Line #55 Main/KidsWildernessEpic


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6	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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14	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Alaska}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alaskafrenchpostercrop.png]]]]
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16	A genre common in TheNineties, although it originated many years prior to that. You know the type: A group of modern-day kids end up somewhere in the remote wilderness and have a thrilling ComingOfAgeStory out there. Common plot elements include:
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18	* The kids are siblings, most likely a BrotherSisterTeam, with their ages ranging from about ten to fifteen or so. They have difficulty adapting to life in the wilderness and make pop culture references here and there. The girl tends to be the eldest.
19	* The villains (if there are any) will likely be {{Evil Poacher}}s. They come in two varieties: menacing killers and ''Home Alone''-esque [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily idiots]] (it ''was'' the 1990s, after all).
20	* If the kids' parents show up, expect at least one of them to be a scientist studying the area.
21	* One or both of the parents are lost out in the wilderness. [[AdultsAreUseless Obviously, they need to be rescued by inexperienced children]].
22	* The difficulties of wilderness survival are PlayedForDrama once or twice, with a HardToLightFire or an anxious search for berries, then downplayed thereafter.
23	* The kids experience a series of death-defying (and typically improbable) stunts. Bonding ensues.
24	* The kids discover a cute animal and befriend it since AllAnimalsAreDomesticated. The poachers want to kill it.
25	* The kids befriend a [[NobleSavage local native]], who is AlwaysMale. He shows them his ways, helps them survive and tells them about how [[GreenAesop the poachers are ruining the environment]]. The kids learn that Other Cultures Are Cool Too.
26	* If it's animated, the creatures hunted by the poachers will be {{Talking Animal}}s, making the poachers even more unsympathetic.
27	* If the children are stranded in the remote wilderness or on an abandoned island, it can also be an example of a {{Robinsonade}}.
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29	Expect the film to contain [[SceneryPorn several wide shots of the wilderness]] (which was probably [[CaliforniaDoubling filmed at least partially in British Columbia]]) accompanied by "epic-sounding" music. The tagline ''will'' contain phrases such as "magical adventure" and "unforgettable journey".
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31	'''True examples:''' Films which very clearly fit into this genre:
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33	* ''Film/{{Alaska}}'' (1996): Complete with BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins-wearing, MagicalNativeAmerican mentor.
34	* ''Film/TheAmazingPandaAdventure'' (1995) is your standard-issue one of these. That is, aside from a bizarre scene in which the young boy and girl (thankfully not siblings in this case) decide to get naked... well, not so much "decide" as "panic and strip while trying to get rid of the ''leeches''", but still rather unexpected.
35	* ''Cheetah'' (1989)
36	* ''The Coral Island'' is both a book, and much earlier than any of these (1857), but fits the basic description. ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' was intended as a {{Deconstruction}} of this.
37	* ''Film/FarFromHomeTheAdventuresOfYellowDog'' (1995): It's about a boy and his dog, and there's no human villains, but otherwise, yeah.
38	* ''Film/AFarOffPlace'' (1993) - the [[Film/{{Wild}} other movie]] where Creator/ReeseWitherspoon goes for a walk in the wilderness.
39	* ''Series/Flight29Down''
40	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' (1990) although it should be mentioned that unlike many other examples, the boy protagonist of this movie actually lives in the Australian outback and therefore knows his way around in the wilderness.
41	* While we're on the subject of cartoons... ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie''! The main cast gets lost in the woods and try to get home. And they're BABIES!
42	* ''VideoGame/SurvivalKids'' is a video game version of the genre, starring a kid stranded on a desert island trying to survive and seek rescue, and makes a cute monkey friend along the way.
43	* ''Anime/TicoOfTheSevenSeas''
44	%% * ''True Heart'' (1997)
45	* Literary Example: ''Two Years'' Vacation'' by Creator/JulesVerne, is another early example, written in 1888. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff This particular story was very popular in Japan]] and influenced numerous anime and video games.
46	%% * ''Film/{{Walkabout}}'' (1971) may be the TropeMaker
47	* ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' (1998 - 2004) is basically the animated-series version of this genre, but for a [[LighterAndSofter slightly younger demographic]].
