Fly Away Home

My wife loves this movie. This movie is based on a true story that is heartwarming. When you think you’ve lost faith in people, this is a good watch. Great cast, as well.

Fly Away Home (1996) is a beautifully crafted film that blends breathtaking cinematography with an emotional and uplifting story. The movie follows a young girl, Amy (Anna Paquin), who rescues a group of orphaned geese and, with the help of her father (Jeff Daniels), teaches them to migrate using an ultralight aircraft. The relationship between Amy and her father is touching, evolving from distant to deeply connected through their shared mission. The cinematography is stunning, with sweeping aerial shots that make you feel like you’re flying alongside the geese. The film’s themes of family, perseverance, and love for nature make it a heartfelt watch for all ages. The score by Mark Isham adds to the movie’s emotional depth, and the performances are genuine and heartfelt. Whether you love nature, inspiring true stories, or just a well-told family film, Fly Away Home is a must-watch. Highly recommended!

Enjoyed watching this movie.

I give this movie a 5 star rating. My 5th grade students loved it. I remember it when it came out and I am old enough to remember the true story it was based upon. Unfortunately, the 20-something teachers I work with had no idea about the movie. If you are looking for a great family movie that is not just a silly flick. This is a good one. Here is how I used it in my classroom: As an urban school, 5th grade teacher, I am required to cover all the Indiana 5th grade standards. We were focusing on the Indiana science standard: 5.LS.1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. We also had been working on the 5th Grade Indiana Social Studied Standards, specifically the civic responsibility ones. They are: 5.2.9 Examine ways by which citizens may effectively voice opinions, monitor government, and bring about change in government including voting and participation in the election process. 5.2.10 Use a variety of information resources* to identify and evaluate contemporary issues that involve civic responsibility, individual rights and the common good. My class struggled with the way a citizen can make change because of current activities in the news. Rather than be able to discuss how to solve or attempt to solve civic issues, the students would not be able to get passed the topic of the current protests. I needed something that we could discuss that didn't involve race, gender, guns, or the current president who uses volatile tweets to create news buzz. How does one do that? As we studied the food web and the food chain, I wanted to give the students a real life situation that would create interest and discussion. We read Jean Craighead George's book, The Owl in the Shower. The story views the spotted owl controversy through the eyes of boy whose father lost his job because of the government ban on logging due to the preservation of the spotted owl. Of course, through a twist of fate, the boy unknowingly ends up raising the a spotted owl. As we discussed the political controversy, we also learned about owl and bird behavior, habitat destruction, and how environmentalists try to prevent more destruction. As a culminating event, we watched Fly Away Home. The movie has all of the things we learned in it. At various times during the movie, I heard many of my students say, "We learned about that!" or "I know what that is!" After the movie, we googled Bill Lishman who the movie is based on. His ground breaking idea that imprinted birds would follow a light aircraft is now standard practice. Little did I know that my students would absolutely love the movie. They asked to see it again and again. I am not sure if they relate to the age of the daughter or what she does or that the movie helped them understand what they had learned. It is a great movie.

Beautiful, poignant film. A father connecting with his daughter and developing relationship. A daughter angry and resentful of a forced non-existent relationship with her ditsy dad, yet they find each other in a shared love of nature and discover their love for one another.

Such a great movie! Up lifting and inspiring.

Great traditional movie for my elementary kids.

Carroll Ballard may not be a household name, but he has created some of the most magical children's films of the few 20 years. His "The Black Stallion" was based on the beloved Walter Farley novel and was considered one of the best films of the 1970s. He followed that film with "Never Cry Wolf," one of the best live-action films ever to come from the Disney Company. "Fly Away Home" is one of his latest offerings, and as with his earlier films, it is a magical look at life and nature through more innocent eyes. The film stars Anna Paquin, the young actress from "The Piano" and the current young superheroine from "X-Men," as a young girl whose mother dies in a car accident and who goes to Canada to live with her estranged father, an eccentric inventor. At first, the young girl is angry and reserved and shuns even her father, but she slowly begins to rediscover a love for life when she adopts a small flock of orphan gooselings. The movie follows her almost maternal kinship with the gooselings and the warming trust she begins to develop for her father and how they eventually teach the geese to migrate (hence the title fly away home). Anna Paquin is quite good in this film and depicts a vulnerable side to her character. She is certainly one of the best actresses of her generation. Jeff Daniels has an amusing turn as a father who doesn't quite know how to deal with the new daughter in his life. Dana Delany (from TV's "China Beach") also has a role as Jeff Daniels' faithful girlfriend. The overall film has a wonderful look to it, and it was nominated for an oscar for best cinematography. While the film deals with some sad issues (death of a parent, the stages of grief), it is nonetheless a truly enjoying film and one of the more under-rated children's films from the 1990s. In fact, it is a pity that more films like "Fly Away Home" are not made. Hollywood tends to produce so many tepid, painful-to-watch children's movies that the true gems slip through our fingers. If you liked "The Secret Garden" or "A Little Princess" or "The Iron Giant" then you will find much to like in this film. All of these recent films are superb family entertainment and were sadly overlooked. I watched this film on VHS and fell in love with it instantly. I would have bought it on DVD except for the absurd decision on the film company's part to make the DVD pan-and-scan only. Any film that was nominated for best cinematography deserves a widescreen treatment on DVD. So, by all means, watch this movie! But if you want it on DVD for your collection, wait until the film company regains its senses and offers the widescreen format.