The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976) User Reviews

A special movie for me

[nostobbi · 8/10 · 20 July 2008]

This movie has a special place for me. As well as being a real tearjerker (if you love horses) all of the pit scenes were filmed at the end of my garden! My mum was an extra as was my grandfather and his brother in law and even his goat! Even 30 years on the "pit tip" were it was filmed is still there, although a little over grown. When I watch this film I can clearly remember the scenes where the children plot to free the ponies. The top of the hill were they lay spying was a grass covered ramp at the end of my paddock.

Other films were also made in and on the same road.. "The Price of Coal" and "The Gamekeeper" by Barry Heines. Yes the village I lived in and where my parent still live was in much demand in the 1970'sw

Gallant little pony

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 4 February 2017]

This British film from the Disney Studios is a real sleeper. Although Alastair Sim in what would turn out to be the last theatrically released film of his career is top billed, his is really a supporting role. I doubt most on this side of the pond would know any of the cast members other than Sim, but the real stars are three kids and a Shetland pony, one of many ponies that is used in the Yorkshire coal mines in the beginning years of the last century.

In the mines the little ponies are used to take the coal out but Sim has hired Peter Barkworth as a new manager and he wants to bring in automatic conveyor machines to take the coal out. What happens to the faithful ponies, most likely sent to the slaughterhouse for pet food.

That does not sit well with Barkworth's daughter Chloe Franks and her new friends Andrew Harrison and Benjie Bolgar who are miner's kids. The three steal the ponies. I won't say more but the ponies prove their worth in the end.

This Disney film raises some real adult labor management issues and also issues about the ethical treatment of animals. Among the other issues that are raised is the ponies develop eye trouble and even blindness from exposure to coal dust. It's what happens to the kid's favorite pony. And I guarantee when you see the sacrifice this pony makes on behalf of its human masters you will not have a dry eye for days.

This film should be better known. It's for kids and kids of all ages. And the review is dedicated to one Amber Small, the most dedicated animal activist I know.

Dark for a Disney movie, but still very good

[Lori S · 8/10 · 14 November 1998]

Luckily this is not a syrupy-sweet Disney film. It was filmed entirely in the forbidding Yorkshire moors. And though you know it will be a happy ending, they make no bones about the fact that the small working ponies have spent their entire lives down in the coal mines and are about to be sold to the slaughterhouse. Alistair Sims makes his final movie appearance here - most of you will know him as Scrooge from the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" or in a featured role in Alfred Hitchcock's "Stage Fright."

Very atmospheric

[buxtehude99 · 30 March 2005]

I have always enjoyed the British Disney productions, such as "The Three Lives of Thomasina". This is not unlike that film, in it's darker nature. A very atmospheric view of English coal mining life. As others have said, quite dark for Disney. I had trouble finding a tape of this. I'm not sure of the availability of this film; I finally stumbled across it in a used bin. It doesn't exactly fit the Disney image. I don't imagine Disneyland will have a ride on this theme (you ride through the mine, and it blows up?). Strongly cast across the board. Good performances by the children, who I think, later star in "Mary Poppins". Watch for a young Prunella Scales, "Sybil Fawlty", as the mine manager's wife. Excellent brass band score, a la "Brassed Off".

What a Clean Coal Mine It Must Be!

[boblipton · 7/10 · 26 June 2019]

Alastair Sim, in his last screen role, tasks the manager of his colliery with making it profitable. The proposed solution is to install machines to move the coal about and retire the pit ponies -- and by 'retire' is meant 'send them to the knackers.' Three of the children in the neighborhood work out a scheme to save them.

There's some inconsistency in the writing in this script, particularly in the way Sim's character behaves; it's surprising given the writers: Burt Kennedy and Rosemary Ann Sisson. I also never saw children who could muck about in coal pits and remain so clean as the three the movie centers on, not to mention pit ponies. Nonetheless, the performances are excellence, and Chloe Franks gives a particularly lively and engaging performance. Good location shooting in Yorkshire adds to the pleasures of the film. All in all, it's a strong Disney movie, with milder humor and some actual fear and sadness under the direction of Charles Jarrott.

Equines of many types were used in the mines. In the US, it was mostly mules, but in Britain, it was ponies, who could move through the confined spaces more easily. the first recorded use of ponies was in Durham about 1750. In 1887 the British government began to regulate their use, and the Pit Ponies' Protection Society (later the National Equine Defense League) was founded in 1907. Ponies' use peaked in 1913, with an estimated 70,000 working underground. Use declined with rising mechanization, and the last known pit pony, "Robbie" retired from a Welsh mine in 1999. The last known living pit pony was Tony who died in 2011 aged 40 at the Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter.

not for little horse lovers

[areddie4 · 8/10 · 5 June 2010]

This is an amazing movie for any horse lover but is is English and the don't believe in happy endings. The scenery is fabulous. and as mentioned over and over. this was a "dark" period for Disney ..... the pit ponies are so cute and you get all attached to the kids and the ponies and the ending is just so... Omg!!! This movie practically put me and my two younger sisters in therapy. To this day at 32,30,28 yrs old we use it as a reference to the ultimate in emotional trauma. If your little horse lover is under like 15 don't let them watch the end. Poor Patch Seriously letting your child watch this movie constitutes child abuse... I'm crying now remembering that damn movie!

