The movie is of course based on fact.
Viewers may be interested in the following piece of news. The real Sonora Webster Carver died at the age of 99, 2003-09-24. Just like the end of the movie says, she dove blind for 11 years! What the movie didn't necessarily convey is that the accident was 7 years after her first dive.
See:
http://slick.org/deathwatch/mailarchive/msg01131.html
and
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/answerguy/060102.html
WOW i dont think i actually knew it was based on fact! thanks for the links, i will definatly check that out as this is one of my favorite movies! ~JEN~
shareI knew that is was based on a true story but I didn't realise that Sonora Webster was in fact the womans real name. It would have been great to see some sort of documentary on her.
shareWow, if these websites are true about her life, Disney butchered it! A&E should have a biography of her. I love this story!
shareIt's Disney...you expect them to be historically accurate. They didn't even do Snow White the way the story went. Although it doesn't sound like they completely butchered it from what I've read, just sliced it up a bit...okay, sliced it up a lot.
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
Is this sport still continued. Does anyone know.
shareI don't think so. Animal activist would never allow it even if it doesn't hurt the horses any
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
If you really want to know what really happened and what the real Sonora Webster-Carver was like read her book A Girl and 5 Brave Horses by Sonora Carver (You won't find it under Sonora Webster). The movie goes as far away from the book as possible although I love the film the true story sheds so much more light on Sonora's condition than the film.
shareThat book is really hard to find
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
I didn't realize that the movie was based on a book. I mean, I knew that it was based on a true story, but I didn't realize that I could find it in print.
I didn't have any trouble finding it at the main branch of my local library. I live in Toledo and it should be delivered to my local branch in the next couple of days. I can't wait to read it!!!
You're lucky. I live in Arizona and local library gets all their books through pony express.
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
I picked the book up yesterday and I'm almost finished. I fear that I may be disappointed because it doesn't seem as romantic as the movie portrays it all to be. She's very descriptive and I've come to understand a lot more about the actual diving act itself, but I'm still waiting for the romance part to come.
Good luck with your "pony express!"
I heard that Disney really played up the romance bit and that Al was no where near as good looking as in the movie. What does the book say about Sonora's sister? Thanks for the vote of confindence though.
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
My grandmother atually watched her dive when she was blind. Though they didn't know she was blind at the time. That's something I like. You do know that they could've said she was blind and gotten a lot more attention (you know if this happened now they would), but she wanted to be seen as normal and didn't say it. I like that, living life to your fullest and not using handicaps as a way to get more money.
"All I wanted was to be a Storm Trooper in Star Wars” ~Christian Bale
There was this short reel from the 30s played on late night Turner Classic movies that was showing death defying feats like people who would balance on flag poles and trapeez artists. Amongst all of these people was a horse diving girl at steel pier. They didn't say the woman's name, but it might have been Sonora. I noticed that the woman didn't look at the horse as it came running up the ramp towards her and grabbed onto the saddle a little awkwardly. Think I could be right or is there a chance it could have been footage of someone else?
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
It might have been. It seems right, I mean, when she was blind, she didn't look at the horse. Although it could have been footage of a diving girl that was reall bad and didn't know what she was doing :) I'm sure it was Sonora.
"All I wanted was to be a Storm Trooper in Star Wars” ~Christian Bale
Ha ha ha ha!
The penguins are calling and I can't find my way out of the labyrinth.
This movie touches me becuase when I was little I was obsessed with the movie. I'm obsessed with horses too...still am. But also because she "the real Sonora" lived in my town...and that's where she grew up. And it's mentioned in the movie. Such a great one too.
shareDoes anyone know where I can find a photograph of her? I am really curious to see what the real Sonora looked like as well as Al. I too really love the movie. Everytime I watch it, I feel all warm and happy inside
sharehttp://lifeinlegacy.com/2003/0927/CarverSonora.jpg
shareany idea which horse it is in that picture?
sharehttp://lifeinlegacy.com/2003/0927/CarverSonora.jpg
DarkAlessa now the end of day and Iam the Reaper:silent hill
Thanks for posting the info on her. I really really wanna read her book! But it's practically non-existant! Unless you are willing/and can afford to pay $500 for it! If anyone has the book(even if they are just borrowing it from the library) could you maybe please scan the pics from the book on the internet. I've only seen a few pics of Sonora(one with her and the horse posing for a picture, which is like the only up-close pic of her on the internet. All the rest she is far away diving off the piers with horses!). Thanks. And yes I agree they need to(if it even exist) have a documentary on her released! I think I heard someone say the moving picture people filmed her dive once.
shareMore out of curiousity than an actual desire to read the book, I looked around every used and out-of-print book service I know of and yep, you'd have to have a rich uncle or something in order to buy a copy.
However, here are a couple things you can try. WorldCat, a database of 10,000 libraries worldwide, might have a copy - more than likely for libray use only (so you'd have to read it inside the library) Their website is: http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/
And, on Yahoo Groups, here is a group trying to get the book republished:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/divinghorses/
It IS a great movie, and I'm sure it's like most movies, paling by comparison to the real story.
That's interesting... I figured she must have passed away by now, but I never actually heard the news.
She actually came to our public library when I was a little kid and they had a whole presentation about her because of the movie.
I have her autograph somewhere. I remember thinking it was fascinating as a kid that she used a little rectangular frame to help her keep her signature fairly straight. I see she lived in South Jersey when she died, so apparently that's why we were fortunate enough to meet her.
wow thnks for posting this, i might use that article in my language arts class.
~Elle
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It's been awhile since these postings but I just bought her book from Amazon for my Kindle. It was only $1.99. Hardbacks and paperbacks also available at reasonable prices. She died at age 99.
share