The classic book comes to the big screen...with a CG dog? Woof! Doug gives his thoughts on the nature adventure. Let's take a look at The Call of the Wild on a new DisneyCember.
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The Call of the Wild is a 2020 American adventure film based on Jack London's 1903 novel of the same name. Directed by Chris Sanders, in his live-action directorial debut, and his first film without a co-director, the film was written by Michael Green, and stars Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford, and Colin Woodell.
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@Expendable Indigo well I don’t know what year it came out but they wrote in some kid named miles in and he and buck get a feel good happy ending and it defecates on the book and the whole point of the story
@Pompey the Great Which other one? There's literally been like 12 film adaptations going back to the 1920s.
They were probably afraid that audiences wouldn't want to watch a dog getting abused. That it would be a turn off. That's probably why it was toned down.
Not as bad as the other call of the wild (which you should review) and also read the book! It’s good!
I honestly enjoyed this movie, and I saw it in theaters. I never read the book and only heard about it, but I did find myself liking the film enough to know the basics and not question the effects. I find the characters to be fine, the story to be alright and the effects to be okay. But I do get why Buck, as well the other dogs and animals are CG. Because if real dogs and animals were used for the harsh moments in this movie, lots of animal rights lawsuits would be on the filmmaker's backs. And in a way, it makes sense to have Buck be CG. To be more expressive, to feel more human, to be different from any average dog, which is what I found interesting about Buck and what the human characters in the movie found in him. And really, I got into and use to the effect and was never once bothered by it the more the film continued, and I didn't care if Buck's a motion-captured character. I'll go as far as to say the human actors aren't too bad. Dan Stevens makes for a good villain I'd love-to-hate and Harrison Ford, after the disappointment I had with him after voicing Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2, is pretty good here. For playing a man that didn't play a bigger role until the third act, I was buying his character as he's shown more. I get why he wanted to go to that cabin and despite it not being on his map, it's basically him and Buck going on an adventure to find the cabin, away from the gold rush and be themselves. Overall, the movie is a good adventure flick and while I do get the criticisms, I don't see this as a bad movie as everyone says. You just got to be more open-minded and not think too much or avoid looking about the film's productions when seeing a movie (that's technically a form of spoiling the film before seeing it). I'd rather wait until after seeing the film to see what went into making it as it'll be a big surprised to know how it's done. And being directed by Chris Saunders, in his first live-action movie, is very interesting as one of the themes that surrounds his movies is the friendship between man and animal. Lilo and Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon and this one explore it fully. But I'd say HTTYD's my least favorite of his movies. Call of the Wild to me is second to Lilo and Stitch. And The Croods is between Call and Dragon.
Realistically, I don't think Call of the Wild or White Fang could ever be accurately portrayed in live-action. Both stories are from the perspective of the canine protagonist. Everyone else is secondary. Both stories have plenty of animal abuse and wild animals like wolves. It would be an almost impossible undertaking. Animation would have been a better route. Sadly, this movie was kind of doomed to fail. It's technically a Disney movie, but it had no Disney resources. It was shot in its entirety before the Disney/Fox merger, and it was shot entirely in Los Angeles. They spent so much money on CGI because, realistically, shooting this story on location would be virtually impossible. Contrast that with Disney's Togo, which came out when Call of the Wild was supposed to (Call of the Wild got pushed back by Disney in favor of their own films). That movie was shot on location for far less, but it's also a far simpler story. The best option would probably be something like a Netflix "original", because I doubt Disney would ever make a bloody, harsh animated film that tells the story correctly by keeping the focus on Buck. When they made White Fang, it was a similar problem. The main character was Ethan Hawke, and a lot of White Fang's story was cut out, because it can't easily be replicated and Disney doesn't realize that these aren't PG concepts.
Have we had any fully animated stories lately that aren't afraid to get dark (like Plague Dogs, Watership Down...)? So far the only one I recall is The Breadwinner (this doubles as a movie rec for myself XD )
I just watched the behind the scenes. Good news: they used real dogs Bad news: the dogs wore mo cap suits
You’re a old man who loves dogs
"A guy who really likes dogs"? Uhm... no, Doug. You don't like dogs. You made fun of them caring about saving Boomer in Independence Day because you thought the dog's life didn't matter. Don't fucking lie and claim you are a dog lover.
Holy hell is the OST amazing though
It boggles my mind why this mediocre movie with an all CGI dog got screened in theaters while the amazing movie Togo with REAL dogs didn't!! Why wasn't that one in theaters instead??
