White Fang 1997 by MDTartist83 on DeviantArt
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Hello, everybody, this is MDTartist83, and welcome to another retro TV review by yours truly. You know, this is a subject that’s been on my mind for quite some time now. And I figured there’s no better time than now to get it out of my system. But before I begin with this review, I want to give credit to my good friend Saffronpanther since he reviewed this subject before I did. Thank you, Saffronpanther.

Introduction:

Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into today’s subject; White Fang. Before I begin, I want to say this; Its hard to find good entertainment nowadays. And sometimes when you go looking for something new to get into, you'll find a diamond in a rough. Other times you'll find a turd covered in toxic waste. In the case of today's subject, its definitely the latter. Now, usually when it comes to White Fang, most people think of the famous novel that was written and published by Jack London in 1906, or the live action films starring the wolfdog Jed, who was also in “John Carpenter’s The Thing”, surprise surprise. And of course, there has even been a few cartoons based on Jack London's novel. The one I remember most fondly is the 1992 TV series titled “The Legend of White Fang”, which has nothing to do with the novel, but was basically its own retelling of the story. But the cartoon I’ll be reviewing today is an animated feature film simply titled “White Fang”. It was created by Goodtimes Entertainment, directed by Michael Sporn, and released in 1997.

Now, it’s likely that not many of you have heard of this cartoon before given its rarity and obscurity. Well, there is a reason for this, this film was not very well received, and it remains in obscurity to this day. And not only that, but this movie was strictly a direct to video release. So naturally, it was never released theatrically. This film is true to the novel to a degree, but it’s very poorly executed. And I mean POORLY. It’s very in amateurish in every aspect imaginable, right down to the script and editing. Now the first thing I noticed about this movie is the cover art. Apparently, Goodtimes Entertainment managed to rip off images from Balto. In fact, this entire movie is a Balto rip off from what I’ve seen. Down to some of the character designs which were also plagiarized. I mean seriously, they’re not even trying! And that’s not all that was ripped off either. Goodtimes Entertainment was infamous for ripping off movies mostly from Disney, but they also stole from other companies as well. And seeing the record of how many films they’ve ripped off, it’s a wonder why they haven't had the pants sued off of them. And mind you, Balto was released two years prior to this. So naturally, they did a rip off of Balto in the form of White Fang, which has a similar protagonist and setting. But believe me when I say that this movie hasn’t aged well. Because compared to the masterpiece that is Balto, this miserable excuse for a White Fang cartoon fades drastically in comparison. But now's my chance to share my own thoughts and feelings that I have of this cartoon.

My first problem with this cartoon is that the animation is garbage. Even for its time it looks like shit. The characters are very poorly drawn, and the backgrounds are especially uninspired. And on top of that, the moving quality is abysmal. I have a high sense of appreciation for 2D animation, especially if it’s done well and is of high quality. But this film does not have quality animation. It looks ugly, amateurish, rushed, and generic. Hell, it looks so bland and uninspired, that it makes even the animation from “Titanic: The Legend Goes On” look like a masterpiece. And we all know how bad that movie was. The moving quality is not very smooth, and just looks choppy. And not only that, but the characters are very disproportionate and they tend change shape and size in some scenes. In most movies you at least get the idea that the animators used a model sheet to reference the characters from. But the anatomy and size of the characters changes regularly in between shots, which makes the animation very sloppy and inconsistent. And not only that, but in some scenes, they also tend to move too slow or too fast, which annoyed me. Hell, even the perspective and angles are off in each shot. So as you can tell, the animation in this movie sucks. It sucks so bad, that it fades drastically in comparison to your typical Disney or Don Bluth film. Take a film like Balto. Again, that movie was released in 1995, two years before this. And that movie holds up WAY better visually. My guess is that Goodtimes Entertainment couldn’t be bothered to put in much effort into this, or maybe this movie was made on a low budget. I’m guessing it’s a bit of both.

