The Incredible Journey

Three pets are left with a family friend while the owners go abroad. When they are accidentally let out, all three head back towards their home, looking for their family - a journey of over three hundred miles through the roughest terrain in Canada.

The three domestic animals find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, struggling to find food, suffering from the weather, exposure and at risk from wildlife, but drawn on by instinct the trio continue west towards their home. The story of Tao the Siamese cat, Bodger the aging Bull Terrier and Luath the Labrador is one for all ages, and although written in 1961, has not dated badly and is still enjoyable today. Written in the classic style, the animals behave naturally rather than acting like humans.

I'd heard about this book before I read it, and feared it was overrated. Instead I found a classic story, enjoyable characters and good writing. I was extremely fortunate to get this as an illustrated hardback edition in a box of second hand books - it now has a place of pride on my shelves.

What makes it distinct is that unlike modern books, the animals are just that, animals. They do not talk, and function on instinct, which makes the stakes far higher. In some ways it makes it easier to feel for them, after the accident that lets them out. The story cuts back and forth between the trio on their journey and the frantic efforts of their guardians to find them, and then having to break the news of the animals' escape to their owners. 

There are touching moments where we see the animals encounter people, and then later those people tracked down by the group trying to find the missing pets and retelling their experience. A genuinely touching book, this pet owner found that at the end I had something in my eye (and both cats on my lap...)

Designed for children, enjoyed by adults, The Incredible Journey is a lovely animal story with some very nice moments and an unforgettable ending.

Made only two years after the book was released, the 1963 Disney film of the same name is probably the closest adaptation of the book. The animals do not talk, the action takes place in the location from the book, and the family do not appear until the end of the film as in the book.

Some people have raised the issue of animal cruelty as there was no CGI, but then cgi was not used in the 1993 remake with the Humane Society overseeing and the people who looked into it suggest there is no evidence of it in the original (http://www.cinemacats.com/?p=3220). P.S. making a cat hiss on film is as simple as taking its catnip mouse away - at least if they are mine!