''The Little Colonel'' (1935) - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson & Shirley Temple Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) Shirley Temple (April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from the children's novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, originally published in 1895. It focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the yea