FAQ

Yes. The Call of the Wild is a novella (a short book), published in 1903 & written by Jack London, an American author, who often wrote about the wilderness of Northwestern Canada & Alaska. This is probably his most famous work.

In the novel, Buck is stolen from his owner, the Judge, & is deliberately starved on a journey of several days by train until he arrives in Seattle. There, freed from his cage by a man in a red sweater, he lunges at the man who teaches him discipline with a club. The scene only comprises a few seconds in the film.

The dog playing Buck in the film is also a pure-bred German Shepherd. In the novel, Buck is a mix of a Saint Bernard and a Scotch-Shepherd.

In the novel, Buck is taken to Alaska by ship & sold to a couple of French-Canadian gold prospectors, Francois & Perrault who use Buck & a team of dogs to pull their sled into the Klondike region of the Yukon Territory. In the film, Buck is sold directly to John Thorton, who then travels with a partner to the same region. Along the trail, Buck is again stolen (along with the rest of the team). Thorton is later reunited with Buck when Charles, Hal & Mercedes (the inexperienced group that buys Buck) straggle into Thorton's camp.

The remainder of the film from this point is generally faithful to the original story.