SOMETHlNG ON THE WIND

The idea of this lugubrious slow-starter--three animals in search of a separated master's home--comes so perilously close to The Incredible Journey that one wonders whether charges of cribbing may be what's On The Wind. The three here (two red mules and a take-charge dog) endure temporary captures, narrow escapes, weather crises, and a set-to with wolves before they are reunited with their master, Calvin Fairchild, an 1880s traveling photographer whose harelip is a needlessly reiterated concern. Along the way, from scorching Arizona Territory deserts to blizzardy Colorado mountains, they acquire a plucky third mule and stay briefly with a mercenary rancher, a Navajo shepherd boy, a hermit who loses his heart to a mule, and another traveling photographer. As in Burnford's classic, a network of people are able to account for the animals' recent whereabouts, enabling Calvin and a growing band (including the hermit and an authoritative, eligible young lady) to track them right to his own backyard. High cinematic potential, considering the passing scenery and the pristine message, but lower marks for originality and barely average ones for dramatic pull.