Maybe I'm just suffering from lack of film releases. But I really liked this one. Maybe because I was expecting very little going into it. From the trailer I was like, "No, no CG dog, No." But, even though it was distracting, I see why they went with it. But I agree with his point, this should have been 100% animated. And I haven't read the story myself, but just watching the movie I couldn't understand how, "The Bad Guy" found him. That was illogical at the least. But yeah the heart of the movie did touch me. Maybe because I had a St. Bernard sitting on my lap while I was watching it. But it's one of my favorite movies of the year.
I kind of want to see this movie because Harrison Ford is in it, but I just can't get pass that ugly CGI dog. It just ruins any interest I have in this movie. I mean, I can accept the CGI Lion King, I get it, it would be impossible to reenact the Lion King with real Lions. This movie on the other hand, uses a CGI dog, the most well train animal know to man. Hundreds of movies have been made using trained dogs. Like, what even is this?
I read that the Spitz wasnt in the movie and immediately wrote it off. Call of the Wild and White Fang were the books of my childhood and no movie adaptation has ever done them justice. They dont do harsh enough with either, and sometimes fudge the endings. Call of the Wild is a dog finding his inner wild, and White Fang is a wolf finding his love for humanity. Im still waiting for someone to get it right in a movie or miniseries.
So apparently humans have an uncanny valley for seeing dogs too. Huh.
The first time I heard of this movie was earlier this year when I saw some commercials. However, they commercials made it seem that the prospecter was the protagonist and Buck the dog was the secondary character. Also, Buck the dog looked much more realistic in the commercials than in the actual movie. Anyone agree with me on this? Anyone?
Its wierd to see a more kidfriendly version of such a dark story.
i hated this movie with a burning passion hotter then the sun
This goddamn movie. *This fucking movie.*
It’s okay, Doug. You’re not the only one who thought the CG dog was terrible.
I agree with the dog looking fake. I kept thinking ‘this can’t be finished’ while watching the trailer. Am I the only one that actually thinks some of the background dogs actually look ok? But then the main dog looks so weird and uncanny about valley sets in again.
Call of the wild and were the red fern grows are very shocking to a fifth grade student who loves dogs
There's actually a really good TV movie of Call of the Wild made in 1997. Very true to the book. Definitely recommend. ^_^
Poor Dan Stevens, he's such a good actor that keeps getting put in shit roles.
Hey, people said they wanted the cgi animals to be more human in their expressions with the Lion King live action film. So I guess Disney took that more seriously with this film.😅
Strange that the live-action Lion King is too realistic when it should have been more expressive, while this movie is too expressive when it should have been more realistic. I'd be curious to see what they'd be like if the styles were swapped.
Watch Togo instead
I would recommended the 1997 tv film with Rutger Hauer, it is brilliant
Its most likely the studio that interfered and cause that not to be good, either that or it’s a combination of them and Chris not getting it right this time. Either way it’s sad.
It looks like "Who framed Roger Rabbit" gone in some wrong direction. Even the "villain" looks like that guy from Wacky Races.
This isn't a Disney movie 🤔
Why did they pick an obvious shepherd mix instead of a wolf hybrid?
DC from the original That Darn Cat. Not a single bit of CGI. That is all.
The fact that Togo came out the same time and was a million times better because it used a real dog tells you everything
Disney tried to do Balto but their film ended up more cartoony than the cartoon movie.
This is the better version of Balto, having said that, my father and I really enjoyed this movie. The Dog is CG, but in my opinion it really worked. The over all story was beautiful and heartfelt, and the two main characters are loveable and yes, there is an over the top movie villan. But... again, i really enjoyed it, seeing the main character gain confidence, learn to hunt, and become his own master was truly special :)
By the way, in an earlier adaptation of the story Charlton Heston played the character that Harrison Ford plays in this adaptation. So those guys now share a role!🐺
I read the book three times before I saw this movie, mediocre adaptation
Fun fact: Buck's animation is based on an English Shepherd by the same name. I know the owner of that dog and it was cool to hear about how they worked on the film. Their other dog also makes an appearance. The real Buck passed away shortly after the film released.
you have bad tast
The one thing I remember from this movie is one of the characters is played by a French actor (Omar Sy). Now granted this isn't the first time he's in an US blockbuster (he had a small role in a X-men movie) but it still suprised me when I watched the movie in cinema.
Togo is the good one.
Uh oh, a modern movie with a cgi animal. Time for the boomers to complain
This movie bombed hard! Disney is killing Fox! Also I wanted to watch this but I decided not to since it wasn't appealing!
Please do Pooh’s Grand Adventure, it’s such a dark, bittersweet movie.
The problem isn't the director it's Hollywood they can't stand graffiti stories because they think they will loss money if they do i mean look at water ship down 2018 no violence
Funny enough, my introduction to the Call of the Wild was an anime adaptation from the 80's. It was definitely more faithful to the book, and didn't shy away from the heavy stuff.
