The Yearling (1994 film)

{{Infobox television

| image = TheYearling1994.jpg

| image_alt =

| caption =

| genre = Adventure
Drama
Family

| based_on = {{Based on|The Yearling|Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings}}

| writer = Joe Wiesenfeld

| director = Rod Hardy

| starring = Peter Strauss
Jean Smart

| music = Lee Holdridge

| country = United States

| language = English

| producer = Edwin Self

| executive_producer = David R. Ames
Sandra Birnhak Ames
Robert Halmi
Robert Halmi Jr.

| location =

| editor = Richard Bracken

| cinematography = David Connell

| runtime = 90 minutes

| company = RHI Entertainment
Showcase Productions International

| budget =

| network = CBS

| released = {{Start date|1994|4|24}}

}}

The Yearling is a 1994 American made-for-television coming-of-age drama film based on the 1938 novel The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It was produced by RHI Entertainment, sponsored by Kraft General Foods and broadcast on CBS on April 24, 1994. It is also a remake of the 1946 theatrical film The Yearling starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman.

Premise

A young, impoverished 12-year-old boy named Jody Baxter (Wil Horneff), the lone surviving child of four, lives on a farm in 1870s in an area that is now part of the Ocala National Forest, near Silver Glen Springs,

shortly after the American Civil War. Jody develops a lasting bond with an orphaned deer named Flag.

Cast

Peter Strauss as Ezra "Penny" Baxter
Jean Smart as Ora Baxter
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Buck Forrester
Wil Horneff as Jody Baxter
Jarred Blancard as Fodder-Wing Forrester
Brad Greenquist as Lem Forrester
Mary Nell Santcroc as Ma Forrester
Richard Hamilton as Pa Forrester
Scott Sowers as Boyle
Ed Grady as Doc Wilson
Susan F. Allen as Lyla
Kerry Wallum as James
Bart Hansard as Milwheel Forrester

Reception

Reviewer Drew Voros of Variety wrote that "the absence of true grit and dirt-under-fingernails feeling weaken the believability of the drama," though "like the novel and the ’46 film version, death is taken very seriously, and life is not taken for granted. For this alone, despite the glitches, young viewers should be encouraged to watch."{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/reviews/the-yearling-2-1200436592/|title = The Yearling|date = 22 April 1994}}