Before it started to gobble up everything, Disney was studio specialised in family entertainment, often based on classics of children’s and young adult literature. often with plots around animals. Jack London’s classic adventure novel was, therefore, quite suitable material for Disney adaptation and received one in the form of eponymous 1991 film directed by Randal Kleiser.
The plot is set in 1896 Alaska, during the Gold Rush. Protagonist is Jack Conroy (played by Ethan Hawke), young man who arrived from San Francisco in order to find his late father’s mining claim. On the dangerous journey he is joined by older and experienced prospectors Clarence “Skunker” Thurston (played by Seymour Cassel) and Alex Larson (played by Klaus Maria Brandauer). Skunker dies fighting the pack of wolves, and one of the female wolves also dies leaving behind pup who would grow up to become wolf dog named White Fang. Jack later meets and befriends White Fang who was adopted by Native American tribe. White Fang is later traded to Beauty Smith (played by James Remar), ruthless owner of dog fighting business. White Fang is forced to take part in brutal fights, but is ultimately rescued by Jack. White Fang returns the favour by helping his friend and owner to mine gold and defending him from unsavoury characters who want to rob him.
Script by Jeanne Rosenberg, Nick Thiel and David Fallon has strayed from the source novel. The film, unlike London’s novel that had only White Fang as protagonist, adds character of young man as protagonist. This also means that the plot would in parallel follow adventures of both White Fang and Jack and it would become coherent only in the second half when those two characters finally reunite. The story might be too complicated for youngest viewers and some scenes, despite Disney’s effort to tone down violence, too disturbing for them. On the other hand, Randal Kleiser directs film very well and puts locations of British Columbia and cinematography by Tony Pierce-Roberts to good use. Music scores by Basil Poledouris and Hans Zimmer also add to the film’s epic atmosphere. Young Ethan Hawke is quite effective in his first starring role. Same can be said for veteran Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer as a miner who very gradually becomes Jack’s friend. Same can be said for animal “actors” – wolf-dog hybrid Jed who had played part in Carpenter’s The Thing and Bart the Bear who had participated in number of high-profile Hollywood productions. Animal handlers did good job in this film allowing Jed and Bart to play part almost seamlessly. Although it had solid results at the box office and although Ethan Hawke would later have very good career, White Fang is considered to be underrated. Those who watch it and compare it with films Disney makes today would probably conclude that such reputation is undeserved and, although hardly a classic, White Fang deserves recommendation as good piece of family-oriented entertainment.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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