Nikki, Held des Nordens

One thing that stands out in this film is the beautiful Canadian scenery. The river - so blue! Then you add mountains, trees, and when it snows - its just stunning beauty. A cute little story as well, though not Disney's best, that centers on the adventures of a dog that loses his owner. If you liked this, you may want to check out Ten Who Dared which I found a little more entertaining adventure (about men traversing the Colorado - although all brown!). I also preferred Disney's White Wilderness as a little better overall. While not a gripping story, it is entertaining enough and is the kind of movie families should watch more of these days.

'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.

"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.

One thing can be said about Disney in the 50s and 60s, and that is it put out some great films with animal stars, from the True-Life Adventure series to "Old Yeller" and others. This film combines a True-Life filmmaking approach with a good adventure story, and the result is entertaining family fare. The Malamute and the bear cub are adorable! Both adventure and nature commentary are shown, combined with gorgeous on-location photography (filmed in Canada) and a nice music score.

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.