Heartwarming

[pcoles5 · 9/10 · 11 August 2017]

This is a cute and heartwarming little movie about kids who develop a fantastic heist together, after planning to steal some horses (which are actually just ponies I think) from a mine company's owner who, after deciding to fully mechanize his operation and destroy the horses which are now useless to him and obsolete. It is a great family film but very hard to find here in North America and I eventually tracked down a second hand copy on tape from a television broadcast in I think the 1980s. The movie was originally made in the 1970s if I remember correctly.

The kids are great and the story is fun and realistic and never boring, even though it's a pretty simple plot. The kids will love this one, trust me. Also keep an eye out for Alastair Sim, a really fantastic and under-appreciated actor best known for his role as Scrooge in what I think is the hands down best version of that story ever filmed. I give this one 9/10.

history & culture of mining towns

[deexsocalygal · 9/10 · 10 July 2021]

I enjoyed learning about the history of pit ponies. I never even knew they existed until I saw this movie. This movie is rich in history, culture, & customs. The story revolves around 3 kids who live in a mining town, two boys & a girl. The girl is the bosses daughter so she has better clothes & instead of going to school she has a live-in Governess who teaches her. She's not supposed to play with the boys because they're minors' kids. See what I mean by history & culture? There's a cave-in accident & some minors get stuck. They are running out of oxygen. The ponies are able to find them. When the boss decides to replace the ponies with machines the kids break tradition & worked together to keep the ponies from being destroyed. Fascinating stuff & a good ending for the ponies.

An outstanding film

[r96sk · 9/10 · 27 August 2020]

What a cracking little film!

I was not expecting this to be so great. 'The Littlest Horse Thieves' is a highly touching and well paced film from 1976, it's one of Disney's best live-action offerings up until this point in time.

The studio have done a crap tonne of animal and children stories in these early decades, some of them work nicely whilst some fall flat. This, however, is excellent. It sucked me right in, I was fully invested in the story of Dave, Alice, Tommy and 'their' ponies - especially the latter's spearhead, Flash. The ending hit me, I can't lie.

Andrew Harrison, Chloe Franks and Benjie Bolgar play the aforementioned human trio - they give what you'd expect from kid actors, but I appreciate their performances. You also have a number of adults involved, with my standouts being Alastair Sim (Harrogate) and Joe Gladwin (Bert).

Other positive parts include the locations and score, both of which are lovely. An outstanding film, one I would highly recommend!

CHEER! - (8 stars out of 10)

[BJG-Reviews · 8/10 · 24 October 2021]

The stage curtains open ...

Set in 1909, this is the courageous story of 3 brave children who set out to rescue pit ponies scheduled to be sent to the slaughterhouse because they are being replaced by modernized mining equipment. It is a well written and directed live-action Disney film that touches the heart in the setting of the harsh reality of living in a coal mining town during the turn of the century.

When Alice, the daughter of the quarry foreman, finds out that the pit ponies used to haul coal out of the mine are going to be slaughtered because they are no longer needed, she teams up with two boys from the town to set up a plan to sneak into the mines, steal the ponies, and hide them. Aided by a good-hearted man named Bert - the caretaker of the ponies - they find another way in to carry out their daring plan.

This was a film I remember watching when I was in school as a kid under the Amercian title of "The Littlest Horse Thieves". I remember liking it and I was able to finally track it down again all these years later. Watching it again, I was suprised at the level of reality that was represented with changes that they had to face back then, echoing down through the ages to changes we all face daily, some of which we may not like. But, like our littlest thieves, we all find a way to make the best of things and move on with a positive attitude.

I absolutely loved this movie upon rewatching it. This Disney film flew under the radar, and even among most people my age, it has become forgotten. I highly recommend it to anyone, who can find this lost gem, at a strong 8 stars out of 10.

A Heartbreaker!

[rebekahrox · 8/10 · 26 June 2019]

Although the movie ends upbeat and and hopefully regarding the miners and the main families and all but one of the horses, the fate of the most beloved horse is heartbreaking and poignant. When one of the boys father comments about the sadness, the boy reminds him that up above in the fields he knew he was blind, but he was a hero who knew the way in the mine pit. OMG OMG OMG. The performance of Chloe Franks was a standout, the most affecting of a strong cast. Alistair Sims performance made the character of the Lord who owned the mine profoundly creepy with his giggling. What was he thinking? All in all a top notch Disney drama with more darkness than expected, but which made it even more memorable.