The Story of a boy and his bear. The TV series ‘Gentle Ben’ was spun-off from this movie.
Practical Effects
Real grizzly bear performance—no CGI, just trained chaos.
Production
Everglades location shooting feels genuinely untamed.
Director
James Neilson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This launched the Gentle Ben TV series (1967-1969), making the bear arguably more famous than most human cast members. The original novel by Walt Morey was actually darker—Hollywood softened the edges for family audiences.
The bear, Bruno, was a famous animal actor who also appeared in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Clint Howard was only eight years old here—his first major film role before becoming Ron Howard's scene-stealing little brother for decades.
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