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49	'''Partial examples:''' Films which contain some elements of this genre, but may not necessarily be part of it:
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51	* ''Film/AcrossTheGreatDivide'' (1976). In 1876, two orphans, Holly and Jason, travel across the Rocky Mountains to claim their inheritance at the end of the Oregon Trail. Not a pure example as they have the aid of an adult (a gambler on the run) for much of the film.
52	* ''The Adventures of the Wilderness Family'' (1975) has a Los Angeles family move to the Canadian wilderness (though the film was shot in Colorado) to live a better life off the grid -- building their own cabin, befriending a mountain man, and dealing with both friendly and dangerous wild animals along the way. One of the more successful independent films of the 1970s, it yielded two sequels by decade's end and even warranted a parody by ''Creator/{{Troma}}'', 1985's ''When Nature Calls''.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/AstroKid'': Combines many elements of this genre with {{Robinsonade}} [[RecycledInSpace in space]]. Protagonist Willy is a ten-year-old boy, whose parents are space explorers. Their ship is wrecked by asteroids, and Willy ends up in an EscapePod that crashes on an unknown planet. While waiting for rescue, he learns to survive (first aided by a surival robot named Buck), befriends a local animal he names Flash and who becomes his loyal companion, and survives several encounters with vicious wildlife. There are no villains though; just wild beasts and a harsh environment.
54	* [[{{Literature}} Literary]] Example: ''Baby Island''
55	* ''The Bones on Black Spruce Mountain'' by David Budbill. Yet another example of the author having [[ShownTheirWork shown his work]] by depicting all the research and knowledge necessary to live safely in the wilderness--and this is for a trip just a few short miles away from home, for less than a week! Despite the occasional hazards and dangers the boys in the book face (particularly when climbing the titular mountain and weathering a terrible storm), the book is generally not filled with death-defying escapes due to the knowledge they have gained from camping and their next-door neighbor who acts as TheMentor. There's also no befriending of cute animals or danger from poachers and such. The book does, however, have a very mature theme to it worthy of a Newbery Medal, with the meaning of friendship, family, loneliness, and despair being explored; and the boys, who are not related but one of which has been adopted by the other's parents, do bond even more as a result of the journey.
56	* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' could be considered an animated example, except the villains, natives, and animal companions all happen to be {{mons}} in a TrappedInAnotherWorld ScienceFantasy setting. Notably, ''Two Years' Vacation'' was cited as a major influence for the series.
57	%% * ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy II'' (1989)
58	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'' (2015). Once again the main character isn't human and neither are the villains, but it otherwise follows the mold pretty closely. It even has the requisite "cute animal" that the hero befriends and the villain wants to kill-- except that this time, the animal in question is a ''human''.
59	* In a roundabout way ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (1989) is sort of one, except the "wilderness" in a backyard... but the kids [[IncredibleShrinkingMan have been shrunk]] and a few other "classic" elements of this show up.
60	* Literary example: ''Literature/IslandOfTheBlueDolphins'' details the survival of a Nicoleño girl, Karana, who is left stranded on her island when her people are taken away on a ship. Initially, she and her brother Ramo work together to gather food and maintain their home, but when he is killed by a pack of wild dogs she must survive on her own - for nearly two decades.
61	* ''Music/KidsPraise'': The fifth album has shades of this; the kids are hiking up a mountain to go camping, and throughout the narrative, the kids have a lot of difficulties: tents are hard to set up, hiking is hot, sweaty work, and when it gets dark, two of the kids get lost when they disobey Psalty's instructions to stay on the trail.
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' (1988) could almost be a complete example, except that the "kids" in this case are juvenile dinosaurs, and the villain in question is a predatory T-rex that is stalking them.
63	* Literary example: ''Literature/MySideOfTheMountain'', presents the most realistic wilderness epic (with a happy ending) possible. A very long time is spent recounting the vast amount of research the main character did to prepare for his stay in the woods. Was made into a film in 1969.
64	%% * ''Film/RabbitProofFence'' (2002) has some elements of this genre.
65	* ''WesternAnimation/RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown'' (1977) The Peanuts gang has a white water race down a river in the wilderness and encounter numerous perils and hazards along the way, with Charlie Brown learning a little bit about leadership and getting some self-respect -- though it isn't much.
