Sandy the Seal (1968)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

When a seaman finds a friendly seal miles away from seal beach, he decides to bring it home to teach his two children about nature and hopefully nurse it back to health. Surprisingly, his wife supports the idea and Sandy becomes like a member of the family. Like any wild animal, it gets into trouble and keeps the kids from doing their chores. On several occasions, the kids get into trouble thanks to Sandy's unintentional playful personality and attracts the unwanted attention of two poachers out for seal skins. The children and their father end up on Seal Island searching for Sandy and his new found wife Sally where they are confronted by the vindictive poachers.Although we know that wild animals such as seals need to be brought up in their own natural environment, who hasn't fantasized about raising the cute, funny animals that seem to enjoy mankind's attention? Seals still remain the top attraction at many zoo's, and in Central Park, they are delightfully fun to observe, showing camaraderie with their caretakers. The children here love Sandy (and later Sally) as they would a puppy or kitten, and this shows respect that wild life should be treated with. Sandy also loves them, coming back again and again even at risk to himself. The loyalty that animals and innocent children have is precious and reminds us as adults the real precious matters of life. The movie is a lot of fun, often exciting with tension, and ultimately an important life lesson.

I had not heard of this movie before I stumbled across a DVD containing it a few days ago, and it's more likely than not you've not heard of it before. It's an effort from schlock producer Harry Alan Towers, who also wrote the screenplay. He wrote it under a pseudonym, and it's easy to see why. The movie is very unfocused and meandering at times, playing like it was edited from several episodes of a (bad) television series. The direction is a mess as well. For one thing, the movie never makes clear where the events of the movie are taking place (Australia? South Africa?) The biggest problem, however, is that despite the short running time, the movie is almost a complete bore. There are a few impressive tricks the seal pulls off, but those scenes only add up to a few seconds of screen time. If your kids want to see a movie about a seal, find a copy of "The Golden Seal" instead. It is far from perfect, but it's way better than "Sandy The Seal".

I watched this with my wife and 6 year old granddaughter. It is dated but that makes it a bit interesting for a child. We are boaters and my granddaughter immediately picked up on the fact that the children in the film didn't wear life jackets, among other nautical no-nos.It is a peak back to a simpler time when a kind villager/fisherman invites the children to go out fishing for the day, without telling mom, who is always at home. Moments such as these will bring warm memories to those who were lucky enough to have experience them in childhood, or had the good fortune to have raised children in this time period.The poaching of seals is the main source of conflict in this film. The hooligans who are killing seals are depicted as foolhardy, and cold-hearted men, who will stop at nothing to earn "big rewards" for killing animals that are protected.

This looks like something made in 1933. Its hard to believe its from 1969, what with the colors, the tracking and the sound quality. The color looks like old two-strip Technicolor, but worse than that. I have seen many two-strip Technicolor films and they look better than this crap. Buy this film, and try to look for a copy of The Black Pirate, Whoopee or Hollywood Revue and compare it, and you'll see what I mean.