And then there’s the voice acting, which sadly is not much better. The voices are… Alright I guess. But the actors don’t sound very convincing, and they don’t sound like they're putting a whole lot of effort into their work. The voice acting in this film is so bland, that it makes the voice acting from Megaman 8 and Megaman X4 sound good. For as horrible as the voice acting in those games was, at least the actors tried somewhat to sound convincing. Even if the voices didn’t fit the characters. But in this movie, the actors didn’t sound like they were even trying to sound convincing. Some voices are either really bland or really annoying to listen to (like the rabbit, Kiche, Spike, Lip-Lip, and his minions). Though, the voice they chose for child White Fang was surprisingly fitting, even though it just sounded like he was merely reading the lines off the script than actually saying them as they were meant to be said. His adult voice was especially fitting, even though he seemed to have gained it a bit prematurely when he was still a puppy. But I’ll get into that after I go over the plot and story. Oh, and before I begin, this cartoon has musical numbers. Yeah… I don’t have a problem with musicals as long as they’re done well. But believe me when I say that the musical numbers in this movie are so grating and annoying, that they make me just want to mute the volume on my TV so I don't have to listen to them. But it’s really not necessary to go into them. Trust me. Oh, and contrary to the book, this cartoon is basically an extremely dumbed-down version of the story that cuts out many of the important events that happen in the novel. Some of which are dark and gritty. And yes, they took as many short cuts as they possibly could just to make this as kid friendly as possible. But you will see how they fail miserably at it.

Chapter 1:

So our story begins with a female narrator, who introduces us to the Yukon wilderness. And needless to say this woman’s narration sounds pretty uninspired and amateurish at worst. Especially with how she says "The graaannnd Yukonnnn wilderness!" Not that that’s surprising because none of the voice actors take their roles seriously. Anyway, we are introduced to all the animals that live there. Which again, are badly illustrated, and look really cheap even by today’s standards. To quote what my friend Saffronpanther said in his review of this movie, “They somewhat resemble designs from Sonic SatAM if you oversimplified them and REALLY limited the movements they could make.” And yes, it’s as cheap as it can get. We cut to an old aging wolf named One-Eye, who of course is White Fang’s father. He bears a scar on one of his eyes, and he’s out hunting for food. He pursues a rabbit with no success. And not only that, but he keeps running into trees, a sign that he’s getting on in his age. After introducing One-Eye to the audience, the film then cuts to Kiche and her son White Fang. He is named so for his pearly white teeth.

Now, I have to admit that despite the crappy low budget animation, the new born White Fang is actually quite cute and adorable. In fact, that’s at least one thing I’ll give this film credit for; making White Fang look cute during his puppyhood. The narrator assures us that there’s something legendary about the little pup. But then she admits that she’s probably making it up. I mean seriously! Make up your mind, woman! Do you believe in White Fang or do you not?! You are a terrible narrator if you can’t decide on whether or not there’s something special about the main protagonist! So anyway, White Fang is being cared for by his mother, and he complains that he’s hungry. Now, here’s something I noticed about Kiche. Her voice actress doesn’t sound like she’s trying to put any effort into her acting other than just reading her lines off the script in a motherly tone of voice. And as for Kiche herself, she’s extremely underdeveloped as a character in this movie. She never seems to get the big picture, and as such, she never questions anything that happens in the movie. Another odd thing about Kiche is that she always has a smile on her face, even when something tragic has happened. I’m not joking; Kiche never changes her facial expression no matter the circumstances. And believe me, her credibility as a mother only becomes more questionable as time goes on. And so White Fang’s father One-Eye returns home empty handed. Or in this case, empty pawed, since canines don’t have opposable thumbs. White Fang asks his father about the scar on his face, and we are treated to the first musical number sung by One-Eye. Okay, I’m just going to skip that and just move onto how the story unfolds. Because again, the musical numbers in this movie are horrible. And they don’t even come close to being as good or as memorable as any of the musical numbers from your standard Disney film.

