{{Short description|1976 film by Charles Jarrott}} {{Multiple issues| {{Sources exist|date=January 2024}} {{Unreliable sources|date=January 2024}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Use British English|date=June 2012}} {{Infobox film | name = Escape from the Dark<br />(The Littlest Horse Thieves) | caption = UK quad poster | image = Escape from the Dark FilmPoster.jpeg | director = Charles Jarrott | writer = Rosemary Anne Sisson | story = Burt Kennedy<br />Rosemary Anne Sisson | starring = Alastair Sim<br />Peter Barkworth<br />Maurice Colbourne<br />Susan Tebbs<br />Andrew Harrison<br />Chloe Franks | producer = Ron Miller | music = Ron Goodwin | cinematography = Paul Beeson | editing = Richard Marden | studio = Walt Disney Productions | distributor = Buena Vista Distribution | released = {{Film date|1976|05|26|UK|1977|03|11|US}} | runtime = 104 minutes | country = United Kingdom<br />United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''The Littlest Horse Thieves''''' (British title: ''Escape from the Dark'') is a 1976 family drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on March 11, 1977 in the United States and on May 26, 1976 in the United Kingdom under the title ''Escape from the Dark''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976) – Charles Jarrott | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie |url=http://allmovie.com/work/the-littlest-horse-thieves-29701}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976) – IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076320/ |website=IMDb}}{{unreliable source inline|date=January 2024}}</ref>
==Plot== Set in 1909 in Yorkshire, England, a coal mine has long relied on pit ponies to transport coal. When the mine introduces machinery to increase production and profitability, the ponies are deemed obsolete and slated for slaughter. Upon learning of this, three children devise a plan to rescue the ponies and release them. ==Production== The film was based on a script by Burt Kennedy who had read an article about pit ponies in London. He wrote up a script and sold it to Ron Miller at Disney. Kennedy was a writer director but Miller felt he was better suited to Westerns and the film was given to another writer and director with whom Disney had deals. Kennedy called the movie " pretty good—not as good as it should have been, but it's pretty good."<ref name="burt">{{cite book|title= Hollywood trail boss : behind the scenes of the wild, wild western|last=Kennedy|first= Burt |year=1997 |publisher=Boulevard Books |page=69}}</ref> ==See also== * List of films about horses
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://movies.disney.com/the-littlest-horse-thieves}} * {{IMDb title|0076320|Escape from the Dark}} * {{TCMDb title|81610|The Littlest Horse Thieves}}
{{Charles Jarrott}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlest Horse Thieves}} Category:1970s children's drama films Category:1970s historical drama films Category:1976 American films Category:1976 British films Category:1976 children's films Category:1976 drama films Category:1976 English-language films Category:1976 films Category:1977 children's films Category:1977 drama films Category:1977 films Category:American children's drama films Category:American historical drama films Category:British children's drama films Category:British historical drama films Category:English-language historical drama films Category:Films about horses Category:Films about mining Category:Films directed by Charles Jarrott Category:Films produced by Ron W. Miller Category:Films scored by Ron Goodwin Category:Films set in 1909 Category:Films set in the 1900s Category:Films set in Yorkshire Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:Walt Disney Pictures films