History Literature / OldYeller

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Young Yeller is the family's new dog following the death of his father. But the sequel has the family with a different dog, Old Yeller's other son, Savage Sam, and does not bring up what happens to Young Yeller. According to the novels, Savage Sam and Young Yeller are the same character, as the previous novel did not give a name to the puppy Lisbeth gifted to Travis after the wild hog attack.
* ZombieInfectee: The reason Yeller must die, substituting "rabies" (or "hydrophobia" as it was called in both book and movie, given the time placement of the setting) for "zombie".

* BittersweetEnding: Old Yeller is gone, but his legacy will continue in his son, a puppy the family dubs 'Young Yeller.'

* CubCuesProtectiveParent: Arliss plays around with and tries to catch a bear cub, resulting in a rather displeased MamaBear showing up. This bear might have killed Arliss had not [[PapaWolf Old Yeller]] been there to fight the bear off.

* HappilyAdopted: Non-human example. Old Yeller is so ingrained into the family that by the time his rightful owner shows up, even ''he'' sees that Old Yeller is better off with them than with him.

* InstantDeathBullet: Justified in most cases -- Travis is doing a MercyKill and has time to line up a headshot. Averted in an early hunting scene where Travis shoots a doe on the run and she keeps running; she dies shortly after, but Travis has time to worry that he didn't make a clean kill.

* MercyKill: Travis shoots Old Yeller, both to save him from a lingering death via rabies and to prevent the dog from endangering the rest of the family.

* HopeSpot: In the movie, Yeller is quarantined to see whether he will develop symptoms. He seems healthy for some days but finally succumbs, forcing Travis to shoot him. The novel averts this, with Travis's mother telling him that they can't take the risk and Yeller must be put down immediately.

** Travis and Old Yeller become a working partnership, though even when he comes to respect the dog, it takes him a while to move on to real affection. After Old Yeller is put down, Travis accepts the former's pup sired on Lisbeth's dog and names him Young Yeller.
** While Travis and Old Yeller had a rocky start, Arliss takes an instant shine to the dog, and is especially happy to accept Old Yeller's offspring.

* DeadGuyJunior: The family is gifted with Old Yeller's son, but the puppy is not named until the end of the movie. By then Old Yeller has died, but his son is named Young Yeller. In the book, the pup's mother is the daughter of Travis' former dog Bell, making him something of a LegacyCharacter.

* ForegoneConclusion: The book opens with Travis saying that he hated Yeller at first and wanted to shoot him, but when he actually did have to shoot him, it broke his heart.

* DeadGuyJunior: The family is gifted with Old Yeller's son, but the puppy is not named until the end of the movie. By then Old Yeller has died, but his son is named Young Yeller.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Arliss loves spending time with dogs, wants to make a bear cub his pet, is upset in the sequel when he thinks their mule is dead (although he tends to yell at that mule other times), and squirts milk into the barn cats' mouths while he's milking a cow. At one point he brings home a horned toad, a frog, and a snake in his pockets and his mother is not pleased.

* HopeSpot: In the movie, Yeller is quarantined to see whether he will develop symptoms. He seems healthy for some days but finally succumbs, forcing Travis to shoot him. The novel averts this, with Travis's mother telling him that there is no hope and that Yeller must be put down immediately.

* SavageWolves: The DownerEnding is brought on when Yeller fights off an unexpectedly aggressive wolf to save the family. Justified as it was acting that way because of rabies... and the bites it inflicted before Travis shot it means that Yeller is doomed.

-->''There's no hope for him now, Travis. He's suffering. You know we've got to do it.''

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Yeller is bitten by a strangely-aggressive wolf. Travis realizes the wolf must have been rabid and shoots Yeller that same night, destroying his dog and friend before he has visibly sickened. In the film, Travis holds off on shooting Yeller until circumstances clearly make it a MercyKill.

* FaceMonsterTurn: Old Yeller, thanks to the rabies he contacts from a wolf.

* BittersweetEnding
** In the film, Old Yeller dies after Travis is forced to shoot him for contracting rabies, but at the very end the family bonds with Old Yeller's puppy named Young Yeller.
** In the book, the story ends with Travis about to be accepted into the world of men, signified by his father giving him his own horse.

If, by [[LockedOutOfTheLoop some miracle,]] [[PopculturalOsmosisFailure you don't know the punchline yet,]] tread lightly through this page...

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Yeller is bitten by a strangely-aggressive wolf. In the film version, Travis holds off on shooting Yeller until circumstances clearly make it a MercyKill. In the book, Travis shoots him the same night, destroying his dog and friend before he has visibly sickened.

%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Little Arliss.

* BittersweetEnding: Old Yeller dies after Travis is forced to shoot him for contracting rabies, but at the very end the family bonds with Old Yeller's puppy named Young Yeller.

* MercyKill: Travis shoots Old Yeller, both to save him from a lingering death via rabies and to prevent the dog from spreading the disease any further.

* ARealManIsAKiller: Downplayed somewhat, but being able to "man up" and shoot Yeller to protect the others is portrayed as Travis's introduction to adult responsibility, though the emphasis is not so much on the act of killing, but on the fact that Travis took responsibility for Yeller of his own volition, signifying his coming-of-age into adulthood.

* SavageWolves: The DownerEnding is brought about by a rabid wolf whom Old Yeller fights off until Travis shoots the wolf dead, but gets infected with rabies himself. Justified as it's remarked that no ordinary wolf would act as it did (to leap out of nowhere without warning and so close to fire and humans), meaning it had to be rabid.

* CubCuesProtectiveParent: Arliss plays around with and tries to catch a bear cub, resulting is a rather displeased MamaBear showing up. This bear might have killed Arliss had not [[PapaWolf Old Yeller]] been there to fight the bear off.

15-year-old Travis Coates is the new-made man of the house while his father is away on a cattle drive. Then the wilderness blows a stray "yeller" dog into his life whom he initially distrusts... until Old Yeller saves his little brother Arliss from a MamaBear (kids shouldn't play with bear cubs). The two become inseparable partners, hunting and facing the dangers of TheWildWest together, until tragedy forces Travis to make an adult's decision and do a man's deed.

-->''[[Recap/FriendsS2E20TheOneWhereOldYellerDies Okay, what kind of a sick doggy snuff film is this?]]''

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Little Arliss.