66	* Literary semi-example: In the ''Literature/SovereignStoneTrilogy'', Children of Dunner who are called to become Dominion Lords are required to hunt through the wilderness to find Dunner's grave. One of the main characters goes through it with his sister (though it is only described in passing).
67	* Literary example: the ''Literature/StephanieHarrington'' series is about an adventurous girl, the daughter of two scientists, who is a colonist on the planet Sphinx. Something of a {{Reconstruction}} of the genre, as her first adventure in the wilderness results in her almost being killed, and the adults see to it that she is better supervised and receives the type of training that will allow her not to die a senseless death in the [[DeathWorld vast wilderness of Sphinx]]. The local natives also pull double-duty as the cute animals Stephanie must protect from the poachers who [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman refuse to consider the 'cats as sentient beings.]]
68	** It's only partially in this genre because after the original short story (which formed the core of the first book when expanded upon later) really involves Stephanie having to survive on her own at all (with the help of Climbs Quickly, the Treecat she befriends). Most of the rest of the books take place at the Harrington homestead or in more metropolitan settings on Sphinx, such as Twin Forks.
69	* Literary example: ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'', which starts off with a group of high school students sent on a survival test on an uninhabited planet. The test is meant to last a few days at the most, but they realize they're stranded when no one comes to retrieve them. The students must band together to survive on the alien planet until they can be rescued - however long that takes.
70	* ''Film/{{Ulvesommer}}'' (2003) has some elements, but has a DumbBlonde [[GlamorousSingleMother "Glamorous" Single Mother]] who ReallyGetsAround, the KidHero is a single girl, although the boy she wants to be LikeBrotherAndSister with has a huge crush on her, and the hunter crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
71	* ''Film/WhiteWolves'': Each film features teenagers struggling to protect themselves and (in every film but the first) others while learning more about independence, the dangers of nature, and the nobility of certain animals.
72	%% * ''Wild America'' (1997)
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74	'''Deconstruction:''' Films or books which deconstruct (or otherwise have a darker take on) this trope:
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76	* ''Literature/TheBlueLagoon'': Children are shipwrecked and benefit from none of civilization's knowledge- including sex education. Cue freakouts when the girl gets her period.
77	* ''Film/CocaineBear'' structures the scenes involving children like an absolutely ''warped'' version of one of these, complete with incredibly graphic violence and a ten-year-old shouting the F-word.
78	* ''VideoGame/DigimonSurvive'' is a darker take on ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' with much more emphasis on the survival part, and isn't afraid to show the more gruesome consequences of kids under extreme stress in a strange world where everything wants to kill them. Notably, ''Lord of the Flies'' was cited as one of its main inspirations. However, upon completing all the routes it's actually closer to a DeconReconSwitch.
79	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoLovedTomGordon'': Nine year old Trisha goes off the trail for a bit and is hopelessly lost. It doesn't take her long to get violently ill from drinking stream water, start hallucinating, and then get sicker and sicker until she's on death's doorstep and facing down a bear. Luckily she's rescued just before it kills her, but even then it's implied she'll have to spend quite a long time in the hospital recovering from her ordeals.
80	* ''[[Literature/BriansSaga Hatchet]]'': City kid gets stranded in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back and a hatchet. He nearly dies multiple times from poison berries, wild animals, malfunctioning equipment, and other things, and he is always miserable, hungry, and filthy. And then once he gets back to civilization, he's so changed from his experience in the wilderness that he can't fit in anymore.
81	* ''Literature/LifeOfPi'' is like ''[[Literature/BriansSaga Hatchet]]'' except it's set [[RecycledInSpace on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean]] and [[PantheraAwesome has a tiger]]. The protagonist's family is killed, and he resorts to acts of increasingly extreme savagery and brutality in order to survive.
82	* ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'': A bunch of kids get stranded on a DesertedIsland... [[TeenageWasteland and then proceed to collapse into anarchy and start murdering each other without the mitigating influence of civilization.]]
83	* ''Series/{{Yellowjackets}}'' hits upon many of the same themes as ''Lord of the Flies'', only with [[GenderFlip a cast of teenage girls]] (specifically, high school soccer players) instead of adolescent boys. A large part of the show follows the now-adult survivors 25 years later, who were all left traumatized by it and have all found different ways to cope with it.
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