''A Cry in the Wild'' is a 1990 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on the book ''

Hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side. Hatchets may also be use ...

'', written by

Gary Paulsen Gary James Paulsen (May 17, 1939 – October 13, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming of age, coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote mor ...

. The film stars

Jared Rushton Jared Michael Rushton (born March 3, 1974) is an American former actor. He is best known for his roles in several films from the late 1980s, including ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'', ''Big'', and '' Overboard''. He has been nominated for two Saturn ...

as Brian,

Pamela Sue Martin Pamela Sue Martin (born January 5, 1953) is an American actress, who is best known for starring as Nancy Drew on the television series ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'' and as socialite Fallon Carrington Colby on the ABC soap opera ''Dynas ...

as Brian's mom,

Stephen Meadows Stephen Meadows (born 1950) is an American actor, architect and inventor. Biography Meadows was born in 1950, in Atlanta, Georgia. He has appeared in movies and television shows such as ''Ultraviolet'' with Esai Morales, ''V.I. Warshawski'' wi ...

as Brian's dad, and

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...

as the pilot. It spawned three sequels: '' White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II''; '' White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild''; and '' White Wolves III: Cry of the White Wolf''.

Plot

Brian Robeson and his mother receive a package. She later gives it to Brian revealing it to be a hatchet at the airport. When Brian gets on the single engine plane with the pilot they have a short conversation. The pilot lets Brian fly the plane and Brian enjoys it. However, when the pilot has a heart attack and dies, the plane crashes in the wilderness of the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, leaving Brian to try to survive, all while dealing with his parents' divorce.

Cast

as Brian Robeson *

as Brian's mother *

as Brian's father *

as Plane pilot

Release

The film was 23, 1991, it aired for the first time on television in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

as part of the series ''

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

''.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

References

External links

A Cry in the Wild
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* 1990 films 1990s coming-of-age drama films 1990 independent films American coming-of-age drama films American independent films American survival films Films about animals Films about bears Films about children Films about families Films based on American novels Films produced by Julie Corman Films produced by Roger Corman Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about wolves 1990 drama films Films directed by Mark Griffiths (director) 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-drama-film-stub