And so after that bland musical number, One-Eye immediately goes out hunting again despite his previous failure to catch a rabbit. Shouldn't he be exhausted? I mean he has had quite a day! Especially since he's aged. In the next scene, he is seen chasing a moose through the wintry wilderness. He is successful to corner it to a dead end, which is just off a cliff on the mountain side. But then out of nowhere, an avalanche occurs. Okay, I’m not so sure how this happened since most of the times avalanches are triggered by loud noises. The moose manages to get away. But One-Eye is not so lucky, and is killed in the avalanche. But not before letting out one last howl before his tragic death. Okay now, I have to give this movie credit for this one death that occurs in it. I mean at least they made One-Eye’s death seem sad, tragic, and heartbreaking. But of course, it happens off screen, and we immediately cut back to Kiche, who hears One-Eye’s last howl from a distance. She leaves the cave to investigate. But not before telling her son to stay put inside the cave. It takes some effort and persuasion from her to make her authority as a mother be known to White Fang as he is eager to go search for his missing father, who unbeknownst to the poor pup is dead. But naturally, since Kiche is the mother, she wins the arguement, and the pup stays behind.

The next morning, White Fang finds that his mother has been gone the whole night. So he leaves the cave, and tries to catch a squirrel, only to end up falling down a hillside. And at the same time, he is mocked, teased, and made fun of by an obnoxious smart-ass rabbit. This rabbit is one of the most unlikable characters in this entire film. So much that I just want to kill him with a shotgun. And since White Fang knew so little of the world around him, the rabbit decides to take advantage of White Fang's naivety, and tricks him into thinking that a mouse was a bear. You know, because White Fang was only a puppy then. He didn’t know what actual bears looked like at the time. So the condescending jerk of a rabbit makes a complete ass out of the pup just for his own sadistic pleasure. The mouse manages to escape its pursuer through a log, and White Fang ends up hitting his head on it. Fortunately, Kiche finds her son before the rabbit could make fun of him any further, and before White Fang can hurt himself any further. The two journey back to their dwelling, and the rabbit makes one last smart ass remark before we fade to the next scene; “Kids...”. Thankfully this is the only time we will ever see this jerk of a rodent. Back at the cave, Kiche blandly tells White Fang that his father is dead, and is no longer among the living. And again, her bland voice acting along with the constant smile she has on her face really makes her performance seem unconvincing. I mean seriously, why is she always smiling? Is she stoned or does she just not give a shit? Of course, she doesn’t outright tell him that “he’s dead.” But rather, she just says “You’re father won’t be coming back”. She also adds “Your father was in an accident. An avalanche.” Surprisingly, White Fang seems more emotionally struck by his father’s death than Kiche is. Because again, she shows little to no emotion at all. Almost like she’s a freaking mannequin. Seriously, couldn’t they put more effort into Kiche’s character? Let alone how she reacts to certain things? Anyway, with One-Eye dead, the two canines see that they have no choice but to leave the cave, and go somewhere else where there’s food and shelter.

Chapter 2:

So they journey to a Native American village, where the two canines come across the first human seen in this movie; Gray Beaver. For those of you who haven’t read the novel, Gray Beaver is White Fang’s first owner. And this is one of the plot points that the film remains true to. But God in heaven do I find this character unlikable and despicable. In his first few minutes of screen time, Gray Beaver seems halfway decent at first. But my opinion about him soon changed. White Fang cutely comments “Where’s his fur? How does he keep warm? And look! He’s walking on two legs! Won’t he fall?” to which Kiche giggles and answers “He won’t fall.” Kiche ignorantly assures White Fang that everything will be alright. And so she comes out of the bush to greet Gray Beaver, who was busy gathering fish that he caught from the river. But I spotted an error here. When Kiche comes out of the bush, she comes out from the right side of the screen. But in the next shot, she is seen at the left side of the screen. I’m like what the hell? Don’t the animators have a basic idea on the concept physics? I mean how did this happen? Did Kiche just magically teleport herself to the other side of the screen or something? Well, that’s one mark for this cartoon’s many animation errors. And speaking of which, Gray Beaver has the strangest reaction to when he first notices Kiche. When she barks, Gray Beaver says “Kiche? Is that you?” And in this part, I noticed that his pupils gradually change shape with every frame per second… I was like “Is this guy on cocaine or something?! What the hell is up with his eyes?!” Upon seeing White Fang for the first time, Gray Beaver at first adores the pup, and so he adopts him and his mother into his tribe. Ironically, he decides to name him "White Fang", despite that his name had already been established. Did he guess his name or something? And it is in this scene we get yet another animation error, as they literally recycle the same footage in the scene where White Fang passes by a teepee in the village as Gray Beaver and Kiche walk their way into his tent. Yeah, you can tell that not a whole lot of effort was put into the making of this movie.

