Relax and enjoy - tall tales aren't meant to be believed!

Pat-118

This is a Disney family movie, and the lead character is 12 years old.  This means that the target audience is still in grade school, and the moral lesson is as subtle as Paul Bunyan's blue ox.   But if you're willing to relax and put on your mouse ears, you might enjoy seeing Pecos Bill ride a cyclone and John Henry compete with a steam engine.  The barroom scene with Calamity Jane is a treat for lovers of Old West humor, and Texas son Patrick Swayze is perfectly cast as Pecos Bill.  Sadly for us, his gorgeous looks are all but hidden under his mustache, prairie dust, and 10-gallon hat.

score 8/10

Pat-118 13 March 1999

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0350880/