Patrick with Nick Stahl, atop Widowmaker. Widowmaker was a very tall horse, and Patrick quickly fell in love with him. He mentioned during an interview on "Entertainment Tonight" that he would have loved to buy the horse, but Lisa was against it. Patrick slyly added that he might still try and convince her! Eventually, however, Michael was sold to someone in Northern California. Sadly, Michael suffered a brain hemorrage after a head injury, and has passed on. He was an awesome horse!

Photo courtesy of Sled Reyneolds

According to Patrick, playing "Pecos Bill" was a tribute to his father, Jesse, and the performance was dedicated to him.

Included in the strong "Tall Tale" cast are Patrick as "Pecos Bill", young Nick Stahl as "Daniel Hackett" the boy who learns to dream again, Roger Aaron Brown as legendary "John Henry", Catherine O'Hara was "Calamity Jane" who had way too many scenes cut for Swayze romance fans, and Oliver Pratt as the colorful "Paul Bunyan". This is true family fare and a delightful Disney production. Other talented performers appearing include Scott Glenn as the villainous "J.P. Stiles" and Stephen Lang as the boy's father.

There is also a beautiful musical score by Randy Edelman that deserves an early mention, allowing the viewer to become carried away in the fantasy of the picture.

Robert A. George wrote a review for the laser disc release of "Tall Tale" which addresses the wonderful photography seen in the film. Writes George, "the real star behind the camera is DP Janusz Kaminski. Filmed amidst breathtaking Arizona and Colorado locations, it is Kaminski's gorgious anamorphic Panavision photography that will hold your attention, even if the story doesn't." He continues later with "Kaminski makes stong use of color throughout, particularly the red-orange of the desert sun and the muted blue of a moonlit night, all rendered here with precision." Re: Randy Edelman, George notates, "The Randy Edelman score is clean with smooth mids and highs and a solid low end. Range and dymanics are very good." George concludes his review by saying, "Some will dismiss 'Tall Tale' as "standard Disney fare", but I found it to be entertaining and well made from beginning to end. The special effects are good and the 'PG' action is suitable for any age. I liked it."

Quotes from an interview with Barry Kollnow:

I believe my career's been given back to me because I feel the passion again. I'm not getting into that hit-machine mentality anymore. I'm living for me. I'm picking roles based on what Patrick Swayze needs at that moment.

I did "Tall Tale" because I needed to inspire the little boy in me. I'm doing movies that fulfil my gut and my soul. If these movies are hits, then that's cool. If they're not hits, then wait for the next one."

I have forcibly taken myself off the pedestal. It's OK with me now to blow my career. I have different goals now., I know the truth is not on that pedestal. This craft gets boring if all you play are one-dimensional leading men. You have to look deeper into the characters you play. You have to look deeper inside yourself. I had to fix what was inside me."

My insides are settled because I realize that you have to have a sense of play in this life. If you take things too seriously, you get all screwed up. You have to find that sense of play in yourself, and I have; I'm having fun again, and playing "Pecos Bill" was just the start.

From Daily Variety:

Patrick comments on "Tall Tale"
to Nanciann Cherry of the Toledo Blade:

"I'm getting ready to do Tall Tale for Disney. I'm playing Pecos Bill, the legendary character, on my stallion Widowmaker. My lariat is a snake and I rope tornados and stuff. It's going to be a lot of fun," he says with an enthusiastic laugh.

"I seem to be hooked on movies that say something to kids right now, and Tall Tale is perfect for that, because it's about this little boy's journey into finding out - does he care about something? Oh yeah? What? And, oh yeah? How much? - and really understanding the difference between a lie and a tall tale, so the values are really neat. But I'm just looking at Pecos Bill - what a blast to play."

Nick Stahl on working with Patrick: "He's a genuinely nice and caring guy. I had to ride horses in the movie, which you'd think I would already know how to do because I was raised in Texas, but I didn't. So Patrick showed me how."

Steve Rhodes wrote a nice review which notes, "The story teaches, not preaches, good values. Patrick Swayze, who does the best of several good pieces of acting in the show, looks like he is developing an ulcer when Daniel seems ready to give in to the evil Stiles. Looking Daniel straight in the eye, he pleads with him, "Don't lose the dream!"

There's a nice site that talks about the three Friesian horses used in "Tall Tale", including Michael, which is the horse Patrick wanted to purchase. He fell in love with that horse and felt Mikey was very cool. Visit Friesian Horse List for some fun facts and photos!