And it is also in this scene where we are introduced to Lip-Lip (yeah, very creative name), who looks strangely a lot like Steele from Balto, except very uninspired. He even sports what I think is a blue bruise over his left eye. And as you may or may not have guessed from his general appearance and his punkish attitude, he’s one of the villains of this movie. And upon meeting White Fang for the first time, he immediately starts causing trouble for the little pup just for the sole purpose of being an asshole. Lip-Lip proclaims his dominance to White Fang by giving us a 50s style Greaser musical number about how mean and tough he is… Okay… Yeah… By this point in the film, I’m cringing. Because dear lord, this musical number is TERRIBLE! Not to mention it’s the stupidest song I’ve ever heard! It makes even the Rapping Dog’s musical number look and sound good! However, Lip-Lip doesn’t take kindly to White Fang calling him off. So they chase him all through the village. Thankfully, White Fang is able to reach his mother before Lip-Lip and his gang could maul him. Seriously? Where the hell was Kiche when those dogs were chasing him? Did she not care for her son's safety? She is a terrible mother! Not to mention, Gray Beaver doesn’t do anything. He simply tells the dogs to ”Beat it!”. I mean is that the best he could do? If I was in his position, I would have done more than just simply tell the dogs to beat it! I would actually make an effort to defend White Fang! I would chase them off with a baseball bat, and tell them to leave him alone! And believe me, this isn’t the only time Gray Beaver displays how incompetent he is as a dog owner. Sure, he feeds them pieces of steak. But believe me, simply feeding the animals food isn’t nearly enough to qualify as a good pet owner. Another odd thing here is that when White Fang asks “What’s wrong with this meat?” Kiche answers “Nothing. It’s cooked.” Okay… Well… How the hell did Gray Beaver cook the meat? And also, cooked meat is darker in color than raw meat. When Gray Beaver ties Kiche to a post, White Fang expresses horror, and begs his mother to run. His mother blindly tells him "It's alright. It's their way. Once a human feeds you, they think they own you." To this, White Fang comments "No one's ever going to own me!" Sadly, that's where he's mistaken. And believe me, this isn't the only time Kiche shows how absent minded she is about the whole situation.

The next day, that bastard Lip-Lip causes more trouble for White Fang, who oddly enough now has a teenager’s voice despite that he’s still a puppy. What happened to his voice? Did he hit puberty prematurely or something? Anyway, Lip-Lip claims that he wants to put aside his differences with the pup and be friends with him. Yeah… I don’t think it would be that easy to befriend someone after you’ve done nothing but cause them trouble, you know. Nevertheless, he manages to trick White Fang into “borrowing” food from one of the teepees in the village. Despite White Fang’s suspicions, he goes along with it. And predictably, he gets himself in trouble when one of the natives spots him stealing some steak, and forces him out, thanks to Lip-Lip and his gang barking. The assholes laugh at him, and reveal that they were just screwing with him when they said that they wanted to “be friends”. And then they chase him through the village, causing all sorts of destruction around the place. The tribespeople, angered by White Fang's actions (despite that the other dogs where causing trouble too), demand Gray Beaver to do something about him. Ummm… Are you people blind? Can’t you see the pup was being chased by those other dogs?! I mean what else did you expect him to do? Just stand there and let the dogs catch him and kill him? You people are stupid and ignorant morons! Of course, Gray Beaver easily calls off his fellow tribesmen by saying “My friends, please. I’m sorry for the trouble. I promise that he will cause you no more harm.” And then he throws a fit at White Fang, and ties him to a post along with his mother, saying “What am I going to do with you?! If you can’t be trusted, White Fang… You’ll have to live without your freedom!” Okay, first of all, where the hell were you when those dogs were chasing him? What were you doing that was so important that you couldn't watch over a puppy? And second of all, YOU adopted him into your tribe! And you weren’t there for him when he needed you! He’s YOUR responsibility you jackass! You see, this is further proof that Gray Beaver is a terrible dog owner. That's the second time he displays his incompetence. And believe me, this isn’t the only time he demonstrates his anger issues. Kiche tells her son “White Fang! You must try to fit in! Gray Beaver is growing very angry!” First of all, Kiche, it’s not White Fang’s fault that Gray Beaver is such a selfish prick with attitude issues. Second of all, it was YOUR idea to come to his village in the first place! You could have gone elsewhere in the woods where there was food and shelter, and not risk going to a hostile environment with a bunch of asshole dogs and an irresponsible pet owner! You had a CHOICE! White Fang tells his mom that he wants to go home. Sadly, due to Kiche’s stupidity and inept ability at being a mother, she tells White Fang that the village is their home, and that they can’t leave. White Fang comments "Look, I want to go home! You promised we'd leave!", because earlier, Kiche said that they would only stay at the village for a little while. But it turns out she lied to him. Much to the little pup’s dismay. Don't you just hate it when your parents lie to you? But seriously, can you blame White Fang for wanting to go home? Because the worse is yet to come for our little hero.

