Movie is dedicated to her, as she passed away in 2021
Narrative
Two Irish orphans journey by train across America, encountering villains and heroes. They make an extraordinary friend and search for a new home, facing adventures and dangers along the way.. Main character "Nick" is based on the director's son Nico, who had the same disease.
Concluding that he isn't likely to show up, they decide to take a punt and head to California and find him
"Mary" and "Tom" arrive in New York from Ireland only to find that their uncle "Niall" isn't there to meet them. Indeed, the only acquaintance they make make make hanging around the docks is a small dog that she takes a bit of a shine to and names "Sparky". Problem?
It turns out that these kids are also orphans, being relocated to kindly families along the route
Well the trains don't take punts – only dollars, so they have just an hour to raise the fare. Or… Well maybe they could just blend in with a group of traveling children and blag their way onto the train. Except, perhaps, for the paralyzed and wheelchair-bound "Nick" who isn't exactly top of anyone's adoption list.
Between playing games with their new friends and avoiding the ticket inspector, they gradually make progress until disaster strikes
A disaster that puts them into the clutch of the deadly Cheyenne before befalling some even more ruthless bandits whose leader looks a lot like Lee Van Cleef, and who run a gold mine populated by slave labor. How to rescue themselves, their fellow miners, "Sparky", "Nick" and still find Uncle "Niall" – well that's the fun part in this quickly paced and engaging big-eyed animation. It combines the intrepidness of the pioneering spirit with some good old fashioned wild west adventure scenarios and provides us with a little bit of "Temple of Doom" (1984) into the bargain.
