The Call of the Wild: Howl, Buck

こうやのよびごえ ほえろばっく

Aired: 1981

A television special anime produced by Toei Doga and broadcast on Fuji TV's 'Nissay Family Special' slot, adapting Jack London's enduring novel 'The Call of the Wild.' Buck, a large half Saint Bernard, half sheepdog living a contented life in the warm American South, is suddenly kidnapped and sold north to fuel the Klondike Gold Rush. Forced into a brutal new life as a sled dog on the frozen Yukon, he learns to survive cold, hunger and cruelty, eventually forging a deep bond with the kind prospector John Thornton even as the call of the wild stirs ever louder inside him. Under Takashi Morishita's direction and with veteran actor Koji Ishizaka narrating, the film captures Buck's spiritual journey from civilization back into primal nature, and remains one of the most highly regarded literary adaptations in the Nissay Family Special canon.