One
day Ted Brooks (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) learns in Snow
Dogs that someone named Lucy Watkins has named him
as an heir to her estate in Tolketna, Alaska. A dentist practicing
in Miami, he now realizes that he was adopted, and that Lucy
was his birthmother. Accordingly, he goes to Tolketna for
a reading of the will, which bequeaths a round of Wild Turkey
for everyone present at the reading (in the town's saloon),
a warm coat to saloonkeeper Barbara (played by Joanna Bacalso),
her outhouse and contents to Thunder Jack (played by James
Coburn), and all the rest to her son Ted Brooks. When Ted
visits his birthmother's cabin to claim his treasure, he discovers
that her main possessions are her dogs; one is a house pet,
but the rest are Huskies. Indeed, one of the Huskies is very
aggressive and attacks Ted. Thunder Jack, knowing that city
slicker Ted would be unable to control the Huskies, offers
$200 for the lot, but Ted demurs, sensing that they are worth
a lot more. Barbara, who takes a fancy to Ted, tells him that
they a worth much more, and that Thunder Jack's aim is to
enter the Huskies in the upcoming 112th annual Alaskan Challenge,
a sled dog race. Barbara also tries to prevent Ted from leaving
quickly for Miami by assuring him mysteriously that his birthfather
lives in the town. Ted is mulatto, Lucy was black, so his
birthfather must be white, and all clues point to Thunder
Jack. But Thunder Jack is more interested in buying the Huskies
than in confessing that he is Ted's birthfather, so Ted stubbornly
decides to learn how to commandeer a team of sled dogs to
win the race. However, the sport is not for amateurs, so Ted
experiences many mishaps. On one occasion, Ted is left stranded
and face-to-face with a bear. In an effort to escape from
the bear, he nearly dies, but Thunder Jack comes along in
the nick of time to rescue him. Convinced that he would never
do well in the Alaskan Challenge, Ted departs for Miami, leaving
the dogs to Thunder Jack. But televised coverage of the race
in his Miami apartment inspires Ted to return. When he arrives,
Thunder Jack has been stranded in a blizzard, so Ted sets
out to rescue him. When Ted finds Thunder Jack unconscious,
he sees how the Huskies are keeping him warm, and they return
to town as friends at last. In the Disney film based on the
novel by Gary Paulsen and directed by Brian Levant, there
is a happy ending. The underlying theme is traditional Disney--that
persistence pays off, that respect for others can be rewarded
in kind, that beneath a frosty appearance there can be a heart
of gold, and that one should honor parents, adoptive and otherwise.
MH
I
want to comment on this film
