The Call of the Wild

Intrada, in association with 5 Cat Studios, announces the CD release of 20th Century Studios' 2020 film The Call of the Wild. For this outdoor adventure, composer John Powell wrote a score for a 90-piece orchestra plus 60-voice choir. The score sometimes captures the folksy, wild country setting of the action (at times employing no less than 12 banjos), but also amps up the large-scale thrills and epic scope required by this vast tale of loyalty and conflict. The ever-pervasive struggle between man, animal and nature propels both story and score. Powell's deep passion for dogs made this film an easy choice for him to score, and his love is clearly felt throughout the music.

Based on Jack London's 1903 novel of the same name, the tale is set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. The story focuses on Buck, a dog who is abducted one night and shipped to the Yukon aboard a freighter. After arriving, Buck returns a dropped harmonica to John Thornton (Harrison Ford) right before being sold to join a dog sled to deliver mail across the Yukon. After numerous adventures, Buck reunites with Thornton and they become companions. But the call of the wild in the form of a female white wolf begins to pull on Buck.