Editing The Yearling (1946 film) (section)

==Production==
[[File:Deer near Forrester Place farm (3586119972).jpg|thumb|Image from the pre-production and location scouting of MGM]]
''The Yearling'' was filmed on location in the [[Juniper Prairie Wilderness]] in the [[Ocala National Forest]] in [[Florida]]. A hiking trail in the area, "The Yearling Trail", is named after the story, and gives access to sites where the family lived whose stories inspired the novel.

[[MGM]] originally began production on ''The Yearling'' in 1941, with [[Spencer Tracy]] set to star as the patriarch, and with [[Victor Fleming]] chosen to direct. The studio also hired [[Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings]], the author of the novel ''[[The Yearling]]'', as a consultant and location scout.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/21/138561573/on-location-the-central-florida-of-the-yearling|title=On Location: The Central Florida Of 'The Yearling'|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=February 15, 2019}}</ref> Rawlings marked a forest service map with locations for filming, specifically referencing the clearing she named "Baxter's Island". MGM moved to the filming location, renovated the cabin, and built surrounding buildings to create a town for a set. Once the actors arrived on location, a combination of the bugs, heat, and lack of enthusiasm for the plot made the actors leave.<ref name=":0" /> This led to the film being shelved after only three weeks of location shooting in Florida.<ref>According to biographer Millicent Bell, famed novelist John P. Marquand was visiting MGM in 1941 and asked to sit in on a "Yearling" production meeting. He was amused to find that he was the only person in the meeting who had read the book.</ref>

Production was resumed in 1945, after [[Clarence Brown]] was hired as the new director.<ref name=":0" /> Brown cast [[Gregory Peck]] to play Pa, [[Jane Wyman]] to play Ma, and after a long search, cast [[Claude Jarman Jr.]] to play Jody. Due to Brown's drive for perfection, the average take number for scenes was between 20–21. He also got real hunting dogs to film the bear fight scene after deciding the original city dogs were not good enough.<ref name=":0" /> Peck received the second of his five [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations for ''The Yearling'', his fifth film.