The World's Greatest Athlete

Tim Conway, Jan-Michael Vincent. When the coach of an unsuccessful sports team travels to Africa, he spots an athletic whiz kid and convinces him to join his team in the States. 1973/color/89 min/G/fullscreen.

This enjoyable comedy is one of the last Disney live-action films that feels akin to their earlier, innocent films. Jan-Michael Vincent plays the title character Nanu, a parentless child brought up in Africa with unbelievable physical skills (check out his introduction, running faster than a cheetah, played in front of pure-'70s rear-screen projection). John Amos and Tim Conway play a hapless college coaching duo whose fortunes change once they spot Nanu. After a run-in with a smart witch doctor (Roscoe Lee Browne), the two bring Nanu--and his pet tiger--to America, where Nanu finds Jane (Dayle Haddon) and starts to rewrite the record book. The film doesn't age that well, but the little ones will laugh at the shenanigans, especially when Conway is miniaturized by the doctor. Several sportscasters appear as themselves including Howard Cosell, who musters up the line, "I've never seen anything like this in my entire illustrious career." --Doug Thomas