This movie is based on "Nomads of the North" by James Oliver Curwood, who also wrote "King Grizzly", which was made into the movie "The Bear".
Nikki, a malamute that's 1/8 wolf, and his kind fur trapper owner encounter an orphaned bear cub. The cub and puppy initially don't get along. An overturned canoe separates them, while tethered together, from their master, and they set out on their own in a "Defiant Ones" sequence that shows their different approaches to survival in the wild. The puppy wants to hunt critters, but can't catch any due to the cub stubbornly anchoring the other end of the tether. The cub tears into a rotten tree stump to get at a beehive, but the puppy runs away after getting stung, dragging the cub along with him. The cub climbs a tree to sleep, resulting in the puppy trying to snooze with his rear end slung a foot off the ground. After a number of weeks they escape their tether and become friends, until the bear hibernates, and Nikki heads out on his own. Over a year or so, he grows up, gets into scuffles with a wolverine, and tries to join a wolf pack who let him know violently that he's not welcome. Eventually Nikki gets captured by an evil fur trader who beats him into an aggressive pit fighting dog. At the movie's end, his original owner confronts a snarling bloodthirsty Nikki, but both eventually recognize each other, and resume their friendly travels.
NOTE - there are many fights in this movie: bear vs bear, Nikki vs wolverine, wolverine vs lynx, Nikki vs wild wolves, Nikki vs wolf-dog, and even good fur trader vs bad fur trader, and a number of "dead" animals are shown. An Indian is treated in typically poor 60's cinematic fashion as well, although he is shown as noble and smart, becoming a companion to Nikki and the good fur trader at the end.
All -in -all though, this is a Disney dog movie that deserves to be a little better remembered. The DVD I saw was put out by a company named Anchor Bay, and not Disney, so there were no extra features at all. This, combined with Disney's "Alaska Sled Dog" from 1957 would make a good Disney DVD package.
Nikki, a malamute that's 1/8 wolf, and his kind fur trapper owner encounter an orphaned bear cub. The cub and puppy initially don't get along. An overturned canoe separates them, while tethered together, from their master, and they set out on their own in a "Defiant Ones" sequence that shows their different approaches to survival in the wild. The puppy wants to hunt critters, but can't catch any due to the cub stubbornly anchoring the other end of the tether. The cub tears into a rotten tree stump to get at a beehive, but the puppy runs away after getting stung, dragging the cub along with him. The cub climbs a tree to sleep, resulting in the puppy trying to snooze with his rear end slung a foot off the ground. After a number of weeks they escape their tether and become friends, until the bear hibernates, and Nikki heads out on his own. Over a year or so, he grows up, gets into scuffles with a wolverine, and tries to join a wolf pack who let him know violently that he's not welcome. Eventually Nikki gets captured by an evil fur trader who beats him into an aggressive pit fighting dog. At the movie's end, his original owner confronts a snarling bloodthirsty Nikki, but both eventually recognize each other, and resume their friendly travels.
NOTE - there are many fights in this movie: bear vs bear, Nikki vs wolverine, wolverine vs lynx, Nikki vs wild wolves, Nikki vs wolf-dog, and even good fur trader vs bad fur trader, and a number of "dead" animals are shown. An Indian is treated in typically poor 60's cinematic fashion as well, although he is shown as noble and smart, becoming a companion to Nikki and the good fur trader at the end.
All -in -all though, this is a Disney dog movie that deserves to be a little better remembered. The DVD I saw was put out by a company named Anchor Bay, and not Disney, so there were no extra features at all. This, combined with Disney's "Alaska Sled Dog" from 1957 would make a good Disney DVD package.