Reviews

It was in 1957 that I was introduced to the Disney-produced series about a young man moving west. The series was seen in glorious black and white as no one in my neighborhood owned a color television set (even the local bar got by with a trusty 21" black and white set). What I never forgot was anticipation of seeing where Andy and his Mountain men friends would go next. After the first installment, everyone in the neighborhood was into Indian wrestling with their legs. By the second week, the jingle "Andy's on the move, Andy won't rest, Andy Burnett is a traveling west" was heard at parks and on street corners. The singing by the cast (Andrew Duggan, Slim Pickens and Jeff York) may have been a little too much, but it did a touch of class to a group that bathed once a year. The conclusion was tearful and somewhat unfulfilling. Andrew Duggan fell victim to an Indian attack and died on screen. It was the greatest tragedy a 9 year old could face (at least Davy Crockett's death was not seen; you speculated he may have gotten away from the 5 thousand Mexicans). It's too bad that Disney Vault was taken off the Disney channel. Andy Burnet would work well today. I'm just very happy that I was able to tape the series in the summer of 2001.