By: debbie lynn elias
Animals, animation, live-action, animals (can’t say that enough) and athletics should be the keywords for Disney. They do it often and they do it well and “Snow Dogs” is no exception. Harkening back to the days of those live action Disney features where we generally met up with the likes of Dean Jones or Fred MacMurray or Kurt Russell, director Brian Levant brings us a 2002 fun-filled romp in the snow compliments of Disney magic and some of the cutest and most adorable four footed friends you could ever hope to meet.
Set in balmy, beautiful Miami, Florida and the snow-covered mountains of Alaska (although filmed in pristeenly perfect locations in Alberta and Calgary, Canada), Cuba Gooding, Jr. stars as takes us on a journey of self-discovery thanks to a little help from his friends – the four-footed kind, that is!
With his picture plastered on the side of every bus and billboard around, Ted Brooks, D.D.S. is the epitome of success. He’s rich. He’s famous. He’s got a condo and a pistachio green Porsche. He loves Michael Bolton music. He’s got a mom who bakes the world’s best sugar cookies (which of course she feeds to the dental client. After all, repeat customers is the name of the game!). How much more success can one man stand? Obviously not much, as out of the blue Ted is served with probate documents for the estate of an unknown woman in Alaska. But this isn’t just any woman. No, this is his birth mother. That’s right. Ted’s world is not what it seems to be and his perfect life seems in jeopardy. His parents aren’t his parents. Was he really meant to be a dentist? Why is he a dentist? Ted decides to go to Alaska for a few days, find some quick answers to these and many other questions and then skedaddle back to the sun and fun of Miami. But, what he finds in the Alaskan wilderness pales in comparison to what he left behind.
At the reading of the will, Ted meets up with not only the strange, eccentric folk of this small remote town, but a team of championship sled dogs that belonged to his mother. Meeting up with the cantankerous tough guy, Thunder Jack, puts an interesting spin on the tale as Jack wants Ted’s dogs in order to compete in The Arctic Challenge a la the Iditarod, and will stop at nothing to get them. Ted, naivety slowing eroding thanks to some one-on-one tutelage from resident babe, Barbara, says “no deal” and tries to wangle information about his past with the dogs as payment. What he learns only confuses Ted more but in the process gives him a strength and determination he previously lacked.
Knowing that animals in Disney films are ALWAYS smarter than the humans around them, count on some mischievous shenanigans as our four-footed friends outsmart and out-act their human counterparts. Roger Bondelli’s editing only enhances the hilarity of these bundles of fluff and leaves you wanting more. Sadly, the best canine antics are early on and fade away as the film progresses. Adding to the fun and frolic though is the fish-out-of-water premise of the successful city slicker black man in a very very very white world. (In response to an inquiry by his adoptive mother back in Miami when she asks, what’s it like in Alaska, you can’t help but laugh when Ted deadpans:”Everything’s so – – – white.”) Sharper Image product placement only adds to the hilarity of Ted’s Alaskan experience.
Although light fare for someone of Cuba Gooding’s talent, he does a respectable and likable job of playing with this tried and true film formula. He knows who the real stars are and he has obvious fun with it. James Coburn, the perennial tough guy, doesn’t disappoint and goes for the gusto with a grizzled portrayal of Thunder Jack. Nichelle Nichols, known best for her role as Lt. Uhura in “Star Trek” shows a new side of herself with some light comedic touches as Ted’s adoptive mother Amelia. Veteran M. Emmett Walsh as attorney-bush-pilot-justice of the peace, George, is enjoyable as always, adding a bit of conscience and wisdom to the film. Unfortunately, Graham Greene’s talents are wasted as townsman Peter Yellowbear.
Predictable, at times hokey, but nevertheless goofy and fun Disney family fare, “Snow Dogs” is a winner. Show me the dogs and I’ll show Disney the money!!
