The story was first published in the mid-1960s and has been translated into dozens of languages and reprinted in hundreds of publications, having been read and enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world. The film was actually adapted from a short story by writer Patricia McGerr, who – aside from Johnny Lingo – was best known for her mystery novels and short stories. Since members can hardly get through seminary without having seen the film at least once, they might be surprised to learn that this story’s origin has nothing to do with the church. Who knows how many countless Aaronic Priesthood or Young Women’s lessons have involved showing this film over the years? Who can forget such classic lines as “Mahana, you ugly!” or seeing Mahana’s father stomping away from the young couple’s home insisting that he’d been cheated, even though Johnny Lingo paid him nearly twice as large a dowry as any man had paid for a wife before? The film is memorable for its silliness, for its politically incorrect setting, and for its timeless message about some of the consequences (good or bad) of the ways we treat those around us. Whitaker went on to produce and/or direct such notable church classics as The Windows of Heaven, Cipher in the Snow, The Lost Manuscript and of course, Johnny Lingo. Wilkinson in 1952 to establish a film studio from scratch (now known as the LDS Motion Picture Studio), worked for 16 years as an animator at the Walt Disney Studios on such notable features as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella.
Whitaker, who before being approached by BYU president Ernest L. Blaisdell, who also made a guest appearance on one of the original Star Trek episodes, and Francis Urry, who also played President Lorenzo Snow in another classic church film, The Windows of Heaven, and whose voice is heard narrating the children’s audio tapes and videos of scripture stories produced by the church. The version of the story most members are familiar with is the BYU-produced short film made in 1969 starring Makee K.
The story of Johnny Lingo and his eight-cow wife has become so much a part of LDS culture you might be tempted to believe that Johnny Lingo was an early Polynesian member of the church.
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