In the 1890's, Jack heads to the Yukon territory to investigate his late father's gold claim. He finds a beautiful but harsh and unforgiving environment, and meets White Fang, a wolf/dog half-breed with whom his destiny will intertwine ...
I read Jack London's wonderful book White Fang when I was ten years old and found it a very profound experience. Unlike most animal stories, it does not anthropomorphise its protagonist into a moral or heroic figure, but rather tries to present a narrative realistically from an animal's perspective (as Richard Adams did in his books later). This to me was a real revelation; nature is presented as cruel and relentless, there is no room for stupidity or weakness, yet White Fang's courage and nobility come from his inner strength as well as his physical prowess. It's just a really great tale, a heady mixture of action, travelogue and frontier history about man's relationship with nature. This Disney adaptation abridges and rearranges some of the events but remains extremely faithful to the novel's essence and doesn't shy away from the more brutal and heartbreaking elements of the story. On a technical level it is excellent; shot in the Alaskan boroughs of Haines and Skagway where the novel is set (and where London was inspired to write it), with beautiful landscapes by British cameraman Tony Pierce-Roberts. The countryside, with its ice floes, pine forests, majestic mountains and sparkling creeks is not just part of the story, it really is the story. Combined with Basil Poledouris' fantastic score it makes the far-off place and time come to life with breathtaking immediacy and beauty. There's another reason however why this film should not be missed and it's one of the cast. The human actors are all fine - Hawke is a good goodie and Remar is a good baddie, but the real star is Jed the dog, who plays the eponymous hero. Jed, like the part he plays, was a real life half-breed, part Alaskan Malamute, part wolf, and unlike most animal actors, who for the most part do tricks on cue, actually gives a real performance. He's very still, and behind his eyes he's both wild and intelligent, always thinking. There are amazing scenes, like the one where he builds a trust with Jack by gradually coming closer to him, shot in two or three incredible takes, and he's an incredibly beautiful animal to look at, but he does more than that, somehow inhabiting the character completely. White Fang is an outcast; dogs hate him because of his wolf half, people recoil in fear and yet he doesn't have a pack to run with. He's alone and his loneliness mirrors Jack's and ours. Jed somehow embodies all of this, partly via his training and the filmmakers' skill, but mostly through simply being. If you don't think animals can act, check this out and you will be converted. For bonus points, there's also a great scene featuring Bart The Bear, a huge Kodiak grizzly who is memorable in several other films (notably Legends Of The Fall and The Edge). A truly great family adventure movie from the pen of one of America's greatest writers - please read the book too (as well as London's earlier The Call Of The Wild) - which thrills and entertains us but also gently reminds us always to respect the beauty and savagery of our world.
I read Jack London's wonderful book White Fang when I was ten years old and found it a very profound experience. Unlike most animal stories, it does not anthropomorphise its protagonist into a moral or heroic figure, but rather tries to present a narrative realistically from an animal's perspective (as Richard Adams did in his books later). This to me was a real revelation; nature is presented as cruel and relentless, there is no room for stupidity or weakness, yet White Fang's courage and nobility come from his inner strength as well as his physical prowess. It's just a really great tale, a heady mixture of action, travelogue and frontier history about man's relationship with nature. This Disney adaptation abridges and rearranges some of the events but remains extremely faithful to the novel's essence and doesn't shy away from the more brutal and heartbreaking elements of the story. On a technical level it is excellent; shot in the Alaskan boroughs of Haines and Skagway where the novel is set (and where London was inspired to write it), with beautiful landscapes by British cameraman Tony Pierce-Roberts. The countryside, with its ice floes, pine forests, majestic mountains and sparkling creeks is not just part of the story, it really is the story. Combined with Basil Poledouris' fantastic score it makes the far-off place and time come to life with breathtaking immediacy and beauty. There's another reason however why this film should not be missed and it's one of the cast. The human actors are all fine - Hawke is a good goodie and Remar is a good baddie, but the real star is Jed the dog, who plays the eponymous hero. Jed, like the part he plays, was a real life half-breed, part Alaskan Malamute, part wolf, and unlike most animal actors, who for the most part do tricks on cue, actually gives a real performance. He's very still, and behind his eyes he's both wild and intelligent, always thinking. There are amazing scenes, like the one where he builds a trust with Jack by gradually coming closer to him, shot in two or three incredible takes, and he's an incredibly beautiful animal to look at, but he does more than that, somehow inhabiting the character completely. White Fang is an outcast; dogs hate him because of his wolf half, people recoil in fear and yet he doesn't have a pack to run with. He's alone and his loneliness mirrors Jack's and ours. Jed somehow embodies all of this, partly via his training and the filmmakers' skill, but mostly through simply being. If you don't think animals can act, check this out and you will be converted. For bonus points, there's also a great scene featuring Bart The Bear, a huge Kodiak grizzly who is memorable in several other films (notably Legends Of The Fall and The Edge). A truly great family adventure movie from the pen of one of America's greatest writers - please read the book too (as well as London's earlier The Call Of The Wild) - which thrills and entertains us but also gently reminds us always to respect the beauty and savagery of our world.