| One day Ted Brooks (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) learns in Snow Dogs that someone named Lucy Watkins has named him as an heir to her estate in Tolketna, Alaska. A dentist practicing in Miami, he now realizes that he was adopted, and that Lucy was his birthmother. Accordingly, he goes to Tolketna for a reading of the will, which bequeaths a round of Wild Turkey for everyone present at the reading (in the town’s saloon), a warm coat to saloonkeeper Barbara (played by Joanna Bacalso), her outhouse and contents to Thunder Jack (played by James Coburn), and all the rest to her son Ted Brooks. When Ted visits his birthmother’s cabin to claim his treasure, he discovers that her main possessions are her dogs; one is a house pet, but the rest are Huskies. Indeed, one of the Huskies is very aggressive and attacks Ted. Thunder Jack, knowing that city slicker Ted would be unable to control the Huskies, offers $200 for the lot, but Ted demurs, sensing that they are worth a lot more. Barbara, who takes a fancy to Ted, tells him that they a worth much more, and that Thunder Jack’s aim is to enter the Huskies in the upcoming 112th annual Alaskan Challenge, a sled dog race. Barbara also tries to prevent Ted from leaving quickly for Miami by assuring him mysteriously that his birthfather lives in the town. Ted is mulatto, Lucy was black, so his birthfather must be white, and all clues point to Thunder Jack. But Thunder Jack is more interested in buying the Huskies than in confessing that he is Ted’s birthfather, so Ted stubbornly decides to learn how to commandeer a team of sled dogs to win the race. However, the sport is not for amateurs, so Ted experiences many mishaps. On one occasion, Ted is left stranded and face-to-face with a bear. In an effort to escape from the bear, he nearly dies, but Thunder Jack comes along in the nick of time to rescue him. Convinced that he would never do well in the Alaskan Challenge, Ted departs for Miami, leaving the dogs to Thunder Jack. But televised coverage of the race in his Miami apartment inspires Ted to return. When he arrives, Thunder Jack has been stranded in a blizzard, so Ted sets out to rescue him. When Ted finds Thunder Jack unconscious, he sees how the Huskies are keeping him warm, and they return to town as friends at last. In the Disney film based on the novel by Gary Paulsen and directed by Brian Levant, there is a happy ending. The underlying theme is traditional Disney–that persistence pays off, that respect for others can be rewarded in kind, that beneath a frosty appearance there can be a heart of gold, and that one should honor parents, adoptive and otherwise. MH |