31 Movies of May, Day 1: Homeward Bound

May 1st viewing: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, requested by Chicago Cinema Workers Fund donor Claire Wiese

Year of Release: 1993

Directed by: Duwayne Dunham

Written by: Caroline Thompson and Linda Woolverton, based on the novel by Sheila Burnford

Starring: Michael J. Fox (voice), Sally Field (voice), Don Ameche (voice), Robert Hayes, Kim Greist, Jean Smart

Accompanying Beverage of Choice: Pulaski Pils (Pilsner, 5.1% ABV) - Maplewood Brewery, Chicago, Illinois
(Support Independent Breweries - buy local when getting buzzed during quarantine)

Shadow the Golden Retriever is one of cinema’s greatest villains.

On its surface, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey is marketed as a heartwarming tale of three pets going to extreme lengths to demonstrate their love and dedication for their human companions. But surface views can be misleading. Most nefarious characters have true motivations hidden beneath their stated intentions. And the actions of Shadow in Homeward Bound don’t square with their supposed human loyalties.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the general plot: A family temporarily moves to San Francisco, dropping off their three pets - Shadow the golden retriever, Sassy the Himalayan cat, and Chance the American bulldog - at a friend’s ranch for a few weeks. Thinking they have been abandoned, the pets flee the ranch and endeavor to cross the Sierra Nevadas to return home.

But there’s one problem with this whole setup: The pets can definitely understand English. They knew the humans were coming back and they ran away anyway.

During the course of the movie, the pets demonstrate levels of eloquence and familiarity with pop culture that could only come to pass if they understood the English language. Chance knows what a “McNugget” is. At one point, Shadow tells Sassy, “Au revoir,” showing that not only does he realize different human languages exist, but that he is capable of understanding multiple human languages himself. Chance quotes a line from Terminator 2: Judgment Day to an aggressive mountain lion.

The kicker for me that sealed this observation was the conclusion of Shadow’s mission statement soliloquy, which he ends with, “And that’s why they call us man’s best friend.” Apparently Shadow is aware of common aphorisms, and is able to use them properly in a sentence! The use of this particular aphorism further demonstrates that he is advanced enough in language concepts to refer to the abstract concept of mankind. There isn’t sufficient evidence to prove that Shadow is familiar with the Ogden Nash poem that popularized the “man’s best friend” term, but honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. 

So the pets can speak English. When Shadow’s boy, Peter (a pre-teen who clearly does not have a single human friend) told him that he would be coming back to get him, Shadow understood that. The entire situation was explained to Shadow in terms that a creature of his intelligence could easily understand. Yet it was Shadow who led the escape, spearheading the other pets to join him. So what motivation did he have for running away? 

Homeward Bound offers little in the way of material to determine Shadow’s motivations. Shadow is cloaked in general signifiers of wisdom and goodness, but his actions are rooted almost entirely in selfishness. He pushes an eight-pound housecat to trek through the wilderness. When the pets reach an animal shelter and are clearly informed that they are about to be reunited with their family, he again spearheads an escape attempt. When Chance receives necessary medical attention to remove porcupine quills from his face - treatment that Shadow had previously acknowledged that Chance needed - Shadow’s impulse is to try and stop it. The movie acts as if all of this can be attributed to the pets’ inability to understand humans, but, as I will repeat one more time, THEY CAN CLEARLY UNDERSTAND HUMANS.

I think the answer lies somewhere in the sequel, Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco. There, the scenario generally repeats itself, with the pets again misinterpreting some temporary activity as abandonment, but instead escaping at San Francisco International Airport, leaving them to frolic across the city where their family had temporarily moved years earlier.

Perhaps Shadow acted not out of desire for reunification, but out of spite? Shadow could have been more cosmopolitan that he lets on, and he wanted to enjoy the wonders of city life just like his family. Feeling snubbed, Shadow fled from his caregiver, knowing the pain and anguish it would cause to his humans - and maybe thinking it would be his once chance to make it to the big city himself. Had he not been injured at the rail yard near the end of the film, Shadow very well may have planned to advance onward to San Francisco, not to the family’s original rural home. It makes sense that when Shadow got a second chance years later to make his big city dreams come true, he instantly capitalized.

This last bit is just speculation. I could also believe that Shadow was on a suicide mission. Or maybe he was trying to off Chance and Sassy, forcing the family to dedicate all attention to him. I’m also ready to listen to conspiracy theories about that little girl Shadow found in the woods - were those really her parents out in that incredibly inefficient search party, or was that a child smuggling ring seeking to find a lost victim?

Ultimately, however, Shadow’s true motivations might be impossible to identify, which is one of the hallmarks of filmmaking’s scariest monsters. One thing that I know for certain: If Shadow sees this post, he will be able to understand every single word. And I want him to know I’m on to him.

— Toss