The Call of the Wild

“But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signs and sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called—called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come.”

London, Jack. The Call of the Wild.. New York, Macmillan, 1963.

And that call, was the call of the wild

Perhaps one of the best book-to-film adaptations in history, The Call of the Wild boasts an even better film production than its written counterpoint. With a medium that reveals the raw beauty of the Yukon and Alaskan wilderness, story adjustments from a gruesome ending to a wholesome character metamorphosis, and added visual effects to demonstrate the personification of Buck’s character, evoke feelings which truly can’t be compared to the original written by Jack London.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a good classic. I had originally read the book as I learned my Great Opa had read it to my Oma when she was a young girl who had freshly moved to Canada from Germany in order to learn English. Which, after reading the book myself, I now understand why her diction is so well-articulated if that was her first base for learning the language. The book was written in 1963, so as a Gen Z kid, I struggled a bit to understand the archaic diction and romantic language that seems to have dissipated from our everyday dictionaries.

I did my best to learn the world of Jack London and put myself in my Oma’s shoes, but there were parts of the story that just did not resonate with me. I had loved the overarching message of being called to the wilderness from a domesticated and civilized life, but the gruesome stories, animal violence, and inappropriate names for indigenous peoples had made me sick to my stomach (especially the anti-climactic ending, which resulted in several politically incorrect slurs).

So what exactly made the movie superior?

While the book shares the classic building blocks of a good story (i.e., contains a beginning, middle, and end), the film adaptation shares similar values to Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling (despite it being under the production of 20th Century Fox studios) -which make it a great story. A few examples of these key components are as follows:

• The story’s why had changed; rather than focusing on gruesome battles and messages of being consumed by the wild, the family-friendly movie had shifted its message towards finding your true purpose. Whether that purpose was as a friend in an unlikely situation (returning a musical relic to another character), the love that can be experienced in found-family (his unique dogsled team), or finding your true self within the confines of the wild.
• They created more relatable characters. It’s difficult writing a book from the perspective of a dog when audiences jell more stories they can feel themselves a part of. Which is why the plot changes to having John Thornton and Pierrault’s characters more developed with further heart-wrenching backstories, not only has us rooting for their successes, but also in tears upon their downfalls.
• And finally, they created memorable scenes which the audience remembers long after having seen the film. A few that come to my mind is the peace I felt as John and Buck resided in that old trapper’s cabin beside that glacial run-off creek; the sadness I felt when seeing John life being torn from him, with Buck nuzzling him at his side until his very last breath; the inner consciousness of Buck, which exposed itself as a black wolf in the wilderness, calling him to choose his path in life (the one certainly less travelled).

It was a movie that not only spoke to my wild side, but a film that inspired me to take action

From gut-wrenching pain at the loss of my favourite characters, to tears of joy for Buck’s several found-families, The Call of the Wild, remains to be my comfort movie still to this day. It’s one with personal ties to my family, from my Oma’s language learning journey, to my father’s Alaskan expedition along the Chilkoot Trail (which was featured in the movie, further inspiring me to do the expedition myself)! Each step of the way, I had felt immensely for a creature of CGI because it’s story stands greater than its visuals -which were awe-inspiring to begin with.