History Film / TheCallOfTheWild2020

* AdaptationalBadass: In the original novel Buck becomes a wild dog and leads a pack of wolves after the death of John Thornton, but he continued to to fear man's club even after his integration into the wild. [[spoiler: In the movie, Buck is given an opportunity to overcome his fear of man's club when he defends John Thornton from an attacking Hal, who has a club. Buck is initially afraid but he fights back, defeating Hal (and the club).]]

* AdaptationExpansion: In the book, John Thornton was a bit character who just happened to be the last decent person to own Buck before his transition into the wild. In the film, he has the backstory of a divorcee who split from his wife [[spoiler:after their son’s death]].
* AdvertisedExtra: Of sorts. The trailers advertised the film as an adventure with Buck and John Thornton together. While John is a recurring character before then, it’s not until halfway through the movie that he comes into possession of Buck and their journey actually begins.

* BearsAreBadNews: Subverted. Buck crosses paths with one more than once while transitioning between John Thornton’s care and the wolf pack into which he’s integrated, but it never does anything more than snarl and roar at him.

* BittersweetEnding: As in the book, Buck assimilates into a wolf pack and eventually becomes alpha, but it comes at the cost of [[spoiler:John Thornton’s life]]. What’s more, John Thornton [[spoiler:dies peacefully with a photo of his son and Buck to comfort him but without getting the chance to reconcile with his wife, who will likely never know what happened to him]].
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: While helping to pan for gold, Buck fishes up a large rock and is redirected by Thornton using a gold nugget as an example of what to search for. Seconds later, he comes upon a hunk of gold the same size as the rock, only to throw it back when Thornton isn’t looking, due to thinking it’s the nugget-''sized'' pieces of gold he should be after.

** In the book, Hal, his incompetent comrades, and their sled dogs, sans Buck, end up falling through the river ice and drowning, exactly as they were warned would happen. In the film, Hal survives the trip, becomes AxeCrazy, [[spoiler:and seeks vengeance on John]], only to be thrown into the blaze of a burning cabin by Buck. He also mentions that the other dogs at least escaped into the wilderness, but doesn’t acknowledge the fates of his two human companions.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Thornton]] is very much aware that his chances of survival after getting shot are slim [[spoiler:thanks to being in the middle of the wilderness days away from medical aid]]. But he assures Buck that it’s okay and quietly passes away with Buck [[spoiler:and the picture of his son]] at his side.

* HeroicDog: Buck becomes this by helping/saving several humans and fellow canines he encounters during his journey.

* LighterAndSofter: Played with, the film doesn’t go 100% Disneyfication and and follows most of the events of the novel but either softens the blows or has characters SparedByTheAdaptation.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Hal's sled dogs desert him instead of falling through the river ice and drowning like in the book, also sparing Mercedes and Charles in the process. Hal is also spared from his original fate, only to perish under different circumstances in the climax.

* StarringSpecialEffects: Given Buck is the central character, no matter if his Thornton is the narrator.
* TheWatson: The dogs serve as this for Perrault to talk to about the mail runs. [[AudienceSurrogate Francoise expresses amusement at the notion that they understand this]] at first but [[CharacterDevelopment later she starts doing it herself]].
* UncertainDoom / WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The film leaves out the fates of Spitz, Hal's human companions, and his remaining sled dogs, all of whom were explicitly killed off in the book. In the case of Hal's companions, it's outright suggested (although not confirmed) that they live since his sled team makes it past the froze lake in this version and just escape from him later on. It's worth noting that the originally filmed version ''did'' have Hal confirming the demise of his sister, her husband and their sled dogs, but this was altered for the final product.

* KarmaHoudini: The men who a dog-nap and sell Buck are never seen again and presumably got away scot-free.

* MisplacedWildlife: A wild boar was seen in the movie, even though they're not native to Alaska (in their pure form, that is)

* UncertainDoom / WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The film leaves out the fates of Spitz, Hal's human companions, and his remaining sled dogs, all of whom were explicitly [[KilledOffForReal killed off]] in the book. In the case of Hal's companions, it's outright suggested (although not confirmed) that they live since his sled team makes it past the froze lake in this version and just escape from him later on. It's worth noting that the originally filmed version ''did'' have Hal confirming the demise of his sister, her husband and their sled dogs, but this was altered for the final product.

* AdaptationalDiversity: Perrault is portrayed as black and Francois becomes Francoise, a woman.

* RaceLift: Perrault is white in the novel and most adaptations, and he's portrayed by the African-French Creator/OmarSy here.

It released on February 21, 2020 as the first film under the Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios banner, after Creator/{{Disney}} declared in January that year that "Fox" is to be dropped from the name of 20th Century Fox. Coincidentally, the 1935 film adaptation was the last film released under 20th Century Pictures before they merged with Fox.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the original novel Buck becomes a wild dog and leads a pack of wolves after the the death of John Thornton, but he continued to still fear man’s club even after his integration into the wild. [[spoiler: In the movie, Buck is given an opportunity to overcome his fear of man’s club when he defends John Thornton from an attacking Hal, who has a club. Buck is initially afraid but he fights back, defeating Hal (and the club).]]

* AdaptationalBadass: In the original novel Buck becomes a wild dog and leads a pack of wolves after the the death of John Thornton, but he continued to still fear man’s club even after his integration into the wild. [[spoiler: In the movie, it is the same ending however Buck overcomes his fear of man’s club when he defends John Thornton from an attacking Hal, who has a club. Buck is initially afraid but he fights back, overcoming his fear and defeating Hal (and the club).]]

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: With the rest of the sled team having run away from Hal and survived in this version, based on real dog behavior, they would have been likely to look for and find Buck again, especially since he stayed in an area they were familiar with.

* LighterAndSofter: Played with, the film doesn’t go 100% Disneyfication and and follows most of the beats of the novel but either softens the blows or has characters SparedByTheAdaptation.

* LighterAndSofter: Played with, the film doesn’t go 100% Disneyfication and and follows most of the beats of the novel but either softens the blows or has characters SparedByTheAdaption.

* BittersweetEnding: As in the book, Buck assimilates into a wolf pack and eventually becomes alpha, but it comes at the cost of [[spoiler:John Thornton’s life]]. What’s more, John Thornton [[spoiler:dies without getting the chance to reconcile with his wife, who will likely never know what happened to him]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Hal is a nasty piece of work in the book, but his gold fever doesn't lead to him posing a threat to Thornton there, in this adaption he becomes more of an ArcVillain that fulfils the role of the murderous Native American tribe [[spoiler: who kill John Thornton]] from the book.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Hal is a nasty piece of work in the book, but his gold fever doesn't lead to him posing a threat to Thornton there, in this adaption he becomes more of an ArcVillain that fulfils the role of a murderous Native American tribe from the book.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Hal is a nasty piece of work in the book, but his gold fever doesn't lead to him posing a threat to Thornton there.

* {{Disneyfication}}: The book did not hesitate to describe the harsh realities of the wild, sometimes in [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence graphic detail]], but the movie softens or removes several events. Most notably, the book has Buck defeat Spitz by breaking two of his legs with crushing bites and before he killed by being ripped apart by the other dogs. In the movie, Buck just slams Spitz to the ground and pins him, Spitz submits to Buck and then wanders off, disappearing into the wilderness. Charles, Mercedes, and the rest of their sled team are also spared in the film--in the book, Hal and Charles end up shooting some of the dogs after they drop from starvation and are unable to get up, and the rest of the dogs, along with the three humans, drown in the river after the ice falls out from under them.