The next day, Gray Beaver willingly gives Kiche away to an associate of his named Iron Eagle, which naturally causes White Fang to panic. He breaks the rope restraining him, and goes after his mother as Iron Eagle takes her away on a boat. But Gray Beaver snatches him from the water (okay, I’ll give him this much for saving him from drowning), throws him to the ground, and angrily says “It’s bad enough that I had to lose one dog! I don’t intend to lose another!” Then he ties him to a post (again), and threatens him with a stick, saying “I don’t want any more trouble from you! Learn that! Or you’ll learn the feel of this! Understand?!” Okay… Okay… First of all, you willingly sold White Fang’s mother to Iron Eagle! You didn’t have to give her away! It was YOUR choice! Nobody forced you to do it! And seriously? Taking your anger out on a puppy, and threatening to beat him with a stick? Wow, I bet you must feel like a big man, huh? He wasn’t even causing trouble! He just wanted to be with his mother you selfish bastard! You are a HORRIBLE dog owner, Gray Beaver! Okay, he doesn’t actually hit him with the stick. But given Gray Beaver’s attitude, I somehow get the feeling he would have done that had he been given the chance to. So, if you haven’t figured it out by now, Gray Beaver is both an asshole and a hypocrite. When I saw him threatening White Fang, I seriously wanted to punch him right in the face. I despise him with great intensity.

Later that night, White Fang escapes from the village, but not before pointlessly jumping over the sleeping dogs when he could have just walked around them. And so the young pup journeys his way back to the cave, only to find no one there. That is no one except for a grouchy and tired bear who has since taken residence in the cave. A short argument ensues, and White Fang unwittingly smart mouths the bear. Ummm... White Fang... I don't think its such a good idea to be a smart-ass with a bear! But the bear, being the larger and unquestionably stronger predator, wins the argument, and forces him out of the cave. This is contrary to the book where White Fang returns to the cave to see that his mother has given birth to new siblings, which he didn’t regard as anything more than a potential threat. And it is in this scene we are introduced to ANOTHER musical number, set to a montage of White Fang’s memories. Okay, I’ll say this, this song is somewhat heartbreaking. But the singing and the lyrics just don’t do it for me. I get that it's supposed to be dramatic, but it just doesn't do it for me, and its painful to listen to. Yet another pointless scene in this crap fest of a movie. The next morning, White Fang returns to the village. But Gray Beaver, being the complete jackass he is, reacts coldly to the pup’s return. Saying in a cold tone of voice “So… You’ve chosen to come back… It is good.” Oh really? Why do I find that hard to believe? This only shows me that he couldn’t care less if White Fang returned or not. He ties him to a post YET AGAIN, and says “But in order to stay, you will have to earn your keep!” Why should he have to earn his keep? Give him a break! He’s only a puppy you jerk! Thankfully, Gray Beaver puts his obnoxious behavior aside and declares that White Fang will be trained to be a sled dog. He feeds him a piece of steak, and leaves him yet again (once again showing how negligent he is). And in one single act of revenge, White Fang finally manages to scare Lip-Lip into backing off. Oddly enough, Lip-Lip is easily frightened by White Fang’s growling, despite that he's still a puppy. Yeah, I don't know what sense that makes. But oddly enough this is pretty much the last we see of Lip-Lip for the rest of the movie. Understandably, they left out the part in the novel where White Fang kills him. But in all honesty, I would have preferred to see that more than him simply disappearing and never being seen again. But alas, this is the last we see of him.

