- “Where there's a will, there's a way.”
- ―Wise Old Owl[src]
The Wise Old Owl (or simply the Owl) is a character from the Disney live-action/animated film So Dear to My Heart. He is an anthropomorphic owl who was featured in the film's animated sequences.
Background[]
The Wise Old Owl is an animated owl hence his name who was featured in the film's animated sequences. He is shown to have an extremely wise personality as well as showing education detailing the importance of confidence and determination helping Jeremiah Kincaid be confident in helping Danny to win the contest at the Pike County Fair which Jeremiah was able to let his sheep win.
Hence his name, the Wise Old Owl is mostly seen wearing a teacher's cap and is shown to provide good education for Danny reflecting the live-action scenes of Jeremiah's desire in to help his pet sheep Danny become the Champion Ram Lamb of the Pike County Fair. He is also seen wearing a pair of square-shaped glasses located below his eyes.
Role in the film[]
In the first animated sequence, the Wise Old Owl approaches Danny teaching him to stand straight. Seeing Danny wearing a wreath all over him, he asks the lamb that being a champion is not that easy. The Owl then plans to help Danny with his Wisdom Book to which Danny curiously explores the Owl turning pages which would help him just as the Owl gives Danny a topic, "It's what you do with what you got that counts," during the musical number "It's Whatcha Do With Whatcha Got" which the Owl and the Birds sing to Danny fulfill his purpose of being a champion just like Dan Patch. The Wise Old Owl then shows Danny a pair of robins working together building a nest which they were able to build a nest on a tree successfully. After showing Danny of the robins who worked hard in building a nest, the Owl teaches Danny the story of David and Goliath where he tells him that despite his small size, he was able to defeat Goliath who is of gigantic size with a small rock, overcoming the adversity. Danny then finds himself lying on a basket of roses next to a text reading, "Life is no bed of roses" just as Danny approaches the Owl to a horseshoe decoration with words engraved on it: "The road to success is rocky" telling him the importance of working hard to become the champion like Dan Patch and following the Wise Old Owl's advice. The Owl then continues instructing him to get up when he falls down telling the story of Joshua and the Walls of Jericho of what Joshua and the people did to bring down the Wall with trumpets made of ram horns. The Owl then notices Danny rushing across the scrapbook and later jumps out of a fence from a decoration reading "Shadow Fencing".
In the second animated sequence, the Wise Old Owl sees Jeremiah losing faith in himself, explaining to him that there is a way for Danny to win the contest at the county fair singing him the musical number "Stick-to-it-ivity". The Owl then tells a story about Christopher Columbus and his voyages in discovering the New World just as he explains about three boats sent by Columbus under orders of Queen Isabella in Spain. After showing a sequence of the ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María facing challenges, he shows Danny the ships on their way to the New World. Afterwards, the Owl asks Danny, "What did Columbus say?", to which the portrait of Christopher Columbus comes to life, teaching Danny the importance of feeling determined in facing adversities with the importance of confidence and determination. After the Owl tells the story of Columbus' voyage, he then shows Danny another decoration depicting an image of Robert Bruce. The Owl then tells the story of Robert Bruce who faced defeat when he tried to win battles, in which Robert is aided with the help of a spider encouraging him to face his fear and put confidence and faith in himself to which upon following his advice, Robert and his army were able to win a mighty battle thanks to the help of a spider.
The Owl's last appearance in the film is during the county fair sequence where he flies out of a cornucopia decoration alongside the three Birds singing about Jeremiah going to the county fair during the musical number "The County Fair", which he takes a hat and a cane from a decoration of a man wearing the hat just as he flies on a pumpkin which rolls in front of Danny, he then appears again standing on a Ferris wheel's seat and then landing on a bunch of balloons carrying Danny followed by him landing on the county fair poster followed by Danny approaching the poster of the county fair. He makes no further appearances after that.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Owl was sporadically featured on the front cover of most home video releases of So Dear to My Heart, despite the limited releases of the film itself.
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