Jeremiah Kincaid is the main protagonist of Disney's, So Dear to My Heart.
Background[]
Jeremiah is a young farm boy who lives in the Indiana countryside with his tough yet-loving Granny Kincaid along with his Uncle Hiram and his cousin Tildy. Throughout the events of the film, he cares about his sheep Danny to help him feel confident in winning a contest at the Pike County Fair. In addition to that, Jeremiah also has a scrapbook consisting of various decorations that recap his adventures where the animated sequences mostly take place consisting of the Wise Old Owl and an animated counterpart of Danny where the Owl teaches the importance of having confidence and determination in helping Jeremiah's pet sheep win the contest so that he is excited to accumulate enough money. When Danny won, Jeremiah felt proud of his sheep who was ranked as the Champion Ram Lamb of the Pike County Fair.
Role in the film[]
Jeremiah is first seen approaching Old 99 alongside his cousin Tildy and his Uncle Hiram approaching Dan Patch's private car and as Dan exits his private car, he curiously gazes upon the champion horse at Fulton Corners and while observing the horse, he then studies Uncle Hiram who is replacing a loose nail on one of the horse's horseshoes just as Jeremiah gently pats Dan and offers him his apple and before Dan's handler can feed the apple to the horse, he double checks it to see if there are worms inside to which he finds no worms in the apple, allowing Jeremiah to feed him the apple just before the horse returns to his private car. Jeremiah then returns home and places a decoration of Dan Patch on his scrapbook and approaches his grandmother. That night while at bed, Jeremiah complains having a replacement for his grandmother's horse, General Jackson with a better horse or mule to which Granny warns him that she doesn't want to hear about her grandson's negative comments about General Jackson, telling Jeremiah to get back to bed as well as telling him to count sheep so he can sleep peacefully. Commenting about the lambs in their pen, Jeremiah follows his grandmother to a pen where the little lambs were recently born. Jeremiah then checks on Jezebel's pen seeing three newborn lambs which his grandmother happily comments on the lambs just as she tells her grandson to give her a pitchfork only for Jeremiah to see a black lamb named Danny that was recently born which Jeremiah reacts in excitement. Jeremiah shows his grandmother Jezebel's newborn twins as he shows his grandmother the lamb with black coloration.
Seeing Jezebel's white offspring drinking milk from his mother, Jeremiah attempts to give Danny milk but Jezebel refuses. Granny offers her grandson to give Danny a blanket to keep him warm followed by Jeremiah being told to fetch his grandmother of fetching a four sack to feed Danny much to Granny feeling upset that Jeremiah isn't listening to her to which upon approaching him, she tells him that if he wants to keep Danny warm, it should be near the fireplace. Upon keeping him warm, Granny tells Jeremiah that there will come a time that Danny cannot be kept with the Kincaid family anymore especially when he grows up, just as Granny tells her grandson to keep him warm, despite not having interest in harvesting wool from black sheep. Feeling inspired by the recently born black sheep which Jezebel gave birth to, Jeremiah Kincaid replaces an image of Dan Patch, the champion horse of the county fair with an illustration of a lamb from the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" postcard on his scrapbook which he renames the sheep to "Danny" crossing out Patch's name upon placing the sheep outline into the outline of Dan Patch himself as well as placing the wreath from Dan on Danny to imagine if his lamb were a champion.