Chapter 3:

As time goes on, things only get worse. The next part of this story takes place sometime later on, when White Fang has grown into an adult. Although it's not given any proper development, as the story automatically jumps from White Fang's puppyhood to his adulthood. Yeah, this movie has such poor transitions from one chapter to another. And so we see Gray Beaver riding through the snow on a sled that’s being pulled by a couple of dogs. Once again, the animation shows just how sloppy and inconsistent it really is. Gray Beaver has his dogs park in a certain location in town. He tells White Fang to “stay with the team”, while he goes off to sell fur coats. And it is in this scene we are introduced to the second villain of this movie; Beauty Smith. Apparently, he’s gotten himself a job as a salesman selling stuff to customers. And I really hate to say this now… But… We have yet ANOTHER FUCKING MUSICAL NUMBER!!! Seriously, Goodtimes Entertainment! We don’t need another fucking musical number! You do an absolutely piss poor job at them! Not to mention Disney has done a much better job than you do at pulling them off! Stop trying to copy Disney! By this point in the film, I just want to tear out my ears! In Smith's song, he says something along the lines of "I'm doing the flim-flam! Thank you mam!" Last I checked, "flim-flam" is along the lines of conning others. So he's basically saying that he's conning people straight to their faces. Wow, how did he not get sued for that? And as for his song, it's just painful to listen to. And so after that horrible number is over, we continue with the story in this film.

But of course, things would have been perfectly fine if it wasn’t for somebody to cause trouble for White Fang. And in this case, we get another asshole dog named Spike... Gee, hasn't that name been used like so many times before? Including the bee from the Disney sorts, or the dog from Tom and Jerry, or that green haired protagonist from Cowboy Bebop? And let's not forget that Spike Witwicky was the name of the kid from the original Transformers show. Anyway, back to the shitty movie. Spike comes in and threatens White Fang with violence. Naturally, White Fang defends himself from Spike, and gains the upper hand on him. He is successfully able to defend himself from his attacker, but then they bring their fight over to Beauty Smith’s stolen merchandise stand, and they completely trash it. Thus leading to how this film explains how White Fang was passed to Beauty Smith. It is in this scene where Gray Beaver is held responsible and is forced to give up White Fang, as Smith threatens that he'll have the law on his ass if he refuses. But before Gray Beaver parts, he tells White Fang “You’ve really gone and done it this time my friend. I’m afraid you’re his dog now.” But why does he say that with a smile on his face? It’s almost like he actually wanted to get rid of White Fang. But then again, considering how far Gray Beaver has come in showing how completely incompetent and inept he is to properly care for White Fang, why start now? But the worst part of this scene is where he tells Smith to “Treat him fairly. He's a good dog.” Wait, wait, wait… First of all, you should have kept him close to you to make sure he didn’t get into trouble! It's your fault for not watching out for White Fang in the first place! Had you kept an eye on him, he wouldn't have had to defend himself from that other dog, and none of this would have happened! So really, this is more your fault than his! And also, you have no business telling Smith to treat him fairly when YOU YOURSELF never showed White Fang ANY respect! This guy fails as a dog owner and on top of that, he is a MAJOR hypocrite who totally contradicts himself! Well, thankfully, this is the last we see of Gray Beaver for the rest of the film. And thank God for that because he was a jerk anyway.

