'The Call of the Wild' trivia and fun facts
Buck
Jean Louisa Kelly played the teen in "Uncle Buck". In this film, the dog's name is Buck.
Faultlessly
In the novel, Buck is half St. Bernard (giving him size) and half Scotch collie (a medium-sized herding dog similar to a border collie or Australian shepherd, with perked or half-flopped ears). This film adaptation is the first to correctly portray Buck's mixed-breed heritage.
Renewing
20th Century Fox's first live-action/animated hybrid that isn't an 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' or a 'Garfield' film since 'Monkeybone' (2001), 19 years prior.
Repeating
Chris Sanders's second directorial effort on a film composed by John Powell, after 'How to train your dragon' (2010), 10 years prior.
Disney rules
As the Walt Disney Company purchased Fox's film & television entertainment assets in 2019, this is the first film to feature the rebranded logo of 20th Century Studios logo sans the Fox name. Going forward, Fox is dropped from any feature coming out of the previously Fox-owned companies. Coincidentally, the 1935 version of the film was the last film released under the Twentieth Century Pictures name before the merger and formation of 20th Century Fox.
Adoption
The fully CGI model of Buck is a digital scan of a real dog, adopted during production from the Emporia, Kansas animal shelter by director Chris Sanders' wife, Jessica Steele-Sanders.
A look at the past
The role of John Thornton, here played by Harrison Ford, was previously portrayed by Rutger Hauer in the 1997 TV adaptation of the story. Both actors famously appeared opposite each other as enemies in Blade Runner.