Later the next day, Danny is now a grown-up sheep rushing across the countryside as Granny feels upset about the damage Danny is doing to the Kincaid family's house; Jeremiah approaches his grandmother explaining to her that Danny not promising to cause damage across the house, much to Granny feeling upset about Jeremiah for neglecting the chores of caring the garden or piling the wood for the winter with Danny being a nuisance. While doing chores, Jeremiah hears Danny bleating just as Jeremiah plans to big a pen outdoor pen big enough for Danny in order to cheer him up. Danny impatiently attempts to get Jeremiah's attention to which he tells the sheep only if he promises to behave. Soon as Jeremiah takes Danny for a walk, the sheep starts causing havoc inside Grundy's Mercantile Store much to Jeremiah's worry just as Mr. Grundy feels furious of the damage caused by Danny. At the smithy, Jeremiah tells his Uncle Hiram about Danny's bad reputation describing Danny about his abilities no other sheep can do while telling Hiram if it is possible for Danny to be ranked as a champion, despite being a sheep. Hiram then measures Danny to know if he is ready for the fair as Hiram tells Jeremiah about Danny's weight telling him that if Danny wins the county fair, he will be rewarded a grand champion blue ribbon as well as a cash award.
Later, Jeremiah and his cousin Tildy are frolicking around the countryside to help Danny practice in being a champion by feeding him clovers so that Jeremiah can win good rewards for having his sheep ranked as champion. However, the two children hear a train coming by just as Danny uncontrollably runs across the countryside, causing Jeremiah and his cousin to chase after him at the area where Hiram is discussing with Granny about Jeremiah and his sheep which Danny stops at a field of crops which Jeremiah notices that he is safe and sound.
Granny then explains to Jeremiah that Mr. Turner will take Danny away so that he will find a home so that he can take good care of the sheep just as Granny tells Jeremiah that she didn't say he can keep the lamb but rather see him, just as she feels upset if Jeremiah is deaf if he understood what she told him only to find Jeremiah out of his room just as she finds Jeremiah sleeping with Danny on a patch of hay. The next day, Jeremiah is stocking grass for Danny in his pen to feed his sheep just as Jeremiah is excited about Danny being a champion just as Hiram privately tells Jeremiah and Tildy about keeping the county fair a secret so Granny won't know about Danny. Later during the "Lavender Blue (Dilly, Dilly)" sequence, Jeremiah is seen doing the dishes while Uncle Hiram sings. He and Tildy listen to Hiram's singing while being attracted to Hiram communicating with Granny. Hiram then sings a few notes of "The Blue Danube" which reminds him of merry-go-rounds and the last time Hiram heard of one was at a county fair. While Jeremiah discusses with his grandmother, he feels disappointed that his sheep might not win in first place at the county fair, even if he were to participate in the County Fair upon hearing what his grandmother said. He then turns on the phonograph to turn on the music to refresh his grandmother's memory of dancing. After dancing, Granny tells the children to tidy up everything and explains to Jeremiah the details he doesn't understand yet; she then explains to her grandson that going into the county fair is not free and so is the train taking people there to which her grandson tries to convince her if she would agree to take him to which she explains that he has to have hope and faith that Danny would win there just before going to bed.
That night, the Wise Old Owl faces Jeremiah about himself not giving up in helping Danny win just as he teaches the importance of having good effort and hard work during the "Stick-to-it-ivity" sequence. The next day, Jeremiah, holding a sack of sassafras, finds himself walking alone in the countryside on a railroad track which he suddenly sees an ad for the Pike County Fair, seeing an illustration of two sheep wearing blue ribbons just as he feels determined of helping Danny win a blue ribbon just like the sheep seen in the ad. He then enter Grundy's Mercantile Store while showing Pete Grundy a sack of sassafras which weighs 18 pounds and the cost for this sack is $2.14 for him to purchase which Jeremiah cannot afford. Mr. Grundy gives Jeremiah an offer, explaining to him that if he wants to get rich quick, he must find a bee and follow it to a bee tree so that he can receive money for the sassafras. Jeremiah then finds the bee that Mr. Grundy was talking about, although it leads him and Tildy into a faraway swamp in an attempt to feed the tree that Mr. Grundy told him to find. After a tough search, Jeremiah finally finds the bee tree on the cottonwood tree.
