Psycho's Movie Reviews #325: TOGO (2019)

Togo is a 2019 American historical adventure drama film directed by Ericson Core and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centres on Leonhard Seppala and his titular sled dog in the 1925 serum run to Nome to transport diphtheria-antitoxin serum through harsh conditions during an epidemic of diphtheria. The film stars Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Michael Gaston, Michael McElhatton, Jamie McShane, Michael Greyeyes, Thorbjørn Harr, Shaun Benson, and Nikolai Nikolaeff. It was released on Disney+ on December 20, 2019.

Plot

The film flashes between musher Leonhard Seppala raising his dog Togo and the 1925 serum run to Nome.

In 1913, Seppala and his wife Constance welcome a new-born Siberian Husky puppy to their sledding dog pack in Nome, Alaska. While Seppala insists on immediately retiring him due to his small and weak state, Constance is strongly supportive of the puppy. The young dog turns out to be close to unmanageable, and refuses to stay at home when the other dogs are working. He constantly escapes when left in the kennel, and seeks out Seppala's dog team, causing great disruption to Seppala's training routine. After trying to get rid of the Husky twice, the young dog escapes by crashing through a window pane and again returns to find the other dogs training. Seppala gives up and allows him to run with the others where, to his astonishment, he discovers that he is energetic enough to outrun the other dogs, and a natural leader of the dog team. He realizes the puppy has the potential to be a future champion. He decides to call him Togo, after another underdog, Japanese admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. He fully trains Togo to the point where he successfully wins the All Alaska Sweepstakes, earning both Togo and himself some local fame.

In 1925, a diphtheria outbreak occurs in Nome; mostly affecting children. Mayor George Maynard plans to have the serum flown in from Nenana, but this proves to be impossible due to the severity of the weather. A meeting by town officials hears that air delivery is impossible due to the weather, and concludes that only Seppala has the skill to drive the 600 mile journey in such weather to collect the antitoxin. Eventually, Seppala is convinced to collect the serum and race back, and decides to take Togo despite the dog's age (Togo is 12, which is old for a dog). Constance becomes concerned and says the journey will kill the dog, but Seppala insists on going, and tells her that without Togo leading the team, he himself would be unlikely to survive. Seppala and his team tread through stormy weather and take a break at an outpost where a local doctor named Atiqtalik tells him that Togo is tired. Seppala continues on for miles; taking a dangerous shortcut across the melting Norton Sound to save a day's sledding. In the meantime after he leaves, a relay effort is set up to bring the serum back, with different teams running 31 mile stretches each.

Seppala eventually meets up with a fellow musher, Henry Ivanov, who was bringing the serum to Nome as part of the relay, and is therefore able to leave back for Nome the next day. Seppala and his team head back across the Norton Sound again – a high-risk attempt to save time and strain on the dogs by taking a dangerous shortcut across the breaking ice. The team become stranded on a broken piece of ice near the shore, and he is forced to throw Togo to shore, where the dog pulls the entire ice floe to safety. The effort, and the ensuing run through the driving storm, exhausts Togo. Reaching Atiqtalik's outpost again, she tells him Togo is dying. Nevertheless, Seppala gets his team back to Joe Dexter's outpost as he, Togo and team recuperate. The serum is passed off to fellow musher Gunnar Kaasen who arrives back in Nome. A reporter, confusing him for being the sole musher, announces his dog Balto as the hero who saved Nome, disappointing Constance.

Seppala returns to Nome later, where the entire town come to his house to celebrate Togo's success. Seppala later becomes upset when a cured girl named Sally asks if Togo is dying. Seppala intends to continue training his dogs without Togo (who gained a paw injury during the run), but despite age and injury, Togo refuses to stay housebound and chases down Seppala who welcomes him with open arms. Over the next two years, Togo sires puppies of his own that prove to be famous in their own right, and contribute to the "Seppala Siberian" bloodline. Togo eventually passes away in 1929 with Seppala continuing to train dogs. A title card at the end reveals that while Balto had received a statue in his honour in New York, Togo is remembered in Alaska for making the longest run and for being the true hero of Nome, and his offspring became prized by mushers worldwide for their sledding capabilities.

Production

On October 28, 2015, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a film about the 1925 serum run to Nome focusing on the sled dog Togo and his owner Leonhard Seppala. The screenplay was set to be written by Tom Flynn and the production was to be overseen by Jessica Virtue and Louie Provost for Disney.

On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Ericson Core would direct the film, that Kim Zubick would serve as a producer, and that the film would debut on Disney+. Additionally, it was further announced that Willem Dafoe would star in the film as Leonhard Seppala, the owner of Togo. On December 10, 2018, it was reported that Thorbjørn Harr had joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography for the film commenced on September 21, 2018 and finished in February 2019 in Cochrane, Alberta.

Most of the dogs featured in this film are from The Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours Inc. kennel located in Canmore, AB. Hugo and Mackey from Snowy Owl were used throughout the movie as stunt doubles for the face of Togo, Diesel. Diesel, the main dog actor who plays Togo, is a CKC registered Siberian Husky from Newfoundland, Canada. He is a direct descendant of the real life Togo, going back 14 generations.

