Togo (2019)
Directed by Ericson Core
The untold true story set in the winter of 1925 that takes you across the treacherous terrain of the Alaskan tundra for an exhilarating and uplifting adventure that will test the strength, courage and determination of one man, Leonhard Seppala, and his lead sled dog, Togo.
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11 films that influenced Togo
What critics say influenced Togo
To back up a bit, Togo tells “the untold true story” of a sled dog who was not Balto but did run in the same relay as the dog made famous in part by the animated 1995 film, Balto (which, for what it’s worth, was a Universal film and not a Disney film).
The 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska, had already been adapted for cinema in Simon Wells’ 1995 animated film Balto .
If the serum run sounds familiar, it formed the basis of Amblin’s 1995 animated feature Balto .
The Disney+ original joins a long line of classic predecessors like “Balto,” “Iron Will,” “White Fang,” and a ballooning number of “Call of the Wild” adaptations (another one is on the way next year, starring Harrison Ford), though this one has a bit more on its mind than the rest of its doggy brethren.
You may already know parts of this story, thanks to a dog named Balto.
What do Homeward Bound , Eight Below , Balto and upcoming The Call of the Wild have in common with the latest live-action film to debut on Disney+?
Togo isn’t the first live-action dog-heavy film from Disney, of course; one of the titles the algorithm may recommend to you after you watch the new movie is Eight Below, starring the late Paul Walker and a lot of Siberian huskies.
Heck, Disney has made a minor cottage industry out of them, from Eight Below to Iron Will.
What do Homeward Bound , Eight Below , Balto and upcoming The Call of the Wild have in common with the latest live-action film to debut on Disney+?
From “Iron Will” to “Snow Dogs” to “Eight Below,” the studio’s executives clearly have a soft spot for rugged frontier tales of tough Arctic men and their canine companions.
When Togo was announced, I assumed it would be around the same lines, pull at the heartstrings, but overall just a snow dog movie like the multiple other films on the platform like Eight Below or Iron Will.
In the best sequence of the new Disney Plus film Togo , Willem Dafoe belts an abridged version of the St. Crispin’s Day Speech from William Shakespeare’s Henry V (“We few, we happy few”) to the team of dogs pulling his sled as they hurtle across the ice.
Some of its flagship animation studio’s most popular films are all about dogs, from Lady and the Tramp to 101 Dalmatians.
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The Disney+ original joins a long line of classic predecessors like “Balto,” “Iron Will,” “White Fang,” and a ballooning number of “Call of the Wild” adaptations (another one is on the way next year, starring Harrison Ford), though this one has a bit more on its mind than the rest of its doggy brethren.
Heck, Disney has made a minor cottage industry out of them, from Eight Below to Iron Will.
From “Iron Will” to “Snow Dogs” to “Eight Below,” the studio’s executives clearly have a soft spot for rugged frontier tales of tough Arctic men and their canine companions.
Directed by Ericson Core (2015’s Point Break) and written by Tom Flynn (2017’s Gifted), Togo is a very silly film that takes itself very, very seriously.
Director Ericson Core (previously of the “Point Break” remake) clearly cares about his animals, and his filmmaking, too.
Directed and photographed by Point Break ’s Ericson Core (good name for a 90s Nicolas Cage action hero) it’s the kind of film even ten years ago would have been a regular fixture on the Disney theatrical slate but these days is getting straight to streaming ignominy.
Disney has a long history of dog movies – “Old Yeller” still gets you every time – and dips back into that well with “Togo,” a hard-to-resist movie for Disney+.
Some of its flagship animation studio’s most popular films are all about dogs, from Lady and the Tramp to 101 Dalmatians.
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The film tries to demand viewers treat this tale with all the sentimental regard they might Chariots of Fire .
From “Iron Will” to “Snow Dogs” to “Eight Below,” the studio’s executives clearly have a soft spot for rugged frontier tales of tough Arctic men and their canine companions.