Jack London 'To Build a Fire' | Nexus Studios 

I like that the animation shows his body falling totally into the water even though only his legs get wet, because even though its only his legs, he was as good as dead as if he was totally submerged. And other than that small, symbolic gesture, the animation is a beautiful and amazingly faithful retelling of the original short story.

"50 degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost. Such temperatures told him it was cold, and uncomfortable, and that was all."

people don't appreciate how good the original story, and this short film is. both are great examples in their own medium, beautifully scary and traumatizing. it makes you feel like you're there, freezing to death.

As one that has a permanent scar on my hand from frostbite i felt a chill down my spine seeing this animation. It's not often you come across an animation that actually manages to show how fragile we humans actually are in below zero temperatures. The scar on my hand is my personal reminder to not underestimate nature and how unforgiving winter can be.

we studied about this back in 10th grade and the detailed imageries captured my attention causing this story to get imprinted into my brain for as long as i can remember. our class didn't focus enough to this story so i read it all alone and seems like i'm the only one who appreciated it back then.

watching him wrestle the dog - his only companion - while knowing what his intentions were from the original story just... oof... the way they animated that whole sequence, the way they framed it from high above and just showed us the squirming commotion... that was a gut-wrenching watch beautiful work. Haunting.

The part of this story that I always loved is the relationship between the man and the dog. In most stories, you have this relationship where the dog would literally die for their master, and often times they do, or they get sacrificed. In this story, they are simply travelling together, and neither has any amount of fondness for the other. You can see that the man makes no attempt of warmth or affection towards the dog, so the dog doesn't return any. It's made clear in the story, and in the animation, the dog only follows the man because the man provides fire. If the man had shown any kindness towards the dog or developed any kind of bond with it, the dog might have even saved him by laying with him and keeping his core warm. But the dog was just a tool to the man, to alert to danger and to test spots for thin ice, and so the man was just a tool to the dog, to provide him warmth from his fire. Once that was gone, the dog went on his way and continued on to the camp by himself. Not only did it provide an aspect of "you get what you give," but contributed to the narrative of "man vs. nature." The dog never even really needed the man from the start. The dog is already a *part* of nature and understands how to survive in it, and you could say that by leaving the man to die he played a part in that role.

I remember this story from high school. I always liked it and agreed with the message "Only an idiot goes out alone on a long hiking trip when it is 50 below".. I am from Wisconsin (we know about cold weather!) and there is no way in hell you would get me out in 50 below weather except in extreme need.

I'd say this is the bleakest version of this story I've seen. It's a Nature's Eye view, bereft of most human narration or inner dialogue. It's not a disaster on a human scale, but a mere speck on the horizon slowing down....then stopping. It really captures that aspect of the original story.

Gosh, even with no words; the quick inhalation at 8:03 alone speaks greatly. You can truly tell that he has realized that with that final mistake he has condemned himself to death.

This is so underrated I can’t believe this didn’t blow up

Perhaps my favorite short story of all time, brutally simple. I see one drawback in the animation. In viewing the dog head on, the line art of the dog's snout makes it appear as if it's smiling. That said, it's an excellent adaptation.

I work at a mountain resort and almost every year we have one or two hikers die during the winter. We currently have a hiker who has gone missing for a week and two days. We all know the man is dead. Another death was added recently when a volunteer rescuer died. I revisit this short story yearly just to remind myself how cruel and unpredictable nature can be. What makes this so sad is that it's almost always avoidable. In the short novel, the unnamed gentleman was strongly advised by a native to not go on the trail. He went only because he wanted to meet with the boys at camp earlier so he can get gold. The hiker who we have missing went with a group. They sense that it was getting too dangerous, but he insisted to reach to the top and told them he'll return back. Because we never found his body, we suspect he is buried under an avalanche. It's the absolutely saddest part of my job. More sad when you have last seen them alive before you're told the next day that they are dead.

It's all so sad, but so realistic. Not that if this ever happens to you this will absolutely happen, but more this could happen. The fear of crossing the ice, the fire going out, the dog not listening to you or understanding, cause it's just a dog, snow falling on you. The desperation shown was so beautiful, and so sad and heart wrenching, and to end in a miserable conclusion. *Winter f*cking sucks-*

Animation and art style remind me of samurai jack

I watched the end credits to see if the soundtrack was a classical piece or not. Bravo Monsieur Alvado! This brought tears to my eyes.

One of the best stories I’ve ever read. First time I’d _read_ a story in months, if not years.

POV: your in class and your teacher said “If you don’t understand the story watch this 13 min video”

THIS WAS SO USEFUL THANK YOUUUUUUU

as an animator and literature lover this was such a gift... bravo!

