A Miami dentist finds himself completely out of his element when he goes to Alaska and faces the elements – and eight dogs who have it in for him – in the new film from Walt Disney Pictures, "Snow Dogs." Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays Ted Brooks, a man whose life goes to the dogs when he inherits the mushing team. "Ted’s this uptight, professional person, very focused on his business, meticulous in his calculations, so he’s completely thrown when he’s got to try to make these dogs cooperate and act the way he wants them to act," says Gooding of his character.
The dogs – seven Siberian Huskies named Demon, Scooper, Diesel, Mack, Duchess, Yodel, and Sniff, and a border collie named Nana – don’t throw Ted a single bone as he tries to learn to mush. Complicating matters is the cantankerous mountain man Thunder Jack, who would love to have Demon leading his team.
Working with all of these dogs could be a nightmare for any director. "I’ve wanted to work with Brian Levant for a long time," says producer Jordan Kerner. "I’ve followed his career since he made ‘Beethoven,’ and since then I’ve watched him make wonderful comedies time and again. I knew that would be a great gift for this film, even though ‘Snow Dogs’ is more of a drama than he’s directed in the past. He brings his great comedic instincts to a story that has a very strong narrative base."
"What grabbed me about this story was that there was no villain – there’s nothing cynical or evil about it," says director Brian Levant. It’s about decent people trying to find their way in the world and figure out who they are. There’s an old tradition, particularly in British films, that I’ve enjoyed: stories about people who come to a strange place, usually a small town populated by strange and idiosyncratic citizens, and it changes the visitor’s life. I’ve always wanted to make a film like that.
"From the very beginning, there’s been a strong emotional base, a great opportunity for situational humor as a fish-out-of-water comedy, and a fantastic potential for a huge amount of physical comedy," Levant continues.
"I’ve always been a sucker for fish-out-of-water stories," says Gooding. "This guy has to deal with a world that’s completely removed from Miami."
That challenge was also one faced by the cast and crew of "Snow Dogs," who left homes in more moderate climates for the bracing chill of winter in Alberta, Canada. "Nobody lost a toe," Levant kids, "but everything was so cold and so wet… we set the bar very high to make this film, and achieved goals that some people would never consider even to attempt.
"Sometimes, we’d be doing a scene where there wasn’t supposed to be snow, and it would be blizzarding; sometimes, we’d want a blizzard, and it would be bright and sunny; and once in a while, we’d want a blizzard – and we’d get one in the worst way," Levant laughs.
"I’ve worked on cold movies before – the ‘Mighty Ducks’ movies were shot in Minnesota," says Kerner, "but you really don’t know what cold is until you’re out in a snowstorm with the wind blowing at 50 miles per hour and it’s 30 below. The only ones actually having a great time are the dogs."
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