Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
Jack Warden
as Jehan
Jeremy James Kissner
as Nello
Jesse James
as Young Nello
Jon Voight
as Michel
Cheryl Ladd
as Anna
Bruce McGill
as William
Steven Hartley
as Cogez
Andrew Bicknell
as Stephens
Farren Monet
as Aloise
