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SO DEAR TO MY HEART

"Christian Faith in Action"

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What You Need To Know:

Disney’s classic 1948 movie SO DEAR TO MY HEART is about a young boy named Jeremiah. Jeremiah lives with his grandmother in a very simple farmhouse. One night, the sheep give birth. One of their lambs is jet black. The sheep reject the black lamb, but Jeremiah wants to keep it. Granny relents, seeing how much love Jeremiah has for the little lamb, called Danny. Just as she predicts, Danny turns out to be a handful. Jeremiah gets the idea from his uncle that Danny can win first prize at the county fair, but is Jeremiah following God’s will or his own?

SO DEAR TO MY HEART is a beautiful, fabulous and winsome movie from Disney’s golden days. It has all the marks of a Disney movie, including a picture book owl who comes alive in animation to make moral points. It includes wonderful songs, many of them sung by the great Burl Ives as Jeremiah’s uncle. What’s amazing about SO DEAR TO MY HEART is that every aspect of it is bathed in a loving Christian worldview. It’s must viewing for families.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, V, N, D, M) Very strong Christian, biblical worldview where faith and belief in the Creator Redeemer God of the Bible is the measure of everything people say and do, which causes a young boy to re-evaluate his desires; no foul language; mild violence such as goat butts judge at country fair, goat runs rampant throughout a house and destroys property, children lost in dark woods; no sex; two circus trainers have upper male nudity in long shot; no alcohol; cigar smoking and pipe smoking; and, rebellious boy learns to be obedient through the love of his grandmother.

More Detail:

SO DEAR TO MY HEART is a winsome, entertaining, fabulous movie with a totally solid, surprising, thoroughgoing Christian biblical worldview. Produced by Walt Disney himself, it provides a wonderful insight into a Christian America.

The movie opens with the song “So Dear to My Heart,” showing special animated moments in the life of a small town in each of the four seasons, including a church with the subtitle citing the whole verse, “Peace on Earth, good will toward men.” Then, the story starts with a young boy named Jeremiah, who lives with his grandmother, in a very simple house where the grandmother takes care of the house and does the farming.

One day, a train stops and the greatest horse of all time, Dan’s Patch, is let off briefly to stretch its legs. Jeremiah decides he wants a winning racehorse. That night, the sheep give birth to their lambs, and one of them is jet black. The sheep reject the black lamb as the runt of the litter, but Jeremiah just wants to keep it. Finally, Granny relents, seeing how much love the boy has for the little lamb. However, just as she predicted, the lamb turns out to be a handful.

Jeremiah gets the idea from his uncle, played wonderfully by Burl Ives, that he can win first prize at the county fair with this lamb. Granny tells Jeremiah she let him keep the lamb because he showed love, manifesting the Lord’s will, but his interest in the county fair is vanity, not his love for the lamb.

The question is, should Jeremiah enter the county fair? Can he raise the money? Is he following the will of the Spirit of God, or his own will?

SO DEAR TO MY HEART is a beautifully produced and directed movie from the golden days of Disney. It has all the marks of a Disney movie, including a picture book owl who comes alive in animation to make biblical moral points. The songs, from a core of Disney writers, became famous: “Billy Boy” from Burl Eyes, “So Dear to My Heart,” “County Fair” by Mel Torme, and many, many others.

What’s amazing about SO DEAR TO MY HEART is that every aspect of it is bathed in a loving Christian worldview. It should be must viewing for little children. Jeremiah learns how to live his life in a Godly way, and so will the children who watch it.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.