White Fang

White Fang, part wolf and part dog, is born in the Yukon during the gold rush and lives first with an indigenous band, then in the hands of a man who uses him as a fighting dog, and finally with a couple who treat him well. Who owns the animal changes; his nature does not change entirely. Alexandre Espigares directed, from Jack London's 1906 novel. The animation is what distinguishes it: the characters are designed with the texture of oil painting and the backgrounds built as wide painted landscapes. It is a French and Luxembourg co-production. The book's harsher passages are softened; the dog fights are shown but not detailed. The idea stays faithful to London's central concern: the passage between wildness and domestication, and what people do to animals. It screened at Sundance and reached a wide audience through Netflix. Who it is for: viewers who like classic literary adaptation and painterly animation. Who it is not for: anyone wanting the book's harshness; the film is calibrated for a family audience.