Search - Children of the Wild (aka Topa Topa) on DVD

Topa Topa

Jordan Taylor | Pacific Northwest | 03/27/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Topa Topa is a 1937 film which was later released as Children of the Wild. (Topa Topa being the name of a mountain featured in the film, and making something less than a striking title.)

The movie's stars are the talented German Shepherd actor, Silver Wolf, a golden eagle, and a straying toddler, though an adult human cast also features prominently. Like many dog films of the 1930s, this one includes a plot in which the noble "wolf-dog," Fang, is falsely accused of murder. Story ideas from Rin-Tin-Tin's 1926 feature The Night Cry, as well as another Silver Wolf film, The Rogues' Tavern (1936), were both used in Topa Topa to create a less-than unique film. But it remains an enjoyable one all the same.

Silver Wolf is put through his paces in this wilderness adventure: running for his life with a price on his head, rescuing small children from killer eagles, protecting his own family from a forest fire, and trying to clear his name. If watched with a sense of humor, Topa Topa is a great, older animal film. Highly recommended for kids interested in historical films, as this one is both far-fetched and clichéd, giving a good, overall impression of what many animal movies were like in the 1930s.

To learn more about Silver Wolf, or other dog films, check out Wonder Dogs: 101 German Shepherd Dog Films, which profiles Topa Topa, as well as another Silver Wolf movie, Call of the Yukon."