The Call of the Wild

Chris Sanders has made three good animated films in his career: “Lilo & Stitch” for Disney, “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Croods” for DreamWorks. He came back to Disney to make his live-action debut in 2020, but that was a big mistake. With so much CGI, the film is mostly animated already. Also, the small handful of human actors and real locations are only there to underscore how poor the sets and effects look. Kip Mooney said in his review, “Every time I saw a shot of the Northern Lights or an underwater rescue – and there were many – I couldn’t help but be struck how much better it would look as a fully animated movie. (Better yet, a hand-drawn animated movie.)”

“The Call of the Wild” is tarted mainly at kids ages 4 to 10. It’s a very easy story, and if for some reason you can’t get it, Harrison Ford is here with narration that sounds more bored than the original cut of “Blade Runner.” The protagonist is Buck, a high-spirited, spoiled St. Bernard-Scotch Collie mix, who is only as big as the scene asks. In his early life of domestic paradise, he literally causes the walls of his owner’s house to shake. Later one, he doesn’t look any larger than a fully grown dog you would see in a park.

Buck is kidnapped and sold as a sled dog in Alaska, where he ruins the first few days of travel. He quickly shifts from being a lazy dog to a strong runner, and eventually overtakes the lead, because he apparently is nice to the other dogs. There’s an alright look of adventure here, but then the story suddenly freezes, as the mail route Buck led his masters (Omar Sy and Cara Lee) on close downs, and the team is sold to a greedy prospector (Dan Stevens), then almost immediately rescued by John (Harrison Ford). The two go out on a journey of their own, with Buck going further and further away from the comforts of home.

Mooney said, “The Call of the Wild corrects an issue many had with Disney’s remake of The Lion King: the animals are more expressive, but the animators over-corrected. Now the dogs don’t even react like normal dogs. Their actions are so exaggerated, I kept waiting for them to talk. Their cartoonish eyes make them feel less real, decreasing our connection with the animals.” Yes, the dogs look good. However, that’s not enough to carry an entire movie.

Even though the movie looks good, Harrison Ford some dramatic scenes, it does check enough off the list to the story that may be faithful, even though I never read the book, but we know the mistake that was made. This either had to be live-action with a real dog or completely animated. Also, the story had to be tougher. I think they were trying to be faithful to the story with what they had, and make the protagonists as expressive as they can. This just wasn’t done correctly. I don’t know if people can see this an enjoy it, but if you want to see it on Disney+, then go ahead. I know there is an audience for this out there. I just wasn’t one of them. Might I also add that I have never owned a dog.

Tomorrow we will look at an animated movie that I enjoyed in “Disney Month 2025.”