The family animated film White Teeth tells the story of a wolfhound who has gone through the adventures of three very different owners.
Before watching this anime, I deliberately read the original book, which was listed as a "compulsory extracurricular must-read", and the author Jack London's highly visual narrative style was fascinating—very easy for young readers to read and understand—and it was easy to resonate strongly with White Teeth. Its untamed fighting spirit is particularly impressive. White Teeth has been remade into a film several times since its publication, and the best-known adaptation is probably the 1991 live-action film Snowy Dog directed by Randall Klezer and starring Ethan Hawke.
Now Alexander Espigaraz has brought a superbly animated version of CGI, a whimsical animated film that leans more toward underage audiences (though with some grim, heavy details), abandons many of the story elements of the original book, but still tells a poignant and touching saga of life in the Yukon River region from the perspective of a wolf.
The story takes place during the famous Gold Rush of the 1890s, when the icy winter threatened the growth of the little wolf cub's white teeth, and his mother was attacked by a hungry bobcat and crippled. Knowing that she was no longer able to survive in the wild, she returned to her native American community with white teeth and returned to her former Indian owner (voiced by Eddie Spears) to continue working as a sled dog. Next, White Tusk soon took a place in the dog pack and eventually became the head of the group, known for its wolf-like strength and fighting spirit. Unfortunately, he attracts the attention of "Beauty" Smith (voiced by Paul Giamati), a vicious dog fighter who manages to dominate White Fang and train him to be the overlord of the dog fighting circle, although White Fang has no intention of fighting dogs, until the appearance of law enforcement officer Witton Scott (voiced by Nick Overman), a kind police officer who had a relationship with the young White Fang a few years ago, white teeth are finally freed.
One of the hallmarks of Jack London's work is the rich depiction of landscapes and environments as the characters who live in them. Thus, in Espigarez's films, realistic snow-capped forests and icy rocky peaks are soaked in the sun-drenched sky, making almost every frame breathtaking.
The animated characters and animals are reminiscent of the characters in the TellTale Games adventure game, which seem to be deliberately created with an exaggerated sense of angularity, which looks like a delicate watercolor painting. This style fits perfectly. So it's a visually good movie to say the least.
Moreover, the animation has been purposefully adapted, which greatly reduces the heaviness of Jack London's original book, and most of the brutal and violent scenes are not directly presented or only hinted at, which is not harmful to young audiences. Of course, the more brutal of them is the human being, especially the villain Smith voiced by Paul Giamatti, a selfish, cruel and ruthless villain. Correspondingly, the police officer voiced by Nick Overman is the complete opposite of the former, and together with the characters of Rashda Jones and Eddie Spears, it brings us some emotional impact and warmth.
Screenwriters Serge Friedman, Philippe Rioré, and Dominic Monferry's screenplays are harmlessly condensed from the original, so purists naturally find a lot of dissatisfaction, but no matter what is cut (some of the famous characters in the original book are completely invisible in the film), director Espigarez's energetic and brash narrative ability is enough to keep the interest of the target audience alive. The exquisite animation and emotional expression can also make fans of the original book enjoy it, and there is no obstacle for ordinary viewers who have not heard of this classic masterpiece.
All in all, this animated film is recommended for parents and kids to watch together, and is currently being released in theaters, so hopefully you haven't missed it.
Author: Ge Jiaoli (Member of Animation Film Critics Club)
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