So Dear to My Heart is a 1948 American live-action/animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Its world premiere was in Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, 1948. Like 1946's Song of the South, the film combines animation and live action. It is based on the 1943 Sterling North book Midnight and Jeremiah. The book was revised by North to parallel the film's storyline amendments and then re-issued under the same title as the film. The film was a personal favorite of Walt Disney, since it re-created on film one of the most memorable times of his life, growing up on a small farm in the American Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century. Walt said: "So Dear was especially close to me. Why, that's the life my brother and I grew up with as kids out in Missouri." Walt had intended that this would be the first all live-action Disney feature film, but his distributor, RKO, convinced him that when audiences saw the word "Disney," they expected animation. Thus they split the difference. So Dear to My Heart was the final film appearance of Harry Carey. Plot Set in Indiana in 1903, the film tells the tale of Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll) and his determination to raise a black-wool lamb that was once rejected by its mother. Jeremiah names the lamb Danny for the famed race horse Dan Patch (who is also portrayed in the film). Jeremiah's dream of showing Danny at the Pike County Fair must overcome the obstinate objections of his loving yet tough grandmother Granny (Beulah Bondi). Jeremiah's confidant Uncle Hiram (Burl Ives) is the boy's steady ally. Inspired by the animated figures and stories, the boy perseveres. Cast Bobby Driscoll as Jeremiah "Jerry" Kincaid Luana Patten as Tildy Burl Ives as Uncle Hiram Douglas Beulah Bondi as Granny Kincaid Harry Carey as Head Judge at County Fair Raymond Bond as Pete Grundy, Storekeeper Walter Soderling as Grampa Meeker Matt Willis as Mr. Burns, Horse Trainer Spelman B. Collins as Judge Bob Haymes as Singer Bob Haymes Voices John Beal as Adult Jeremiah/Narrator Ken Carson as The Owl Bob Stanton as Danny Marion Darlington as Whistling Sound Effects Clarence Nash as Vocal Sound Effects The Rhythmaires as Vocal Ensemble/Bluebirds Awards and honors The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Burl Ives's version of the 17th-century