''The Adventures of the Wilderness Family'' (also known as ''The Wilderness Family'') is a 1975 American

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

drama film directed by

Stewart Raffill Stewart Raffill is a British writer and director. Biography Raffill was born in England and grew up near Stratford before immigrating to the US and working in the motion picture industry. His writing and directing work in film and TV spans s ...

and starring Robert Logan,

George Buck Flower George Albert "Buck" Flower (October 28, 1937 – June 18, 2004) was an American actor, writer, producer, assistant director, production manager, and casting director. He was sometimes credited as Ernest Wall, Buck Flower, George "Buck" Flower ...

and Susan Damante-Shaw. The film is about Skip Robinson and his family who decide to move from Los Angeles, California to a new home in the majestic Rocky Mountains, Skip builds a log cabin, and the children befriend wild animals. As the intrepid Robinsons make a simpler life for themselves off the grid, they discover that, in the wilderness, each day brings its own adventure. ''The Adventures of the Wilderness Family'' was released in theaters on December 19, 1975, by

Pacific International Enterprises Pacific International Enterprises (PIE) was an American film production company and film distributor, founded by Arthur R. Dubs as a producer of family films. Pacific International Enterprises was a privately held company that had been in business ...

, and grossed $28.8 million. The film had two sequels: '' The Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family'' (1978, also known as ''Wilderness Family Part 2'') and '' Mountain Family Robinson'' (1979). The filming location was the Gunnison National Forest in the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Plot

Skip Robinson is a construction worker who lives with his family in Los Angeles, California. Concerned about his daughter's health and the welfare of his family, as well as despising his job, Skip grows tired of the city life and decides to move his family to the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

with no plans to ever return due to the smog and congestion. After moving his wife Pat and two children, eleven-year-old Jennifer and seven-year-old Toby to the wilderness and then building their own cabin near a large lake, they settle in to find out that their new environment isn't always as peaceful as it may appear. From the start, the Robinson family seemed to be adjusting to their new life in the Colorado wilderness. A few days after finishing building their new cabin, Toby and Skip go out hunting one morning with their dog Crust, and succeed in catching a

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

for the family dinner. Later that day, while climbing along the rocky slopes of a large hill, Skip and his son almost get caught in a deadly

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

. They later find a pair of young

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

cubs who have lost their mother to the same landslide they got caught in. The cubs are quickly adopted into the Robinson family, but Pat and Skip tell their children that sooner or later the cubs would have to be released back into the wild when they are fully grown. During the next few weeks, the Robinson family slowly adapt to their new life in the mountains. In addition to the two young bear cubs and their family dog, Skip and his family also befriend a

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

that they find living near their cabin and name him Bandito. While Jenny and Toby are collecting flowers, they encounter

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

cubs near their den. The family receive numerous letters and packages from friends and family back in Los Angeles. Pat receives several letters from her mother and Jenny and Toby are given numerous schoolbooks from the Los Angeles schoolboard. Skip continues hunting for small game and fishing in the nearest creek to provide food for his family, while his wife works around the house and their two children work on their schoolwork. One day, while fishing for some trout down by the creek with the two grizzly cubs, Skip and the cubs are scared by a large black bear that was roaming along the creekbed. Jenny and Toby had gone out for a walk with Crust, to which they later encounter the same bear that their dad saw down by the creek. While Toby heads back to the cabin to get his parents, Jenny goes after Crust, who has managed to scare the bear away. Skip is informed by Toby of what happened, and he heads out with his rifle to find his daughter. While trying to find their way back to the cabin, Jenny and Crust are attacked by a pack of

gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey ...

who chase them down to a nearby lake and almost attack Jenny. Crust is able to fend the wolves off long enough for Skip to arrive in the nick of time and drive the pack away. Despite this frightening encounter, Jenny quickly recovers from the shock of what had happened and is brought home safe and sound. The next day, Skip and his family meet a friendly aging mountain man who introduces himself as Boomer. Boomer informs them that he had been a longtime partner and friend to Ol' Jake, Skip's uncle who lived in the same area where the Robinsons had built their cabin. Ol' Jake had been known to take extremely good care of the local wildlife in the area, including a friendly black bear named Samson he raised from a cub to a massive adult that was the same black bear that Skip and his family had encountered a few times before. Boomer also warns Skip and his family to keep a watchful eye for Three-Toes, a locally notorious grizzly bear that has been known to invade the properties of humans who are living in the mountains. Boomer is then forced to leave when the two bear cubs accidentally frighten away Boomer's

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

Flora. Later on, while the family was out gathering a large bear walks into their cabin. Seeing it's a black bear, the children decide it must be Samson. Taking a risk, Skip follows Boomer's advice and "introduces himself". Thankfully it pays off and the bear, who turns out to be Samson, befriends the family and joins them for dinner. The family settles in further to their new life, gathering from the surrounding forests and spending time with their new animal friends and Boomer. One day, while Pat and Jenny are picking berries, they encounter Three-Toes; Crust manages to fend off Three-Toes while Pat retrieves Jenny, who suffered a massive shock. Skip goes to find Crust while tracking down Three-Toes. The following morning, Jenny's condition has gotten worse, Skip tries to call for help but the radio's batteries are dead, so he has to walk to get help. During a windstorm, Three-Toes tries to break into the cabin, but Pat tries to fend him off. Samson comes to the family's defence and engages Three-Toes in a brawl as Pat reloads the gun. Samson manages to hold the grizzly off long enough and Pat manages to shoot Three-Toes, killing him. Skip returns with a doctor, saying that Jenny's health is improving. Pat is still hesitant about staying but she agrees to adapt as this is a better life for her and her family. Boomer then shows up and comically loses his animal again, and the children run off to help him.

Cast

* Robert Logan as Skip Robinson * Susan Damante-Shaw as Pat Robinson * Hollye Holmes as Jenny Robinson * Ham Larsen as Toby Robinson *

as "Boomer" * Bruno the Bear as Samson

Production

Parts of the film were shot in

Summit County, Utah Summit County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah, occupying a rugged and mountainous area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 42,357. Its county seat is Coalville, and the largest city is Park City. History The cou ...

and Colorado.

Home media

Originally released on VHS by Pacific International Enterprises. More recently, the film series was released on DVD,

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and the digital format by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

References

External links