Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)

"Nikki, Wild Dog of the North" was an interesting hybrid of a movie made while Walt Disney was still alive, though not the first time Disney made such a hybrid. It is a cross between one of Disney's True Life documentaries with a fictional narrative. The end results are somewhat mixed. There is some nice scenery, a breezy narrative, and the footage of animals in action is interesting - especially since some of the stuff the animals are put through would probably cause an outcry by the SPCA and animal lovers today. The human side of the movie is somewhat less successful, with human characters that are stereotyped at best and downright goofy at their worst. The narration is overbearing and pretentious at times as well. All of this results in a movie that is probably best for younger children, though older children and their parents will probably find it bearable if they can't find anything better to watch.

'Nikki, Wild Dog of the North" is a live action animal film typical of the Disney studios in the sixties. Its stars are a dog that is part wolf (Nikki) and a bear, who grow up together. This is a story that feels like a Jack London tale, full of adventure and celebrating the natural world.The filmmakers impose their story on some real action sequences and, probably, also stage their animal "stars" to conform to the desired story. A voice over is used to pull the parts of the story together and to provide human interpretations of animal behaviors. This anthropomorphism, while a large part of what makes the film enjoyable for some, trades in common misconceptions of animals and furthers inaccurate beliefs about animal psychology. When the narrator says the dog feels certain emotions or make judgments based upon rational decisions, it obscures the real nature of the animal. While children will find much of the story adorable and engaging, they should be disabused of the conceit that the animals have thought processes like humans. Besides, it is not necessary for dogs to think and feel like humans for them to be good companions.While the interactions between some of the animals usually can be explained by the filmmakers imposing their story on natural behavior, one has to wonder about the scenes involving the dog and a wolverine or the dog and some rats. Were any animals harmed in the making of this film or were animals put in harm's way?In the end, there are some incredibly beautiful scenes of nature, including towering mountains and lovely blue waters in all seasons. And the values inherent in this film are kindness and respect for life.

This movie is based on "Nomads of the North" by James Oliver Curwood, who also wrote "King Grizzly", which was made into the movie "The Bear".Nikki, a malamute that's 1/8 wolf, and his kind fur trapper owner encounter an orphaned bear cub. The cub and puppy initially don't get along. An overturned canoe separates them, while tethered together, from their master, and they set out on their own in a "Defiant Ones" sequence that shows their different approaches to survival in the wild. The puppy wants to hunt critters, but can't catch any due to the cub stubbornly anchoring the other end of the tether. The cub tears into a rotten tree stump to get at a beehive, but the puppy runs away after getting stung, dragging the cub along with him. The cub climbs a tree to sleep, resulting in the puppy trying to snooze with his rear end slung a foot off the ground. After a number of weeks they escape their tether and become friends, until the bear hibernates, and Nikki heads out on his own. Over a year or so, he grows up, gets into scuffles with a wolverine, and tries to join a wolf pack who let him know violently that he's not welcome. Eventually Nikki gets captured by an evil fur trader who beats him into an aggressive pit fighting dog. At the movie's end, his original owner confronts a snarling bloodthirsty Nikki, but both eventually recognize each other, and resume their friendly travels.NOTE - there are many fights in this movie: bear vs bear, Nikki vs wolverine, wolverine vs lynx, Nikki vs wild wolves, Nikki vs wolf-dog, and even good fur trader vs bad fur trader, and a number of "dead" animals are shown. An Indian is treated in typically poor 60's cinematic fashion as well, although he is shown as noble and smart, becoming a companion to Nikki and the good fur trader at the end.All -in -all though, this is a Disney dog movie that deserves to be a little better remembered. The DVD I saw was put out by a company named Anchor Bay, and not Disney, so there were no extra features at all. This, combined with Disney's "Alaska Sled Dog" from 1957 would make a good Disney DVD package.

I watched "Nikki" (1961) and "Benji the Hunted" (1987) back-to-back today, and since there are not enough things to say about those two films in two separate reviews, it's better to compare them in one. They have very similar storylines (a dog tries to survive in the wilderness) and they are both primarily aimed at kids, but the quality levels differ: "Nikki" (**1/2) is a simple, straightforward, adventurous, well-made Disney tale, while "Benji the Hunted" (*1/2) is a sleep-inducing one. Voice-over narration is often regarded as an annoying gimmick, but the narrator in "Nikki" has a very pleasant voice and agreeable material to work with, while "Benji" omits the narration entirely and replaces it with an obtrusive, often inappropriate music score. In short, "Nikki" is much better.