Having found the tree which Pete Grundy spoke of, Uncle Hiram then takes Jeremiah to Grundy's Mercantile Store with the honey he accumulated from the tree, showing Mr. Grundy the honey from the cottonwood tree that Jeremiah accumulated, giving him money to help him purchase the sack of sassafras for Danny to help him win the contest at the county fair and as Jeremiah and his uncle walk outside the store, Jeremiah faces a bully who says a negative comment about him and his pet sheep's purpose of winning the ribbon prize which Jeremiah pushes him back while Mr. Grundy then decides to teach the boy a lesson.
Later on his way home, Hiram is taking Jeremiah back home only to find Granny who is looking for Tildy and upon approaching his grandmother, Jeremiah shows her the money he received from Pete Grundy for harvesting the honey from a cottonwood tree, which Granny warns him that Tildy was out in the wood trying to catch Danny throughout a wild chase at the forest which Jeremiah then takes risk of himself in finding his pet sheep throughout the wild chase only for Tildy to encounter her and Uncle Hiram. That night, Granny suddenly finds Jeremiah who was out in the woods looking for her grandson just as Jeremiah's grandmother takes her grandson back home for safety, much to Jeremiah's worry about looking for Danny.
At home, Granny discusses with Jeremiah that Danny may have survived the storm, explaining to her grandson that all he can do is hope for the best, telling him to be ready for anything unexpected which could happen which Jeremiah denies, telling his grandmother that his sheep is still around. Granny then claims that it was her fault, in being extremely tough to her grandson, discussing to Jeremiah that he turned away from the things she has taught her ever since he was a baby. She then recaps to her grandson that he loved his pet sheep, explaining that she allowed him to keep him, despite his bad reputation as well as discussing the importance of true love, claiming that all he thinks is about himself. Jeremiah's grandmother tells her grandson to do what is right just before her grandmother leaves.
The next day, Jeremiah leaves his room to return to the woods to look for Danny, but could not find the lost sheep. However, Jeremiah finally searches for Danny who has been revealed to be alive all along just as the two follow Tildy to their house, much to Granny's happiness. Jeremiah later then decides to clean up Danny by removing the foxtails out of him and then feed him oatmeal mash while Hiram decides to buy the tickets for the county fair which she reckons taking the children there. Granny then approaches her grandson who is cleaning Danny, explaining that he changed his mind in taking Danny to the county fair which she replies that she made a promise to take the children to the fair which Jeremiah reconciles with her just as he decides to clean him before taking him to the fair.
Later at the fair, Jeremiah cleans Danny to get him ready for the sheep contest where his grandmother tells him that only one of the sheep will win to which as the sheep contest begins, Jeremiah takes his pet sheep Danny to the area where the participators and their sheep are being selected by the judges. Jeremiah then asks one of the judges of what makes Danny unique which the judge asks him about what he has been feeding him which he replies that he has been feeding him oatmeal mash. Later when Mr. Marshall's sheep is given a blue ribbon, Jeremiah comforts him, telling him that everything will be all right. The head judge then compliments on Danny about his uniqueness to which he explains to Jeremiah that the only problem about Danny is his black wool, explaining that the contest goes to show what extra special care will do to him in the raising of fine livestock. He then explains to Jeremiah that Danny is the Champion Ram Lamb, allowing the judge himself to award a special merit to Jeremiah Kincaid just as the crowd cheers for Jeremiah's pet sheep who is awarded a very special ribbon for him just as Jeremiah is proud of Danny who won the contest.
Back at the countryside, Jeremiah brings Danny who was ranked as the Champion Ram Lamb of the Pike County Fair as the town celebrates when Danny won the contest just as Pete Grundy offers Jeremiah and the rest of the townsfolk a celebration for him and his pet sheep. Jeremiah then places Danny's ribbon on his scrapbook, ending the film.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jeremiah's actor, Bobby Driscoll, was honored by the 22nd Annual Academy Awards as the outstanding juvenile actor of 1949, resulting him in gaining critical acclaim for his participation of Jeremiah.
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