The film's visual effects were done by DNEG, Lola VFX, Soho and CoSA VFX.

Historical Accuracy

The movie, for the most part, remains faithful to the story of Leonhard Seppala and Togo. Two of the more "cinematic" moments in the film that were surprisingly true to life include Togo escaping his second owner by jumping through a glass window and Togo using his strength to pull Seppala's sled out of the Norton Sound. The movie, however, excludes Seppala and Constance's daughter Sigrid who was among the many children who was at risk of contracting diphtheria. Seppala's reaction to Balto getting the credit is not shown, though Constance is shown to be rather annoyed by the news. In real life, Seppala openly voiced his disapproval of the dog hero mix-up. In addition, the film depicts Seppala's sled team as being composed of 11 dogs, with Togo as the only lead dog. In real life, Togo was sometimes assisted in leading by a half-brother named Fritz. Also, in the film, Gunnar Kaasen's team is composed of only 10 dogs. In real life, Kaasen's team consisted of 13 dogs. Also, Balto strongly resembles the way he looked in real life, except that he has blue eyes as opposed to the dark brown eyes that he had in real life. The movie also depicts Togo living out the rest of his days with Seppala while in real life, Togo was given to a fellow musher named Elizabeth Ricker in Poland Spring, Maine, to live out his golden years and sire pups. On parting with his best dog, Seppala stated, "It was sad parting on a cold, grey March morning, when Togo raised a small paw to my knee as if questioning why he was not going along with me. I never had a better dog than Togo. His stamina, loyalty, and intelligence could not be improved upon. Togo was the best dog that ever travelled the Alaska trail." Seppala did visit Togo a couple of times and was by his side when he was euthanized. Togo was bred in order to preserve his traits as a sled dog, and sired pups that were a part of and contributed to the Seppala Siberian Sleddog lines, as well as the AKC and CKC registered Siberian Husky bloodlines.

Release/Reception/Box Office

Togo was originally scheduled to be released on Disney+ on December 13, 2019, but was eventually moved and released a week later on December 20, 2019.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% and an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 39 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "An endearing and exciting underdog story that benefits greatly from its stars (canine and human alike), Togo is a timeless tale, well-told." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".

David Reamer of Anchorage Daily News and Simon Ingram of National Geographic state the film finally gives Togo his due.

Budget $40 million

My Review

I admit it, I'm a sentimentalist. I cried like a baby at my brother's wedding while my parents looked on in bemusement. I weep at favourite songs or pieces of music and shed tears freely at emotionally charged movies. It was my friend who recommended I watch this movie during lockdown and I really should have read the signs. First off it's a Disney movie, secondly it's about a brave dog... and right from these two facts, I knew I was going to struggle to get through it dry-eyed.

And so it proved. With films like this, for me anyway, critical faculties are suspended and you just want it all to end happily so that you don't have to hide your feelings anymore. I do know that Willem Dafoe and Julianne Nicholson were excellent in their parts as the slightly mismatched couple who set up home in the remote, frozen, northernmost part of America. He's the local "mush-man" responsible for trekking his team of husky dogs over unforgiving terrain for the benefit of the local community while she provides all the back-up back home he needs for them both to keep their operation going.

Comes a catastrophic diphtheria outbreak to the town, especially targeting young children and the need to requisition urgent medical supplies from some 500 miles or so away, but with an impending spell of bad weather knocking out the possible use of aeroplane or rail transport, the only way to go get the job done is for Dafoe and his dog's to undertake a hazardous cross-country trek like no other to collect the vaccines and get them to the hospital to help save the kids' lives.

With a storyline given added topicality and piquancy by the devastating Covid-19 virus outbreak, this was a thrilling and moving race against time, taking on the elements and indeed the odds, the effort spearheaded by crusty old Dafoe and his pack, especially Togo the pack-leading dog. Early on we're fed the back story of how Togo came into the couple's possession and how the dog's irrepressible desire to accompany Dafoe on his travels sees him twice unsuccessfully try to offload the dog to new owners, only for Togo to somehow find a way to break free and return back home from whence he came, Finally Dafoe is persuaded by the dog's errr... doggedness, to reluctantly road-test the apparently under-sized dog and eventually concede that its courage and stamina outweigh any physical disadvantages it may have.

We see the pack endure unbelievable dangers in their epic mission, Togo literally pulling out all the stops to navigate the team over breaking ice-floes, slog up snow-bound foot-hills and even save the group from certain doom near the end, in a particularly amazing show of love, strength and fortitude by the dog.

It's a Disney film so there's probably a fair bit of dramatic licence taken with the story but you'll have a good idea how it ends. The landscapes, making great use of drone shots on-high are frequently eye-catching and there's was a plaintive lonesome-violin soundtrack which further set the scene. I don't know how much of the cinematography was C-Gen assisted but the actions of the dogs and Togo in particular, looked natural to me.

Anyway I got through to the end with some dust in my eyes and immediately afterwards felt the need to hug our own dog of over ten years in sympathy and appreciation for what I'd just seen. 9.8/10!!!