Where The Red Fern Grows, Part 2

WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (1974) was a sentimental boy-and-his-dogs flick that made no pretense of being art. What it did make was a mint, barnstorming around the country for years as a wholesome, G-rated independent release. This belated sequel, unleashed on home video in 1994 but bearing a 1991 copyright, wrings the formula bone dry.

Billy (Doug McKeon), Depression-era kid hero of the first movie, returns to his Ozark home after losing a leg in World War II. To cure the young man's malaise, wise Grandpa (Wilford Brimley) gives him yet another pair of redbone hound pups. The dogs are named Old Dan and Little Anne, after the devoted coon-hunting canines...