On this day in 1963, Bodger, Luath, and Tao began an incredible journey in movie theaters. Dogs Bodget and Luath and Siamese cat Tao were the animal stars of Disney’s The Incredible Journey, whose owners left them behind with a friend when they had to travel to Europe. The three animal pals set off on a 200-mile adventure across the Canadian wilderness to return home to their owners, encountering many obstacles and dangers along the way. True to their natural abilities, we never hear the animals speak; however, the film is narrated, and in a great big beautiful way, by Disney Legend and singing cowboy Rex Allen. Rex provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronics® father in the World’s Fair and Disneyland versions of General Electric’s Carousel of Progress, closing each act with the theme song “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” In addition to narrating eight Disney films, Rex also recorded an album for Disney’s Buena Vista Records, singing 16 songs ranging from western to Disney tunes “Pretty Irish Girl” and “Swamp Fox.”