An early version of the script basically had only 3 scenes with Pecos and Calamity Jane. The theme of Pecos running out on Calamity in Amarillo continues, and Calamity is now dating Big Jim, which makes Pecos very very jealous and lends itself to some cute visualizations of dialogue not scene in the final print. Of course, Calamity ends up helping Pecos et. al. with their escape from Stiles and the bad guys. Their last scene has Calamity doing a super shot that cuts Stiles off from Pecos and the others. Pecos says, "what a shot! What a woman!" and then the camera cuts to Calamity, watching, still on horseback, and she says, "You're outside my jurisdiction, Pecos. Always have been. Always will be. Good luck, Billy". She "dabs" at her eyes, then turns her horse around and heads back to town!

Of course, the irony of the entire "romance" of Pecos and Calamity is that "Tall Tale" takes place in 1905. The real Calamity Jane, however, died in 1903!

Lines to Remember

Pecos never killed on Sunday.
Just because it's a tall tale, don't mean it ain't true.
He's out there, where there's still enough elbow room for a man to wander; he's out there where land's still young and wild.
Pecos Bill is as real as you and me.
Respect the land; defend the defenseless, and don't you never spit in front of woman or children.
No piece of ground is worth dying over.
How am I gonna get good at it if I don't practice?
You stay here you're going to fry like a bug on a hot skillet.
This is the west. Things are simple here.
You sure do know alot for a half-grown piglet.
Sometimes a fight comes looking for you; it'll find you, too, no matter where you hide.
It used to be that when a man got a head start, it meant something.
Hesh up, you log brain.
You steaming pile of buffalo pucky; you're still ugly.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but in my day, we didn't kill the land; we just borrowed from it.
Do me a big sequoia sized favor; stay out of my way, if you want to see 13.
You watch your mouth, Pecos; Babe is very sensitive.
I have to protect my investment.
You don't know what you can do until you try.
Paul Bunyan as I live and breathe.
Will you live and breathe later; you've got a race to win, so move it.
If you gave it your best shot, you ain't got nothing to be sorry for.
To the code!
To Texas...the nearest thing to Heaven on God's Green Earth.
I do have that honor, Sir.
You can't scrap on an empty stomach.
Mister, you can insult me, and you can insult my friends; as a matter of fact, you can even insult my mother or my horse, but Mister, don't your ever insult the great state Texas.
Well, paint my toenails and curl my hair.
My cactus flower.
You double crossing dog.
You pissant flea infested little weasel.
You hairy overgrown mealy mouthed two faced lyin' yellow-bellyed sniffling snake; you gutless, brainless, heartless sidewinder.
You had to bring up Amarillo.
What in tarnation!
I ain't apologizing to no ox.
Babe, Uncle Pecos thinks you're the prettiest blue ox he ever did see, and he is very, very sorry for any hurtfulness he may have caused you, now pull!
Kid, trouble seems to follow you like a birddog.
Daddy was just doing the best he knew how; what grieves me is that I never got the gumption to tell him how I felt about him.
Shake a hoof!
I like chopping wood.
How are folks gonna see the stars?
It's hotter than a June bride in a feather bed.
Does this story have a point, or does it just go on and on and on like this stinking desert?
I'm lost in the middle of a giant barbeque pit, and I don't know what's going to kill me first ... the heat, the thirst, or having to listen to your incessiant yammerin'.
Shut up, you overblown tub of lard!
You just got to believe, Boy!
Don't lose the dream, Daniel!
Don't give up on yourself, Kid!
You are nothing but hot air.
They were as real as you and me.
No, Pa; the land's defenseless. If you give in, you don't know what's going to happen here.
Somebody's got to do something.
One more oughta do 'er.
You fool. There will be others just like me, more after them, and after them. Long as there is a profit to be made, we'll never stop; we're comin'.
Not through our land!
Pa; I love you, Pa.
You done right, Daniel; I was beginning to think it weren't possible to do right no more; now, because of you, I know it is.
He's all yourn's, Daniel Hackett!
Pecos, don't go!
Don't worry about it; you can handle things from here!
I'm a ring-tailed roarer. I can draw faster, shoot straighter, ride harder and drink longer than any man alive. I ride cyclones, and I am the ripsnortest cowboy that ever rode north, south, east or west of the Rio Grande. I'm Pecos Bill. Yee Haw!

Some basic facts about "Tall Tale"

Released March 24, 1995

Domestic Box Office: $8,247,627

96 Minutes, Rated PG, from Walt Disney

Filmed in: Utah (Monument Valley, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell); Colorado (Roaring Fork Valley, Maroon Bells, Vail, and Marble); California (Death Valley)

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Page Last Updated 06/20/02