To me, if your going to have a CGI dog like in this movie, why not just let him talk? Maybe that sounds stupid for me to say, but I’m just laying my thoughts on the table here.
I used to read this story, along with White Fang, all the time. They were among my favorite types of books to read, as a kid. These books, did not spare the reader, mostly kids back than, from showing how harsh life could be. I, also, found it interesting how the two books, juxtaposed each other. Where in Call of the Wild, was the story of a domesticated dog, following a journey that, in the end, leads to him throwing off that domestication to live the rest of his life in the wild; White Fang was about a half wolf, born in the wild, that found his place in the "civilized world". For me, the message was, no matter the circumstance of your birth, or early life, where you end up, is opened to you. The future you, is not set in stone. I, really, wish Tv/ Movies and books, would go back to treating kids like thinking beings that can handle some harsh depictions.
Jesus, these clips alone are enough for me to not watch this. Why the hell would they choose CGI over real dogs?
I have a feeling Mickey Mouse put his white glove in front of the directors face and went “nah ah ah” hence the films quality.
I have a theory. Movies like this done by big names that kinda suck or really suck (Lion King for example) are done in a half assed way or worse, cause its not something the director actually wants to do but is being forced to do, and they want to get back to the fun ones they wanted to do.
The cgi dog was the reason I didn't watch this. It's sad too cause it could of been better. How can they have such a good movie like Togo where it was real dogs and some cgi and then this hot garbage?
Why wasn’t this animated? When was the last time Disney did a direct animated adaptation of something? Winnie The Pooh? (Frozen is changed too much for me to count )
Yeah, the city slicker and his traveling partners died horribly in the books and they were so horrible to the dogs that you were happy to see them go.
I loved this movie! It made me cry in the end.
Maybe the dogs would've looked better if the whole movie was animated.
Bruh the CGI dog was amazing. If you compare it the other CGI shit Disney have been making, at lest this dog had character.
Sugesting something better... Togo.
I can see this being animated like say movies like balto or watership down or hand drawn animation of any sort
Well I was disappointed that they used CG dogs instead of real dogs, it’s still a good story
That CGI Harrison Ford just looks so fake...
Just to clarify: the guy in motion capetr suit is not for motion capter his there to be a reference for animators. Actual problem of this movie is it's chose of style - to blend cartoony dog with live action in a serious story. They absoultly could make it seamless and make dogs look like they are real, it was done in charlotte's web in 2006. Problem here is not that it's animated it's in how it animated. Cartoony style was a poor chose
yeah as a guy who has read the book I'm not sure why they made this cause if they weren't going to go all the way I just don't see the point also being fully animated regardless of style would have been better
The CG models for the dogs look amazing, but the animation just isn't how real dogs move; it's way too fluid. Real animals are "twitchier," for lack of a better word; they'll start a movement, stop halfway through, then continue. They'll freeze in place to look towards a sound. They first thing they're gonna do to investigate a new thing is to lean their head down and sniff it. Like, that one clip where the dog opens the door with its paw? That's ridiculously unnatural for a dog. It'd either use its mouth, or - if you specifically trained it to use its paws - it'd be way less efficient with the movement; it might stand up on its hind legs to lean against the door, then kinda fall or lean against the doorknob and drop back to the floor. It would NOT pull down with its paw. That's the realm of cartoon dogs, and it only works in a cartoon world.
You should look up Togo (also on Disney +) which is a much better story. It’s based of the real life Togo and they use a real dog most of the time
The most shocking thing about this is that the critic thinks the croods was good
Upon learning that dogs actually died making the Marmaduke movie, I'm not TOO upset at a movie not using real dogs. (Search for the article "Animals were harmed" for more info.) I think those dogs died due to negligence, though. They should use CG for stunts, and a real dog for situations where there is absolutely no danger. Almost every human on earth has seen a dog before, so a CG dog is going to have the same "uncanny valley" effect as Tarkin or Princess Leia in Rogue One. Everyone can instantly tell that it isn't a real dog and that something is off.
I don't think the dog looks "awful" most of the time the CGI is actually quite impressive, it's the fact that he has very human and cartoony expressions
yeah, it would have been great all animated. it's weird to see both of these styles together
This gave me a massive RDR2 feel... too bad the cgi isn’t as good as the atmosphere... Also, love the book
I skipped this The CGI dog was a big distraction watching that trailer That’s interesting Chris sanders directed this
"Its ruff-ly the same plot" 😏
CGI in Cats was better
Pretty soon we'll have CGI child characters voiced by Tara Strong..