Using this with my 11th Graders. Not all of them speak English and a lot have special needs. This animation will let them experience Jack London's great work and build their own analysis. Thanks

This is just really sad. As someone who just watched an analogy of the cold in media and in real stories, and then found this, this is chilling, and sad… it’s wrenching to watch a man have everything go right, and then one small slip-up leads him to his death, over and over again.

This video will help students for their study

Because of this I understand the story clearer thanks :)

This one is interesting when compared with the book. It takes less time than the book to get through, but it feels like everything happens... slower. The book has a quality to it, of feeling like it all goes so fast. It really gets in your head, makes you fear it. The animation is beautiful though, I give a solid 7/10

without this video, i probably wouldn't have passed 11th grade english. thank youuu!

Gorgeous adaptation 💕

Jack London's stories have always had a warm place in my heart, thanks for the wonderful film

This must be one of the best animations that I have ever seen. Love the work, appreciate it to the core.

This is really excellent. Well-done animation, pacing, music, and character design in a relatively simple format. Great work !

I loved this! I showed this to my students and they all appreciate the story To Build A Fire through this. Thanks!

I just read this story for my English class, great animation you got the story spot on

Every detail is well captured in this animation. Kudos to the animators.

I loved it. the animation was so well done and the soundtrack was fantastic. It helped me to understand the story.

Very well done. You have captured the spirit and emotion of the story. Thank you for sharing!

This is truly a fantastic work of art. No matter what I say, I can not add to the beauty that has been stated by this magnificent piece

Great animation! It always helps me to have a visual for any story I read and this is amazing!

This is amazing, keep up the great work!!

Holy cow, this is insanely high quality.

Thank you! Beautiful (and very faithful) interpretation. I would have liked to feel the tension building up more (for those who have not read the novels, I think it is hard to understand how dramatic the 'death' of the successive fires are). But great job!

Yes! Thank you! This is awesome!

The scoring is absolutely beautiful and spot on. It captures the mood and the orchestration is both somber and rich. -luv luv !

a cinematic masterpiece! And that soundtrack!!!!!

The dog seems be attached at the man but, after her death, he forget him quickly and he reaches immediately on an other fire. So beautiful story.

Well done. The animation is so good.

I need to find whoever made this music, it’s amazing

Great film, but it is such a beautifully written short story I was craving the narration.

That an incredible work here. Beautiful animation. The Call of the Wild for the dog in the end gave chills.

Very interesting to see the story without the internal monologue/narration.

I read this once. The thing was the fur trees offered a ready made tent-like shelter below them but it was a newcomers mistake to light your fire under them as the heat rising would unsettle the snow on the above branches and it could fall on your fire.

This is such a beautifully animated film. I watched it in my junior year art history class and was trying to find it after watching the call of the wild just now.

Thanks for this

The quote at the beginning is chilling. No pun intended.

Very very nice 👍👍👍 this really helped to understand the story more clearly

Love the animation! I read this short story for school today and it’s a long, but neat story.

This is awesome! Love the dog!

I was about to cry

Very nice animation, although it doesn't begin to quite capture the full extraordinary essence of the story. It is a truly mesmerizing read

Loved this!

An interesting depiction. Thank you

Fantastic!

The part where he tries to light his last matches was already intense enough in the original text. But here? How he breaths and grunts, and fumbles over and over... It's just so much more visceral all of a sudden. Made me shudder a bit.

Really enjoyed this

Wonderfully done!

Beautifully animated

Thanks a lot buddy this helped me a lot

This deserves more views!

Every detail is well captured in this video. Cool. We watched it in class and are going to have an exam about it next week lol

Beautifully done! (And you have a new sub)

This is brilliant. 🖤

Amazing sound design

The dog's animation is such a cute good story and a type of tension to build a fire in very snowy and freezing weather.

Thanks to Jacob, this video finally made it where it belonged: recommended.

This video is far better than the icse version U can imagine everything when you read the story

great, just great

amazing ❤

its sad whenever he goes after the dog, shows what people will do in their most desperate moments

It’s been so many years since I thought about this short story.

The animation is so cool :D

Here watching

Buenísimo. Gracias

Great animation

👏👏👏... thank you,

So glad I live in the tropics!

god i love this

Great animation😍 yet depressing story🥺

Amazing short film - I watch it with my year 11s every year as prep for reading the short story.

Jacob Gellar brought me here! Amazing work!

Chilling

Wowww😍. Good animation 👍🏻

I came here for my 6th period class and I like the story:D

The music in this is awesome I want to listen to it

I'm gonna share this to my teacher so she can use it

I love this story and it was a joy to see it animated.... thank you.

Great animation 👍

Great job at this Animation

I’m crying :( I feel bad for this man :I

Impressive.

I heard about this story from jacop gellers video fear of the cold its really good and it goes super in depth about this story and others