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The Call of the Wild

Story of Dog Emotions

By Hadiqa Iqbal | April 2020

ACGI dog, an adventurous escape for freedom, rule of masters over their sled dogs, a package of emotions and attachment, anger against brutality, envious attacks, overcoming losses and a breath of freedom, that’s what ‘The Call of the Wild’ is all about.

This master package is an American adventure film based on the legendary 1903 classic novel written by Jack London of the same name and Twentieth Century Pictures’ previous 1935 film, set in the Yukon around 1890s about the Klondike Gold Rush. The 2020 film is directed by Chris Sanders and written by Michael Green. It features Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford and Colin Woodell.

The story revolves around Buck, a large and gentle St. Bernard/Scotch Collie, who lives contentedly with his master Judge Miller in Santa Clara, California. Buck’s luxurious mansion life turns totally upside down when he is abducted from his California home and is sent away to the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s to serve different masters throughout his journey. Buck struggles to survive and finally discovers his freedom in the wilds of Yukon.

The film has a lot of depth and emotion, as it shows kind masters and cruel rulers, both at the same time. The film is as good as a lot of other classic films like ‘The Lady and the Tramp’, ‘The Journey’, ‘Bambi’ and others in the same genre.

Earlier in the film, Buck and John Thornton (Harrison Ford) develop a strong bond, after which Thornton rescues Buck from a corrupt and unwilling villain, Hal (Dan Stevens). From there, both of them go off on an adventurous journey into the wilds of Yukon which take the film to great heights. Perrault (Omar Sy) becomes Buck’s first sled master with his assistant Francoise. They together use sled dogs to deliver mail across the Yukon Territory. Perrault introduces Buck to his fellow sled dog, who later becomes the sled leader, replacing one of his envy ex-leaders, Spitz. The dog throughout the journey experiences ancestral spiritual visions: a black wolf that acts as his guide throughout his journey and helps him in saving Francoise from drowning and Perrault in reaching the mail depot on time.

Buck, the CGI dog, in the film is the core character throughout. He comes across as a loyal and kind-hearted animal that has the strength to win the trust and loyalty of others, whether it is Perrault or Francoise. His attraction towards the female white wolf shows his naughty side as well.

All told, the dog is helpful, faithful, trustworthy, innocent, a marvellous escaper and a bit tough. He understands human behaviour well; he snatches the wine bottle from Thornton and buries it away so that Thornton would not drink more. He even listens to Thornton’s tragedy and responds to him in his way. Scenes such as these are very rare to find and they hit the right nerves. Amidst so much kindness, it is not easy to see him suffer at the hands of cruel people. Besides this, the scenes produced by Erwin Stoff and Mangold, giving a combo of real backgrounds with a bunch of imaginary characters, are marvellously plotted and executed.

The film hits the jackpot at the box office as the storyline and the sequences amaze the audiences. Even critics are spell-bound after watching the film.

Overall, the story is based on loyalty, friendship, bearing a kind nature, being helpful towards self and others, self-discovery and choosing the best. Though the CGI version of the dog could have been changed to a real dog to create a more deep emotional connection between the animal and the viewers, the CGI performance is quite satisfying; real dogs would have to be trained a lot to get the best out of them. Perhaps it was sensible of Chris Sanders and Janusz Kamiński to work with the CGI version of Buck.

This is family stuff and not at all a waste of time and money. It is a good plot with good characters and good direction. Buck stands out as the most loving character in the film – a must-watch for every pet lover.

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