Travis came such a long way with Yeller before finally taking it on himself to put a cap in his old friend makes it all the more painful. What’s more, the death is followed by a very beautiful exchange between Travis and his dad that will break the heart of anyone who’s lost someone dear.

There’s no denying that the film’s emotional content is what’s made it famous, yet I’m amazed that the film isn’t better-known for its wildlife footage. A wide variety of animals are featured in this film and they’re all depicted beautifully. Of course, there’s enough animal cruelty in this picture to make any PETA member blow a blood vessel, but the scenes of the animals wandering on their own and interacting with each other against the rural southern American backdrop are quite staggering.

A lot of Old Yeller has aged poorly, but its heart and core remain as solid as ever. I’ll take the beautiful cinematography, the unbelievable work with animals and the central story of this boy and his dog, but I’ll be happy to leave the rest.