1993 was a good year. Steven Spielberg released two of the best films ever, Jurassic Park and, especially, Schindler's List. Harrison Ford starred in one of his best movies, The Fugitive. Tim Burton directed presented The Nightmare Before Christmas. Child friendly films like The Sandlot became classics.

And there's also this one, Homeward Bound, a Disney remake of their 1963 film The Incredible Journey. I just watched it today, and nearly cried. It's been...a long time. What was I? Five? Four?? To my surprise, I remembered quite a bit.

It's very simple, and so it won't take me too long to review it. It's a simple, feel-good film with a lot of heart. It didn't take a lot of imagination to create, but it did require a personal sense of goodness. I'd say that the film is filled with humanity, but that would be an ironic statement, because in many ways the film is about something that humanity is not.

Shadow, Chance, and Sassy (A Golden Retriever, an American Bulldog, and a Himalayan Cat, respectively), are left behind with a caretaker when their owners go on vacation. The owners take much longer than expected, and after a couple of weeks Shadow gets worried.

You see, Shadow is a slightly older dog, older than the recently adopted Chance. He's had time to develop a bond with his kid. He understands the importance of the relationship between dogs and humans. He is defined by his loyalty for his boy.

Chance, recognizably voiced by Michael J. Fox, is much less mature. He's eager for fun, and impulsive. He's definitely a dog, enjoying life moment by moment, and delighting in gross things like eating smelly old shoes, but he hasn't figured out his relationship with humans yet. He liked it when they take him in, but the relationship has no deeper meaning to him like it does with Shadow.

Then there's Sassy, who lives up to her name. She doesn't like getting dirty, and thinks that cats rule and dogs drool. She's definitely family with the dogs, but her relationship dynamic with them is almost exactly what little kids would expect.

Following Shadow's lead, the three pets leave the farm where they're being kept to travel across the wilderness to find their family. Chance and Sassy can get distracted, but they keep on going because of Shadow's simple love for his boy. At one point, in the middle of a forest of pines, sitting before a river with a sunset reflecting off of it, Chance observes that "Looking at him that night, he seemed so wise, and ancient, like the first dog who ever walked the earth. I just hope that one day I can be like him."

Shadow was always my favorite character. I'm not sure if, when I was a kid, I was aware that he was older. Watching this again in my twenties, that detail doesn't seem familiar to me. When I was a kid, I'm sure that my reason for loving Shadow was that he was of that most beautiful breed, the Golden Retriever. I still absolutely love him for that reason. Rewatching the film, though, I admire his deep appreciation of the purpose of being a dog, and how he made found a home in this purpose.

On the way, they see many great beauties of nature, from river rapids, to waterfalls, to rocky cliffs, to mountains and valleys, panthers, bears, and so on. The film takes no shame in being beautiful. That sums up most of the film: authentic shots of nature at its best, and of dogs at their best. And a cat. Can't forget the cat.

That sums up the movie. You know exactly what you're going to get. It's one of those films that captures the old-fashioned Disney spirit quite well, and has a Normal Rockwellian quality. It's Norman Rockwell for dogs.