THE HOWL OF THE MALEMUTE

A winter in on the Bering Sea, is the subject of this account which is filled with stories of the March' friends and neighbors there and of the documentary this juvenile author-illustrator pair made of the life of sled dogs, from puppyhood on to the training for the final team work. With their Seegoo siring a litter and with the other dogs to be worked into the team, they had a roller coaster of problems -- of water, wood, food and housing before the picture even started. There was the building of the sled, and the Freeze up; there were many social occasions and plenty of time for visits and yearning; and there was always the necessity to train the dogs with the hope that Seegoo would become a good leader. The Eskimos -- as friends and actors- adults and children, were very much a part of the daily life, and blizzards, sickness and accidents made for a close relationship by the time the film was finished. It's a lively record of a project and a vivid closeup of sub-Aretic Alaskan living.