Plot: What’s it about?
Ok, so we have an obvious kids movie starring not one but two Academy Award Winning Actors (Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn). I have to admit that when I saw the previews for this movie that both needed new agents. I mean, c’mon?!? Lest we not forget the talents of M. Emmet Walsh, Graham Greene, Nichelle Nichols and pop star Sisqo. Can or has a movie ever been put together with a more unique (make that offbeat) cast? I don’t think so. What do the filmmakers hope to accomplish with a movie like this? I’ll tell you, as much as I hate to admit it, the movie was entertaining. True, I (and most everyone reading this) is about 20 years too old for the movie, but after countless dramas, suspense and who knows what else, it’s nice to sit back and watch a Disney movie that has echoes of their golden years.
The story is very easy to figure out, though a few adult themes do tend to prevail during the course of the film. We have one Ted Brooks (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a very successful dentist in Miami. Ted has been trained to be a dentist by his father and has now commercialized the establishment into "Hot Smile"; a very hip dentist that advertises on the sides of buses. About the only comparison that kept running through my mind was that of Rodney Dangerfield’s character in "Back to School" in which he turned his fathers clothing store into a very successful "Tall and Fat" chain. Ok, enough of the comparisons. Ted is soon served with a summons and heads to a remote town in Alaska. It seems that Ted was adopted, though his now deceased adopted father and mother (Nichelle Nichols) have yet to ever tell him. Initially, Ted just wants to sell off his inherited possessions and then head back to Miami, but this is Disney here and we all know that he must learn to some sort of lesson and/or find himself while on this trip. He does.
For anyone who wants to figure out the rest of the movie for themselves, Merry Christmas, because it’s all up to you to find out what happens. Let’s put it this way though, you only need to watch the first half hour of this 99 minute feature to tell how it will end up. Though not as "raunchy" as another movie that came to my mind, Mystery, Alaska, Snow Dogs does have a little in it for everybody. Once you get past the fact that all of these established dramatic actors are having fun playing with Huskies in the snow, then you might sit back and enjoy the movie as much as I did. Is it a repeat viewer? For families with kids, they’ll find it fun and most likely want to watch it again again. I’m still not sure about that audio commentary though!
Video: How does it look?
In much of a surprise to me, Snow Dogs is presented in a full-frame format only. Yep, that’s right, the mouse has given the movie a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. I will admit, however, that the image is just as good or better than some of the movies that are indeed enhanced for widescreen TV’s. As you might imagine, the film takes place in a LOT of snow and the image never suffers. Most every shot is free of any artifacting and though I’ve been amazed by how so many of the transfer look these days, this isn’t that bad for being full-frame. Besides, the kiddies might not like the black bars. Still though, it’s not unheard of to put a widescreen and a full-frame movie on the same disc! Disney, are you listening?
Audio: How does it sound?
In yet another shock to my somewhat timid system, there are dual Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS tracks here. Some might think that this movie wouldn’t have much in terms of audio quality, some would be wrong. The DTS was the one I listened to and to my amazement, it sounded very good. Plenty of physical humor allows for lots of crashes, falls and everything else in between. The Dolby Digital sounded just as good, but I’d give the edge to the DTS. Personally, I feel this might be wasted and geared towards a more mature audience as with my experience, kids don’t really care what channel the sound comes out of, they just want to hear it! Still, a nice surprise here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The image may not be anamorphic, but there is a commentary track from Director Brian Levant and Producer Jordan Kerner. The track is another good bonus feature of the disc, but again…for the adults (or those of us who have to review the disc)! We thought Warner was crazy when they re-issued "Space Jam" as a Special Edition, but kept the same full-frame transfer…two years later, the same stuff is still going on. How big a market are kids anyway?!? Three featurettes are included and are pretty self-explanatory. The first is "Going to the Dogs" which tells of how the dogs were cast (yes, they were actually cast) and the experience of working with them. The next is "Tolketna on Ice" which focuses on the fictional town the movie was to take place in. Though it’s actually in Canada, they built it from scratch and did a pretty good job of passing it off as Alaska. Don’t Alaska and Canada look essentially the same anyway? Lastly, "Chillin’ with the Actors" is just that. It’s more of a Behind the Scenes look at the movie, but the main characters are interviewed and such. Oh, there is an interactive game too, but it was too hard for me (does that show my age)? Four deleted scenes, including one with "Show me the Mushies" (oddly enough, they are presented in a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio) are included as are five extended scenes. Some "Sneak Peeks" are also included, though oddly a trailer for this film isn’t included. Go figure. All in all, it’s a good little disc, though it loses points for not having an anamorphic transfer. Kids should be entertained, but adults should be prepared to watch it over and over and over…Oh, and lastly, there are a few Michael Bolton references, so you’ve been warned!
