The Little Kidnappers (1990 film)
| The Little Kidnappers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Donald Shebib |
| Written by | Coralee Elliott Testar |
| Starring |
Bruce Greenwood Patricia Gage Charlton Heston |
| Music by | Mark Snow |
Release dates | August 17, 1990 |
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Little Kidnappers is a 1990 Canadian/American television film made by Testar Productions; Margellos-Resnick and Jones 21st Century for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Disney Channel. It tells the story of orphans Harry and Davy MacKenzie (Leo Wheatley and Charles Miller) sent to live with their stern grandfather, James MacKenzie (Charlton Heston).
Based on the short story Scotch Settlement by Neil Paterson, (which had previously been filmed in 1953), and set in Nova Scotia in 1903, the film was shot in several locations throughout Nova Scotia with dockside scenes being filmed aboard the CSS Acadia at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.[1]
Plot
Coralee Elliott Testar's version of the story revolves around letters written by James' son to his wife and children and what Harry and Davy bring with them in a box carved by James for his son. Through these letters, he finds healing from the grief he feels over the death of his son at the hands of Dutch soldiers in the Second Boer War in South Africa and deliverance from the hatred in his heart for those of Dutch ancestry.
The movie's title refers to the discovery and rescue by Harry and Davy of a baby left on a beach and their decision to hide and care for it themselves rather than risk their grandfather's harsh and unmerciful reaction to it.