It's a dog's life for Harrison Ford as he launches latest film

Hollywood actor Harrison Ford led the charge for the first film out of the gate post-Oscars with the world premiere of "The Call of the Wild".

Based on the classic book of the same name by Jack London

Hollywood actor Harrison Ford led the charge for the first film out of the gate post-Oscars with the world premiere of "The Call of the Wild".

Based on the classic book of the same name by Jack London, the film follows the trials and tribulations of a dog named Buck, who is kidnapped from his family home and taken to the Arctic to drive sleds.

After numerous adventures, he befriends grizzled loner John Thornton (Harrison Ford) and together they go out to find themselves in the wilderness.

"It's a story about perseverance, it's a story about human redemption, it's a story about an animal finding its destiny, it's a story about the power of nature, about the complications of humanity... Fun!," said Ford at the premiere.

The dog in the book is described as a St Bernard crossed with a Scotch Collie.

The filmmakers, who already for ethical reasons decided to make the central character CGI, tirelessly looked for a dog of that particular crossbreed but with no luck.

The wife of director Chris Sanders was Googling on set one day and found a stray dog in a pound that fit the description, and coincidentally the pound had named the dog Buck.

Sanders told Reuters "She paid 25 dollars because he was marked down because nobody was buying him.

She drove back to the set and as soon as everyone saw him, they said 'That's the dog'.

So, we took him to be scanned and he's the dog in the film and he's a sweetheart." "The Call of the Wild" goes on release on February 21.