Faith Themes in 'Three Lives of Thomasina'

Last night I saw the 1963 Walt Disney film, "The Three Lives of Thomasina," based on the book by the same name written by Paul Gallico, who also wrote "The Snow Goose," my favorite book, and "The Poseidon Adventure," which I haven't read, nor have I seen the 1972 film. What surprised me the most were the references to faith in the film. I guess 1963 must have happened before the terrible slide into immorality and sexual obsession into which we have, unfortunately, been existing for a number of years in 2026. "The Snow Goose" is about my favorite book of all time, and I was uplifted by "Thomasina" It is about a little girl named Mary and her beloved cat. The story is supposed to be taking place in Scotland, but the film was made in England. It is very good. The plot revolves around the girl and her father, more than about the cat, although in the film, the cat speaks. I am curious to read the book and have put it on my list at ThriftBooks. Mary's father is a veterinarian who, when Thomasina apparently has been poisoned, decides to euthanize the animal without consulting with Mary. Mary, needless to say, is devastated. Mary and her friends even have a funeral for the cat and bury it outside the home of a woman name Lori, rumored to be a "witch" who seems to have the ability to heal animals. Lori senses that the animal is not dead, takes her inside and the cat revives. Meanwhile, Mary still believes that cat is dead. There are a lot of events that happen then, conversations between the dad and a minister, conversations later between Lori and Mary's father, that deal with faith. I had never seen the film. I was a junior or senior in high school when it came out. But I am shocked by the realization that films like that are very rarely made any more, and yet during the 40s, 50s and even 60s (at least before the famous "sexual revolution" and the days of drugs and "free love") film makers apparently felt it was profitable to feature faith in a film. Which leads to another point, that profit has most likely always been the motivation behind the production of films, and one might wonder if there have ever been any other factors operating behind the production of films--or a multitude of other artistic endeavors. One hopes there have been other reasons for artmaking. But I'm not going to dig into that right now. Just something to think about. I found the video (VHS) at God's Storehouse (a thrift store) on Saturday along with "The Searchers," and enjoyed them both. I stopped buying DVDs a long time ago and still watch VHS videos on my VCR. Yes, I have been a Tech Rebel for many years now, and I plan to be that in as many ways as I can for as long as I can. In my small way I will resist the takeover of technology over our culture and over my life in every way possible for as long as possible. I love thrift shopping and watching old movies, and old technology is just fine. Also so is old faith. Old faith in old films is a breath of fresh air in this perverse generation, and I wouldn't have it any other way.