Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken Teaches Your Kids About Perseverance

In this episode of Family TV Uncovered, we dive into the inspiring and underrated Disney gem Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. Is Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken ok for kids? Yes!

Set during the Great Depression and based on a true story, this film is based on the life of Sonora Webster, a determined young woman who defies the odds to become a horse diving performer. With heart-pounding stunts, a sweet romance, and old-school Disney values, this movie is a nostalgic must-watch for families who crave stories of courage, commitment, and chasing your dreams.

Key Points:

🎠 True Story, Timeless Lessons Based on A Girl and Five Brave Horses, this film highlights real-life perseverance and bravery in the face of personal and physical challenges.

💞 Sweet & Wholesome Romance Sonora’s relationship with Dr. Carver’s son is a reminder that love stories can be gentle, respectful, and heartwarming.

🎬 Classic Disney Vibes A throwback to when Disney prioritized strong moral values and family-friendly content—with gorgeous cinematography and unforgettable music.

🔥 Daring Dreams & Determination Sonora’s journey from orphan to diving horse star shows the power of resilience, passion, and not letting setbacks define you.

Resources:

• 📖 A Girl and Five Brave Horses – Read the true story
• 🎥 Watch Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken on Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, YouTube Movies & TV, and Fandango

Connect:

Did this story inspire you? Have you ever taken a leap of faith—literally or figuratively? Did you enjoy this film? Share your thoughts with us!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Have you ever been skydiving or bungee jumping?

(00:02):
How about horse diving?
Would you jump off of a 100 foot tower
into a pool of water below on your horse?
The movie I'm talking about today
is a story about a girl who did just that.
Stay tuned to find out which one.
Welcome to Family TV Uncovered,
where I talk all about clean family friendly TV shows

(00:25):
and movies that shaped my childhood.
I'm your host, Jennifer.
And today I'll be talking about the 90s feature film,
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.
This movie is one of my favorites.
And if you're a horse lover, you'll
absolutely love this movie.
That's what attracted me to this movie the most
when Disney came out.
I don't recall seeing this film in the theater,

(00:47):
but I do remember watching it on TV
and renting it many, many, many times from the video store.
How many of you guys remember going to the video stores
and renting movies?
Those were fun times.
I miss those days, long before the days of streaming.
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken stars Gabrielle Onwar.
And I'll be bringing up another couple of movies

(01:07):
with her later on.
And I'll be talking about another movie
that she starred in in a future episode.
She plays a young girl named Sonora Webster.
This movie is based on a true story
and is based off of a book as well.
The book was called A Girl and Five Brave Horses.
I'll leave a link for it in the show notes
so you can check it out.
There's so many things about this movie

(01:28):
that I absolutely love.
The acting is great.
I already mentioned the horses and the music.
I'm a big fan of music in movies.
And so this music just sticks with me.
I have always wanted the soundtrack,
and I should probably look into that again.
One of those things where you used to have to buy the cassettes
and the CDs for the soundtracks, and I never got my hands on it.

(01:50):
So the movie is set during the Great Depression.
And there's some historical things.
Well, I don't want to say historical.
There are some.
The movie did a good job of portraying the time period.
You see many people struggling financially.
Briefly talks about in the story,
in the narrative of the story, it talks about people losing
their jobs, businesses closing, and so on.

(02:11):
Sonora and her sister are orphans
and live with their aunt who is struggling financially
because of the Great Depression and tells Sonora
that she's going to be moving out the next day.
The aunt is giving her up to the state to take care of her.
And instead of going through that process,
Sonora decides to run away and just make it on her own.
Before she runs away, she finds an ad at the store,

(02:34):
looking for a new diving girl to dive horses.
So when Sonora runs away, she goes off
to the county fairgrounds to find
the man who runs the show, which is the character Dr. Carver,
who's played by Cliff Robertson.
Many of you might know Cliff Robertson better
by the character Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man trilogy.
So that's who Cliff Robertson is in another movie he's been in.

