Common Sense Media Review
By Tracy Moore
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Animated cowboy adventure has light peril, outdated views.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
Justin Eagle (Dale Robertson) is a cowboy by day and an undercover agent for the U.S. government by night who gets by outwitting landgrabbers who outpace the railroads, snatch up a few pristine swatches of unclaimed soil, and then sell it back to the government at inflated prices. But Eagle will face his biggest adventure yet when a U.S. senator goes missing in the midst of a known villain's extortion attempts to buy settler's land that happens to lie right in the path of a significant railroad that will finally connect the East and West.
Is It Any Good?
This is an amusing nostalgia kick for fans of Westerns, cowboys, or that haze of the good-old-days in American history, where it didn't matter if they got the actual history right. THE MAN FROM BUTTON WILLOW does what it clearly aimed to achieve in 1965: romanticize cowboys, gloss over landgrabbing in 1800s-era America, and send a message about America's dominance, superiority, and the importance of fighting for freedom. In spite of that high-octane to-do list, it drags more than you would expect, and spends an inordinate amount of time exploring a Disney-styled cast of animals frolicking and surviving in nature before it gets down to business.
Kids, though, may enjoy that romp in the forest. Parents will wonder how a rugged cowboy is raising an orphan while he constantly jaunts off on heroic rescues, nevermind that this orphan calls him "Justin-san" even though she is Chinese. And don't bother asking why Eastern-tinged music needs to play every time she appears.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how governments decide who owns the land it oversees, and the kinds of challenges brought up in settling a land as vast as America. What do you know about the people who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
Go online to learn more about life during the 1800s in the American West. What drew new American families to this area during this time? What challenges did families face as they migrated to California? What were the rewards for those who made it?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 7, 1987
- Cast : Barbara Jean Wong , Dale Robertson , Edgar Buchanan
- Director : David Detiege
- Studio : EastWest
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Topics : Adventures , Animals , History
- Run time : 80 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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