Sadly, the wolfdog’s misfortune isn’t over yet, as we soon discover that Beauty Smith is even worse than White Fang’s previous owner. Believe me, Gray Beaver is a dickhead. But he’s nothing compared to Beauty Smith. Now, just a quick run on Beauty Smith; he’s the main villain of the novel by Jack London. And as such, he’s often depicted as a completely selfish, arrogant, antagonistic, and greedy bastard, who uses White Fang as entertainment in dog fight competitions. And well, I will give credit where it is due; this movie stays true to the source material because Smith does use White Fang for dog fights in his greedy attempt to make money. Or in this case, swipe money from others. And well, he does a pretty fine job demonstrating how much of a douche bag he is. In fact, this almost makes me see Gray Beaver in a more positive light. But we all know he wasn’t a good owner either. And so Beauty Smith threatens White Fang to make the fights look convincing, or he will be punished by being whipped, and will go unrewarded. But then, another competitor arrives with a rather puny and harmless looking dog. Smith scoffs off, and tells the man to bring his dog back when he’s full grown. But the man insists, and Smith accepts the challenge with a sense of overconfidence. White Fang loses to this dog, who has a tight and needless to say devastating grip on his neck. But that’s when we are introduced to the hero of this film, Weedon Scott. For those of you who don’t know who he is, Weedon Scott is White Fang’s third master, who in every retelling of the story is a much better pet owner than Gray Beaver or Beauty Smith ever were. And well, his depiction in this cartoon is no different. I mean after all, somebody has to care about White Fang and succeed where his two previous owners have failed. He's pretty fair as a character and he doesn't come off as a complete jerk ass like the two other aforementioned human characters. So anyway, Scott comes in to save the day as he stops Smith from abusing White Fang any further. But there’s something wrong here; Scott apparently speaks with a stereotypical macho man superhero voice. Seriously? I mean we get that he’s the good guy. But does he have to sound like a stereotypical superhero? That’s really unnecessary! Anyway, Scott manages to snatch the whip from Smith, and he apparently ties him up with it in a somewhat comedic and cartoonish fashion. And after that we get a shot of Scott marching alongside in a macho sort of manner as the camera focuses on him. And when the camera zooms out, he looks down at the ground. Okay… What the hell was the point of that? Dramatic purposes? Because they think it looks cool? Enough of that. Back to the story. Scott sees the injured White Fang, and takes him back with him to his cottage, despite the warning from the bystander that he might turn on him. But not before Smith throws a hissy fit at Scott taking away the wolfdog, and for humiliating him in front of everybody. Scott answers to this by throwing a coin to Smith's feet, and saying “Here’s a dollar. It’s more than you’re worth.” Smith is then surrounded by angry customers who demand their money back. To this he swears revenge. You know, like any other villain would. It’s become common place.

Chapter 4:

And so after that’s over, we finally arrive to Scott’s cottage, where he attends to White Fang’s injuries. Although, due to the incredibly low budget animation, we don’t really see any injuries or blood on White Fang despite the punishment he’s endured. But since this was geared towards kids, I’ll let that slide, because they can’t really show blood in these kinds of cartoons. Anyway, at this point, we are introduced to White Fang’s inevitable love interest, Collie, who for some reason reminds me so much of Sasha from “All Dogs Go to Heaven 2”, except she’s far less attractive, and she’s obnoxious. But at least she’s not a complete idiot like Kiche was. Collie’s voice isn’t as bland as Kiche's, but she does come off as annoying in her first few minutes of screen time. Because as soon as White Fang is brought into the house, she starts bitching and questions his presence. Although her dialogue is translated through her barks by a narration. When White Fang regains consciousness, he is greeted by the strangely designed Collie. At this point, we see that White Fang is at first distrusting and unwilling to open up to Scott after the constant abuse he received from his previous two owners. And thus, the wolfdog snaps the rope restraining him, and tries to attack Scott. Okay, first of all, they HAD chains back in the 19th century! What the hell was Scott doing using ropes? But just when White Fang had Scott cornered, Collie gets in between them, and tells White Fang to back off. After sniffing her out, he exclaims “You’re a girl! I can’t fight a girl! It wouldn’t be right!” Really? Like he couldn’t tell at first glance? I mean her eye-lashes and feminine voice are a clear giveaway that she’s a girl! Note, this is actually true to the book, because White Fang refused to fight females in the novel as well. Collie and White Fang have a casual conversation about things, all while Scott just stands there watching. Obviously he can’t understand dog language since their dialogue is all just barking to him. White Fang however, acts all stubborn and ungrateful, stating that he doesn’t want help from Scott, and showing absolutely no gratitude to him for saving his life. But… Since he was abused all his life, I guess I can’t really blame him for acting this way.

