The Forbinger family encounters a tough-talking backwoods mother (Ann Sothern) and her two bumbling sons (Joe Spinell and John Davis Chandler).

The "karate kids" must find a way to use their martial arts skills to rescue the Forbinger girl with a little help from their grandfather and some new friends they meet along the way.

Casting included Charles Lane, a "sharp-featured character actor... one of the most familiar faces in film... though he is one of those ubiquitous players, whose name is known to only a few.

";[26] however, the most recent 2009 Music Video Distributors DVD has been released under the film's original title, "The Little Dragons" this time with the tag line: "Meet the REAL Karate Kids...".

[28] The Petersen brothers having grown too old to re-dub their childhood voices, the decision was made to simply remove the "offending" dialogue altogether, resulting in the actors' mouths moving, but without the audio.

"[29] Variety wrote "A rather lackadaisical, if amiable, suspenser clearly intended a palatable antidote to more violent action fare, The Little Dragons might be more at home on the tube than on theatre screens... a stronger script and deeper characterizations could have broadened its audience.