Disney Dogs Deliver Drama
Eight Below A Throwback to Classic Nature Movies

As a kid, the first three movies that I can distinctly remember seeing at a theater were Disney flicks. They were all seen with my parents at a little movie house in Hingham, Massachusetts, and they were (in no exact order) Mary Poppins, Bambi, and The Incredible Journey.

Paul Walker stars as dogsled driver Jerry Shepard in the new adventure film Eight Below.

The Incredible Journey made an indelible mark on my four-year-old brain for a number of reasons. First of all, it starred two dogs and a cat, animals with which I could easily relate as there were plenty of them in our neighborhood. Secondly, it involved trying to find one’s way home. As a four-year-old, I didn’t have too many anxious moments, but most of them involved getting separated from the rest of the family in some manner.

Disney’s latest family film, Eight Below, is a throwback to the company’s animal-filled dramas such as The Incredible Journey and Old Yeller, and as such is a welcome addition to its usual output of cartoons and fantasy flicks.

Eight Below is the story of eight sled-pulling dogs working at a scientific outpost on the coast of Antarctica. During the first third of the movie, we see how they live and work under the direction of scientific guide Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker). In the last part of the southern hemisphere’s summer season, an American geologist Dr. Davis McClaren (Bruce Greenwood) requests that Jerry and his dog-team take him on a dangerous expedition to find a meteorite site. After one day at the site, the weather turns bad and the two men and the dogs head back to the base camp. An accident along the way forces everyone in the camp to evacuate ahead of the oncoming storm, with the plan to return the next day for the dogs. When the storm turns into a monster, the dogs are left to fend for themselves for the six months of Antarctic winter while Jerry, his best friend Cooper (Jason Biggs) and pilot girlfriend Katie (Moon Bloodgood) try to find a way back to the Antarctic to save them.

The second two-thirds of the movie alternates between the rescue effort and the dogs’ attempt to survive the elements on the harshest continent on earth. As a viewer, I found myself impatient to get back to the dogs’ story every time the humans commanded the screen. Without a single word, seeing what the dogs were doing on screen told a great story and let the viewer in on their various personalities. These dogs have more personality than any of the characters in Aeon Flux.

Eight Below is supposedly “inspired” by a true story. It is an unnecessary label that is meant to give the movie added gravity but instead “inspires” the viewer to nitpick on some questionable details. So let’s nitpick! First, there’s a whole lot of sunshine going on in much of the movie for it to really be Antarctic winter. Then, there’s the whole question of how a pack of dogs finds enough food to live in that environment. The filmmakers never show the dogs going after penguins although one would suppose they would be the most plentiful food source around the Antarctic coast. Instead they feast on Arctic gulls, a bird that I think would be much harder to catch. The gulls, however, don’t have that cute tuxedo thing going for them so Disney finds them much easier to sacrifice.

Enough nitpicking!

Eight Below is a great movie for viewers of all ages. It has some nice life lessons, a few truly scary moments (two words: leopard seal), and more drama than most films. Walker gets kudos for making Jerry’s character believable as one of those laidback guys who become totally focused when the going gets tough. Newcomer Moon Bloodgood provides female can-do-it-ness and a love interest without compromising either aspect of her character’s personality. Look for more good things from this young actress.

Eight Below is also a movie that could inspire many kids to want to become world explorers, scientists and dog lovers…and the world could use more of all of those people.

Eight Below is rated PG for some scary peril and brief mild language. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.

Family Fare Reigns

Families were out in force in February—at least at the box office. In its first weekend, Eight Below froze out the more adult-oriented competition, leading the way with a three-day haul of $25 million. The new comedy Date Movie came in second in its first weekend at $22.3 million. The R-rated Freedomland only managed to rake in $7 million in its first three days.

Another family film, Curious George, showed some legs by coming in fourth and bringing in $15.3 million in its second weekend at the box office for a total, ten-day gross of $33.5 million.

More curious than Curious George’s run at the box office is the success of the Curious George soundtrack album. Written and recorded by Americana singer Jack Johnson, the soundtrack topped the charts in its first week of release with an incredible 163,000 copies sold. The album should appeal to lovers of acoustic rock and their kids as it features sing-alongs and lullabies from the film.

In an era when Billboard’s top CD spot is usually reserved for Britney, Mariah, Kelly or the latest hip-hop act, it is refreshing to see a singer-songwriter in the traditional James Taylor/Cat Stevens mode at number one.