Why did they use a CGI dog
My favorite movie is white fang (the Disney one) and it tells basically the same story and in a much better way so white fang might be a better movie for u as it does show some animal cruelty and it hits home with its themes and messages more then this movie does (it also has actual dogs)
Didn’t Disney do a White Fang live action in the 90’s?
This movie is not awful by any means, is enjoyable but the cg elements really take you out of the experience, and on top of that we already had Togo by the time they released this one.
EmBARKS on a journey...
I read Call of the Wild in Highschool. I recommend the original movie with Charleston Heston.
saw this in theaters
I gotta admit I don't mind the CG dog, like yeah you can tell he isn't real but he isn't ugly or unexpresive or uninteresting to look at he is just not real. But I can totally get why the story was meh.
If you’re looking for a more fateful adaptation, check out the 1997 Peter Svatek version.
Usually agree with you but i enjoyed this movie. The dog cgi wasn't that bad most of the time it was fine it was only a few moments when i thought oh that looks terrible.Times like when he moves the log to save the wolf. Although i am a big wimp for stories like this. White fang was my favorite movie as a kid and i cried my eyes out when he had to chase him away and threw rocks at him. And yeah this movie was not as good as white fang but did i feel like i wanted my time back No. 5 out of 10 IMO I judge a movie/tv show on whether it was worth the time i just lost from my life to watch it. Out Of Ten. 1-3 Robbed of life give me my time back u bastards 4-6 Entertained enough i don't feel robbed worth watching if nothing better available 7-8 Good movies glad i watched would recommend to Friends and rewatch in the future 9-10 Works of art that can leave u with lasting emotions from good to bad and other genres that are just so entertaining they are sometimes their own experience must watch
Don't compare it to the book. It'll never be the same.
Seeing Doug review Call of the Wild makes me hope he'll review "Togo"! He's seen Balto as well, it'd be interesting to see his comparisons to the cartoon vs this one.
The problem with the dog is it’s TOO expressive. Dogs can’t really emote all that much with their faces, which is why Buck ends up looking like a cartoon. They should have done what The Lion King remake did and reigned in the expressiveness of the face because in this movie Buck was going to be playing off live action humans, whereas it was the opposite problem in Lion King because those animals were SUPPOSED to talk and emote but their lack of expressions sucked out the drama of every single scene.
The dog looks pretty good in my opinion. I don't think the intention is that it looks realistic.
Thanks for the review, Critic. I was really looking forward to this one on DisneyCember. Overall, my issues with the film revolve around the potential of the plot. It honestly could have been a much more epic and adventurous film, but it took so long for Harrison Ford to come in and propel the plot forwards. I honestly thought the river sequence was going to be a major things in the film, turned out to be no more than a minute. The CGI didn't bother me that much, although his eyes were distracting from time to time. Sadly, this was the last film I saw before lockdown back in March, and honestly the more I thought about it, the more I realized how underwhelming it was.
6:36 to be honest he did do an amazing job with the dog, its realy good and talented animation. It just doesn't fit in a life action movie like this, but thats the directors foult not his.
god, what doofy CG. who animated that? oh god, it was mocap? i can do a more convincing dog than that. is that ed helms?
"Sold for money." Most things are.
I know it wasn't disney but the movie Babe did an excellent job using real animals and giving them expressions without being too corny. And that was in the 1990s
I think the dog looks cute, it probably would've worked much better in a different movie. Also wow, the trailers make the movie seem like a much less goofy then it is.
Ironically, I saw an animated version that was MUCH darker. Though, that was in the 80's so maybe it's to be expected.
Oh my word. The terrible cgi. wow. I didint see the movie but every clip i seen of that thing looks so fake and obviously not really there
I actually liked this movie, when it has Harrison Ford in it. Also, it’s the same director of chris sanders from Lilo and stitch, how to train your 🐉, and the croods.
If you want a better movie based on a book by Jack London and done by Disney, watch White Fang
as a fan of the book this movie was so disappointing, but for those who are interested there is an animated version of this movie called 'Howl Buck' that is pretty good
So, I never saw this because the dog looked awful and I too thought they should just use a real dog or just animate the whole thing. But watching this review, at 6:46 when that dog holds up it's paw for Harrison Ford, my jaw dropped. Why? That leg looked like it was broken. The joint was in the completely wrong place. And the reason that annoys me, I have a PC game with animals that have joints in the wrong place, where it bends where it shouldn't, it was quite a common mistake and I saw it all the time in games and cg animated movie. From the early 2000s. This movie had the exact same animation mistake that a cheap ass pc game from the 20 years ago did. Screw whoever decided to animate that thing, Call of the Wild deserves better than that.
What are you smoking? The dog looks great.
The problem with the use of a real dog for this kind of film is if that poor thing were to brutally fight other dogs or pull a slead through an avalanche.