Against the Wild

Meet Yoshi the canine star of Anchor Bay Entertainment’s latest movie, “Against the Wild 2: Survive the Serengeti” Yoshi, an Alaskan, Malamute plays, Chinook in the heart pounding, family adventure, which comes to Digital HD on April 29th and to DVD on May 10th.

Chinook, helps brother and sister Ryan and Emma, played by John Paul Ruttan and Ella Ballentine, survive the perils of the African bush when their small plane goes down while on a weekend trip to visit their father.  With only a few essentials on board the plane, the kids and Chinook find themselves in a race against time and the elements as must fend for themselves against dangerous wildlife, extreme heat, dehydration and exhaustion.  Jeri Ryan, plays the children’s mother left to frantically search for her kids and hold out hope that they could survive. 

Director and Producer, Richard Boddington, specifically wanted to cast a Malamute for the role of Chinook and tasked the animal trainer with finding him the perfect dog for the role. Narrowed from a group of four dogs, three year old, Yoshi was ultimately selected for the canine part. To prepare for the job, Yoshi worked with the trainer for 10 months but it was his good temperament that made him a natural. Yoshi was quickly at home on set, on the film that was shot entirely on location in South Africa and loved the camera.

Yoshi, doesn’t let all the movie stardom go to his head, according to the trainer, Yoshi lives a very normal dog life in South Africa with his owners and his fellow canine family members which include another female Malamute, a Jack Russell Terrier and a Labrador. It is uncertain fi Yoshi has plans to continue his acting career or if he’ll resign himself to the quiet life of ball chasing and treats.