Line #9 Literature/TheIncredibleJourney


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_incredible_journey.jpg]]
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3	A children's novel by Sheila Burnford, published in 1961, about a trio of animals trekking across the Canadian wilderness in search of their family. The voyagers are Luath, a young Labrador retriever, Bodger, an old bull terrier, and Tao, a seal-point Siamese.
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5	It's been adapted to film twice, once in 1963 and more famously in the 1993 film ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney''. The latter film changes up quite a bit, notably changing the breeds and swapping the breed types of the young and old dogs and making the male Siamese a female Himalayan (and [[AdaptationalLocationChange changing the location]] from Northwest Ontario to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California), but loses none of the original story's pathos.
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7	----
8	!!This novel contains examples of the following tropes:
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10	* AnimalJingoism: Played with -- [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Tao]] and Bodger both hate cats, and due to this are ''best friends'', having bonded during Bodger's younger years by terrorizing and dominating the neighborhood kitties.
11	* BeastlyBloodsports: Bodger is an old veteran of dog fights. [[ValuesDissonance He thought they were great fun, and the narration treats dog fighting like a beautiful and noble sport]].
12	%%* BoomerangBigot: Tao.
13	%%* CoolOldGuy: ''Bodger''.
14	* DiabolusExMachina: An abandoned, rotting beaver dam breaks just as the animals are swimming across a river, causing a flash flood [[spoiler:and washing Tao away]].
15	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Tao is separated from the others when he gets washed down a flooding river. He's picked up by some kindly humans.]]
16	* HeroicBSOD: Luath is certainly ''affected'' by [[spoiler:Tao's DisneyDeath after being unable to save him,]] but Bodger nearly goes catatonic after [[spoiler:he thinks he's lost his best friend.]]
17	* TheHomewardJourney: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin But of course.]] Also the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]].
18	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Bodger and both Luath and Tao, though he's closer to the cat.
19	* NamelessNarrative: Close enough to count; they're referred to by ages, breeds, and species by the narrator when their owners aren't around, which is most of the story.
20	* NobleSavage: A Native tribe takes a half-starved Bodger and Tao to be spirits giving them a test, and are nice to them in order to bring good fortune.
21	* OldDog: Bodger. He's more of the goofy cool grandpa type than anything.
22	* OldMaster: Bodger can still kick other dogs' asses when he needs to.
23	* SingleEpisodeHandicap: Tao is temporarily deafened by [[spoiler:nearly drowning]].
24	* StandardizedLeader: Luath.
25	* StoppedReadingTooSoon: A housekeeper finds only one page of a two-page note. This leads to confusion about who is going to be taking care of three pets for two weeks. This sets the plot in motion--the pets escape and have adventures before anyone realizes they're gone.
26	* [[TropeyComeHome Luath, Bodger, and Tao Come Home]]
27	* {{Xenofiction}}: During the chapters where there aren't any humans around - when there are, the perspective tends to shift away from the animals.
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Context Literature / TheIncredibleJourney