Old Yeller is a 1957 American Western drama film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. It stars Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker, with Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The film is based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Fred Gipson.[2] Gipson also co-wrote the screenplay along with William Tunberg. Old Yeller was released on December 25, 1957, to critical acclaim, and was a commercial success, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 1957 and earning $6.25 million in the United States and Canada. The film's success led to a 1963 sequel, Savage Sam, which was based on a 1962 book by Gipson. In 2019, the film was selected for preservation into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3]