Warning: Major spoilers for Disney+ short The Shepherd below!
John Travolta’s spooky Disney+ short The Shepherd undermines its central twist by adding another twist on top of it. In the UK, the BBC has a strand of TV movies called A Ghost Story for Christmas, which involves airing a short film based on a classic ghost story on Christmas Eve. Most of these tales like A Warning to the Curious adapt the works of M.R. James, though one of the most famous episodes used Charles Dickens The Signalman. Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) is keeping this Christmas horror movie tradition alive, with the 2023 installment – which will star Kit Harington – covering Arthur Conan Doyle’s mummy tale Lot No. 249.
Author Fredrick Forsyth’s novella The Shepherd was never adapted as A Ghost Story for Christmas, though it easily could have been. Written during the 1970s, The Shepherd involves an RAF pilot who suffers catastrophic equipment failure while flying home during a foggy Christmas Eve. Low on fuel and unable to contact anyone for help, he’s only saved thanks to the intervention of a mystery plane. Celebrity pilot John Travolta is a longtime fan of The Shepherd, spending 30 years trying to get it made and finally getting his wish with a Disney+ short.
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The Shepherd’s Second Ghost Reveal Is Pointless (& Hurts The Ending)
For those who haven’t read The Shepherd or seen the short, it’s not a major shock John Travolta’s pilot character is revealed to be a ghost. After landing safely at an old airfield, the protagonist Freddie (Ben Radcliffe) is picked up by Steven Mackintosh’s kindly RAF Sergeant Joe. He drives Freddie to the local airbase where the latter sees a picture of Travolta’s mystery pilot Kavanagh, and Joe fills in the backstory, revealing Kavanagh was a pilot during World War 2 who helped guide crippled bombers to safety. Of course, Joe also reveals Kavanagh has been dead for 14 years.
Forsyth’s original story ended with this bombshell, but The Shepherd film adds another twist, revealing Joe is also a ghost. Later, when Freddie is being picked up by his own men, he realizes the base he landed at is totally abandoned. His entire experience with Joe – which included being driven in Joe’s car and the caretaker lighting a fire for him – was entirely supernatural. This is a real hat-on-a-hat twist that adds little to the story and even distracts from the emotional impact of Freddie realizing he was saved by Kavanagh’s spirit.
Why Disney’s The Shepherd Adaptation Added A New Ending
This reveal was likely added to inject the story with another big twist. Again, Travolta’s Kavanagh being a ghost is relatively obvious from the jump, even if it was more of a surprise when the novella was published. Joe being a ghost adds another twist, but not only does it undermine The Shepherd’s ending, it raises further questions. The short would have been stronger for trusting in Forsyth’s original text than trying to add another stinger, which slightly spoils what had been a handsomely mounted Christmas ghost story up to that point.