(02:58):
And when he meets her, he automatically rejects her
and basically says she doesn't have what it takes
when you compare her to the star of his show named Marie.
But ultimately, he ends up hiring her to be a stable hand
and travel with him and take care of the horses.
And her time comes later in the movie
where she gets to prove that she can be a great diving girl just

(03:21):
like Marie.
It's amazing to think that this actually happened in real life
because I can't imagine diving of what
looks like a 100-foot tower, it could be even higher,
into a pool of water below on a horse.
And it's amazing that there were horses that actually did
this kind of thing voluntarily.
Another nice thing about this movie

(03:41):
is that we witness a small romance between her
and Dr. Carver's son.
It's not a graphic love story.
It's very sweet and gentle, and it's cute watching
the little things, how people were, the clothes
that they wore back then, the shyness of having a first crush,
and so on, all those things that we experience in life.

(04:03):
And you also get to see Sonora training her horse
to be a diving horse.
And it seems like it was a very rigorous process
and a time-consuming process as well.
So it shows commitment.
It definitely shows you how you have
to be committed to what you want when there's something you
really want to do in life.
You have to commit to it and keep going at it.

(04:26):
Sure, we can all relate to that.
The most exciting parts of this movie
are the horse diving scenes, which are my favorite scenes
to watch, especially with the music,
because it just adds that extra dramatic element to the movie.
Disney did such a good job with this movie
back in the time when they used to make
more family-centered programming, more family-centered

(04:48):
films that you could actually take your children to go.
This movie is what I would consider classic Disney
back in the day when Disney used to actually put out
so many more family-friendly films that you could actually
take your children to go see in the theater, which
is something that is lacking in modern days, which
is something that is really missing in today's movie

(05:09):
releases.
I really miss taking my kids to the theater
to see movies like this.
And when my kids watch this movie and other movies
that I'll talk about in future episodes,
they're always asking me, mom, why can't they
make movies like this anymore?
You were lucky that you got to go see movies
like this in the theater.
And I was.
It gives you an appreciation for the time that I grew up

(05:31):
and that you grew up in.
They were just better times.
Hopefully, I do see a tide turning,
though, in today's movies.
And eventually in the movie, we see
Sonora experience a life-changing accident that
is a career-ending accident.
But despite the people closest to her telling her to stop

(05:51):
and take care of herself, she goes above and beyond
and begins retraining herself to continue doing
horse diving despite her injury.
And it's just amazing to watch her
and to think about the actual Sonora that
continued doing horse diving talk about being courageous
and persevering through tough times.
She went above and beyond.

(06:13):
She did an amazing job.
I think Gabrielle Onward does a great, terrific job
portraying Sonora and really showing us
Sonora's perseverance, courage, and commitment to her craft,
to her dreams.
And I think we can learn a lot from Sonora's situation.
How many of you have ever been orphaned or what's

(06:33):
the most daring?
I'm not a thrill seeker.
This is definitely one thing that would never
be on my bucket list.
Along with skydiving and bungee jumping,
I have no interest in it.
But what has been the most daring thing you've ever done
that's similar to horse diving?
Have you ever experienced something
that was life-changing, but despite the challenges
you pushed on and kept going with it,

(06:55):
despite the people around you telling you to give up?
I would love to hear from you.
I would love to hear your answers to these questions.
And I would also love it if you could.
And I would highly encourage you to watch this movie
with your family.
It's definitely a great family night movie.
I've seen this movie so many times,
and I let my children watch this on their own as well.
I've seen this movie countless times growing up,

(07:16):
and I let my children watch it on their own
because I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
I've watched this movie countless times
and allow my children to watch it on their own.
I'm comfortable with it.
I highly recommend you watch it.
If you've never seen it before, please send me your comments
on what you think about it.
Or if you've seen the movie or if you
watched the movie growing up, I would
love to hear from you as well and tell me

(07:37):
what your favorite parts of the movie
are if you've shared it with your own family as well.
Where can you watch Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken?
You can stream it on YouTube, movies, and TV, Amazon Prime,
Disney+, and on Fandango, formerly Voodoo.com,
which is owned by Walmart.
Tune into our episode next week, where
I'll answer the following question.

(08:00):
What breed of dog is number 40 on the AKC's popularity
list and is also the most recognizable dog
in television history, in my opinion?
I'll catch you in the next episode.
ès