Of course, by this point in the film, it’s obvious that they’ve oversimplified the source material just to the point of making the story seem incoherent. And to shorten the length of this movie. Because a lot more happened in the story besides that. And this movie really doesn’t do the novel any justice. And all of a sudden, Collie grows fond of White Fang despite the fact that she barely knew him at all let alone his name for that matter. And just a second ago she was complaining about his presence. When feeding him some steaks, Scott is quick to learn that White Fang hates sticks. So he wisely puts the stick down, and gives him the meat. You know something? It's a real shame White Fang never stood up to Gray Beaver this way. Back to the story, Scott sees that White Fang doesn’t want to stay. So he opens the door for him in case he wants to leave. But the wolfdog is hesitant to leave for some odd reason, despite stating he didn’t want his help in the first place. For Christ’s sake, White Fang! Make up your damn mind! Do you want to leave or don’t you? Once again, we are treated to another fucking musical number from Collie about missing White Fang. Ummm… She’s only known him for a short period of time. How can she miss him? This entire movie is fucking retarded. Thankfully this is the last musical number we're getting. Thank goodness. Okay, I’m getting tired of this. So I’m just going to cut to the end, wrap it up, and give my final word. Towards the end, Beauty Smith comes back, seeking revenge. But out of nowhere, White Fang comes back just in the nick of time to stop him and save Scott and Collie from their would-be captor (and possibly executioner). Talk about fast paced. And it is in this point, when White Fang is about to maul Smith, when Scott and Collie plead him not to kill the bastard since “Only humans kill for revenge”. Honestly, these people couldn’t have been bigger dumb asses. Animals can be vengeful too if you abuse them long enough. Believe me, I’ve done my research, and animals can become full of hate and vengeance if you mistreat them long enough. But let’s cut to the end. We’re almost there. After Beauty Smith is arrested, we then end this story with White Fang and Collie, who now have pups of their own. THE END!

Closing Thoughts:

So there you have it. That’s the 1997 White Fang animated movie. So how does it hold up? Well… It doesn’t. It’s a poorly made film that feels rushed with no real effort put into its animation, writing, narration, or its characters. The animation is atrocious, the characters are either bland, uninspired, idiotic, obnoxious, or all the above, the musical numbers were annoying, uncreative, and unnecessary as hell (my most hated being Lip-Lip’s song), the editing was lazy and sloppy, and the movie itself oversimplifies the source material. Now, that last problem may seem a bit trivial. But believe me when I say that this movie has such poor sense of consistency and transitions from one point of the story to another. Yes, it's that bad. So yeah, this movie really hasn’t aged well. But I guess in this case, that’s a good thing. Because the movie is only 44 minutes long. That’s pretty short. And thank God for that because that just meant that I didn’t need to sit through this pile of shit anymore. This whole movie was basically a very watered down version of the novel, and a VERY lame attempt to cash in on the success of Balto. Yes, I know that this movie was aimed at a younger audience. But Disney and Don Bluth have done a much better job than Goodtimes Entertainment has ever done at making these kinds movies. And if you ask me, I would much rather be reading Jack London’s novel, or watch the live action films starring Jed. At least those movies were watchable and enjoyable unlike this pile of crap. This film is good for a laugh, but that’s about it. You might get "some" enjoyment out of this movie if only to laugh at its stupidity. But if you actually sit down and watch this movie, I guarantee that you will definitely feel its age along with just how little effort was put into it. All in all, this cartoon is just garbage. I personally do not recommend this since there are much better adaptations of the source material. In conclusion, I give this movie an "F".

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