Old Yeller is the title character and a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson also co-wrote the screenplay with William Tunberg. The success of Old Yeller led to a sequel, Savage Sam, which was also based on a Gipson book.