Like its predecessor, "Davy Crockett: Kinf of the Wild Frontier", this movie is actually a compilation of episodes of Disney's very popular "Davy Crockett" series on television. The show was so popular that folks filled theaters to see what already was on TV a year or so before! However, the timing of this episode is strange, in that Davy's death occurs in the prior movie!! I think in hindsight, Disney wishes they'd released "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" first!

The two episodes of the TV show that preceded it all are about Davy and his friend, Russell, on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in 1810. The initial portion of the movie is about Davy's bet with Mike Fink about who could get their river boat to New Orleans first. Then, with the help of Fink, they take on river pirates and have some adventures.

The first film was by far the best and most realistic. This second one is more comical...especially since the murderous pirates never get around to killing any of Crockett's and Fink's crew...and vice-versa. Odd murderous pirates, I know. Also odd is that Crockett's death at the Alamo (in the first film) happened in 1836....and this film is set in 1810...yet Crockett and Russell both look exactly the same age in both movies! Kind of sloppy...but still enjoyable. Overall, not a great film by any estimation but a reasonably well made and likable one.

This film is a great big helping of raucous fun. It originally played on the Disney TV show as a two-parter. Fess Parker plays Davy, and Buddy Ebsen plays George Russell, his friend and traveling partner; they make a great team and this production shows Ebsen's considerable chops at comedy. They run afoul of Mike Fink and his crew; Mike is played by the wonderful and boastful Jeff York, who give the mythical character a larger than life persona. George mistakenly bets all their winter's fur inventory that Davy and he can beat Mike to New Orleans in a keel boat race. Mike tries all kinds of devious and underhanded ways to win, but Davy has his own mythos and can't be counted out. Mike is contrite at the end, and he and Davy become friends. In the second part, Mike and Davy take on the river pirates from the title, who've been posing as hostile indians and killing settlers coming downstream. If you're a fan of that epic Cinerama film, "How the West Was Won," you'll recognize the pirates river hideout as the cave Jimmy Stewart gets shanghai'd in while "lookin' for the varmint."

Mike's and Davy's crews are played by veteran Hollywood character actors, which Disney excelled at using to great effect. Kenneth Tobey plays Mike's right hand man, and believe me, if you've seen Ken as the staunch commander in the original "The Thing", you won't recognize him in this. He's a natural comedian, and with his expressive face and comedic body movements he's a source of constant amazement. Clem Bevans, who started out in vaudeville in 1900(!) and didn't make it to films until 1935, and then to TV in 1949, is stalwart as the captain of the keel boat Davy uses to race against Mike. Bevans was in just about every TV western series and even a Twilight Zone, and his career encompassed most of the different branches of entertainment in the 20th century; truly a veteran of the stage and screen. Hank Worden even shows up as a pirate, taking a break from his long string of John Wayne movies.

Adults may be the only ones in the 21st century who will watch this; anyone with fond memories of the Disney TV series should love it, however unpolitically correct it is. Kids today may not think much of it, and I'm not sure they should go near it. In fact, it may be argued that most of the films and TV from the past may not be good for them. Odds are that Davy may not have been a hero in real life, and Texas is busy passing laws that no one can say anything against the Alamo, leaving a racist history in place. This is a lot of baggage to attach to several episodes of Disney's "Wonderful World of Color," but the truth is that Disney often didn't tell the truth in his productions, and after his death the studio continued to put out films that pushed the white viewpoint while ignoring all others. Watching this production in 2021 is an exercise in frustration, despite the fact that I still love the show. You can say that this was a product of its time, and that is true, which is why it might not be something to show the kids unless you place it in context of the US's long history of whitewashing everything before you do.

That being said, "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" is fast-paced and filled with lots of stunts and explosions, and Mike Fink's song is catchy and memorable. It's an artifact of the skewed history we all grew up in, and is as much a myth as the ones the ancient Greeks made famous.

This was a theatrical compilation of two episodes of Davy Crocket series that were aired on ABC TV Disneyland , 55-56 years , taking footage here and there . In this adventure and comical Western movie is narrated myths and legends in hilarious style of the famed American frontiersman and explorer . I deals with Davy and his colleague Georgie Russell , Buddy Ebsen, vying a boastful fatty called Mike Frank , Jeff York, nicknamed " the King of the river" in a boat race to city of New Orleans and along the way they encounter some nasty river pirates .After that , once the competition is finished , Crockett and Georgie supported by Mike take on the river pirates who are attempting to rob the sailors of their possessions .

The plot is is simple, the first part concerns about a fun race in which our friends compete against "The King of the River" and fight off each other to win the risked competition ; second part deals with the three allied friends battling pirates who disguising as Native American to take earthly supplies from naive boat passengers ; this plot bears remarkable resemblance to the classic film" How the West was won" by Ford , Marshall and Hathaway, in which mountain man James Stewart was robbed by river pirates In Cave-in-Rock , the same place where was shot this Davy Crockett and River Pirates . As usual, Fess Parker and and his sidekick Buddy Ebsen give sympathetic performances . They are accompanied by Jeff York as the sly , boastful Mike providing a lot of laughters and mayhem .York starred various chapters of Disneyland and "The great locomotive chase" along with Fess Parker .And an enjoyable support cast as Mort Mills, Kenneth Tobey , Clem Bevans, Douglas Dumbrielle and Hank Worden .This movie was actually 2 episodes of Disney TV show spliced together and released as feature movie .Walt Disney shot this show in color in spite of few color TV's were being sold, yet . As a result , these two Crockett episodes could be turned into an amusing picture by stitching them together .

This one contains agreeable musical score by George Bruns , Disney's regular ,including classic song "The ballad of Davy Crockett" sung by singer Bill Hayes , lyrics Thomas Blackburn , it had number 1 billboard pop hit in 1955 .Colorful cinematography by Bert Glennon , shot on location in Cave In Rock , Illinois and New Orleans, though is urgent necessary a perfect remastering .The motion picture was well directed by Norman Foster who directed various Disneyland episodes , adventure movies ,and numerous Western series and films such as Tombstone territory , Bat Masterson, Viva Cisco Kid , The sign of Zorro , Navajo , Crazy and Custer the untold story and Rachel and the stranger. Rating : 6.5/10 essential and indispensable watching for adventure fans and Davy Crockett series enthusiasts . Well worth seeing.