Disney presents: "Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar" (1967)

A classic, family-friendly movie that big-time Disney will love and some will remember.

"Timeless" is the word best described for Disney classic films, and this one is no exception. Just a family-friendly film about a wild cat—cougar—and the life he lives both domestically and in the wild. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to storytelling, and given the quality of movies today, maybe it's time we go back to basics.


Taking place in Timberland, USA, we're greeted with a lumber worker by the name of Jess Bradley who, while doing some work, found and adopted a young, meowing animal he found. Bringing the adorable animal into his house, the kitten kept interrupting Jess and his work telling it to stop being a "good time Charlie," which then became a great name for the little kitten: Charlie. After getting comfortable in his new residence, Charlie often would go out and try hanging out with other animals in the wilderness, one of them being a young, forest bear. Playful as the bear was, there came a time when Charlie and the bear would rest and sleep alongside one another! After that, Jess thought it would be a fine opportunity to have Charlie tag along at his place of work.




Even though Charlie scoured and explored the area, the poor cat couldn't help but be bothered by the lumberyard's dog—a terrier named Chainsaw to which the dog always had to be carried and held back from picking on the lonesome cougar. Like any other exchange involving a dog and a cat, Chainsaw chased Charlie to the cafe, as the chase caused Charlie to make a mess (as the saying goes, "that darn cat!"). As Charlie was able to get away, the cougar started to realize his domesticated life meant losing freedom. Of course, the chase from Chainsaw continued again leading Charlie to land on a floating and sailing log, as Jess saw and tried to save the cougar but was unable to.



At this point is where the typical behaviors and mishaps of cats begin to show, like the time Charlie was playing and untying a rope, only to learn that it was tied to a raft Jess was in. As the rope went loose, so did the raft where Jess was taking a nap when suddenly, the raft moved aimlessly. This movement caused the stove and many belongings to fall and cause a small fire inside. After saving the raft and himself, Charlie entered in the raft and was glad Jess was safe, even though that darn cat was guilty of causing all that has happened. Because of all the chaos the silly cougar has caused, it was time to leave Charlie at home and caged until Jess would come back from work.



Caged but able to break free, Charlie wanted to explore and find its freedom again only to find he was getting hungry. It took a long while for Charlie to hunt for food while gaining its freedom back but was finally able to eat, after several failed attempts. During this hunting of food, Charlie has found himself the target of both a farmer, whom Charlie intervened and tried to snatch some milk, and a hunter whose three dogs went and chased after Charlie. The poor cougar couldn't bare it anymore and realized the best thing was to find a safe spot which happened to be back at cafe. Even though it was safe, Charlie snuck in to the open window of the cafe, and like any cat, made a huge mess when it was trying to leave and escape. The next morning, Chainsaw sensed and found Charlie only to run away from the dog and make a mess again. This time, the boss decided it was time to hunt and get rid of the pest...until Jess came along and convinced his workers that he able to gain control of the cat. No harm done (thank goodness) and Charlie was taken on a leech by Jess and left.

The next day, Jess thought it was time to release the cat and let it live on its own out in the wild—a place that's free from hunters. Jess waved farewell to the cat as Charlie looked on realizing all it has learned from living the life alongside humans. Jess did so with his fiancé. The movie ends there.

Think nothing of it, as this was one of the earliest family-friendly movies from Disney and appeals to those with a love for animals. This also tells us about why zoos are looked-down upon as animals ought to be living in their natural habitats and not imprisoned for show and tell (still actively debated today). Nevertheless, we learn of the animal instincts and how they adapt to the domestic life as well as the life they naturally grow accustomed to, despite how wild and violent the animal kingdom can be. Being that this is a wild but lonesome cougar, and not an everyday cat, we see how animals behave and learn when making such adaptation into a life they never thought they'd live. Then again, being that it's a cougar, Charlie still was able to show its "cat instincts" that the Internet loves talking and sharing videos/pictures of. In other words, whether you're a cat owner or not, many scenes and Charlie's behavior in this movie will make you smile, and perhaps can relate to.

We're not sure if this classic movie is available on streaming platforms like Disney+, but this is available on DVD. This copy of ours is on VHS, and while there are no credits at the end, they were presented at the very beginning of the film. On this copy, there were also no advertisements shown before the feature presentation, so you get to watch the full movie with no distractions and no data/behavioral tracking; That's the benefit of watching physical media, isn't it?

For all animal lovers, cat lovers, Disney fans and/or physical media fans, this family-friendly movie is a must-have! Highly recommended! Thank you so much, Disney!

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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