Eight Below is a Walt Disney Pictures film directed by Frank Marshall and written by David DiGillo, which was released on February 17, 2006 in the United States.

The 1958 ill-fated Japanese expedition to Antarctica inspired the 1983 hit movie entitled Nankyoku Monogatari. 'Eight Below' is the fictional re-interpretation of the true events of the 1958 occurrence

Jerry (Paul Walker) is a sled-team guide at an Antarctica research base, and has been commissioned by a UCLA professor to take him to Mount Melbourne to attempt to collect a rare meteor. He does so against his own intuition, which tells him that it is too late in the season (January) to complete such a treacherous route.

After several mishaps, Jerry and the professor make it back to base camp and are immediately evacuated, as all other personnel have been ordered to do throughout the area. The team of eight husky dogs are left behind and it soon becomes apparent that no rescue will be attempted prior to the next season. The dogs must struggle for survival alone in the Antarctic wilderness until Jerry eventually returns to rescue them, more than six months later. Six of the eight dogs survive. The two who die are Dewey and Old Jack with the six survivors being Buck, Max, Maya, Shadow, Shorty and Truman.

The turning point in the film is the moment when the professor sees a drawing by his little son, with the label: "My Hero - the Dogs who saved Daddy." This inspires the professor to realize the magnitude of his ingratitude and he finds a way to finance a rescue mission.

In the 1958 occurrence twelve Sakhalin Husky sled dogs were used. In the Eight Below movie they used eight dogs, two Alaskan Malamutes Buck and ??? with the balance being six Siberian Huskies. It took many more dogs to act out the difficult scenes, that's because each actor-dog had help from other dogs who performed stunts and pulled the sleds. In all, more than thirty dogs were used to portray the film's eight canine characters

The spirited, red-headed Buck comes to life through the work of the cast's quickest learner Conan and Flapjack, a strapping six year-old, who is also the biggest dog on the movie weighing in at over 120 pounds. Conan and Flapjack performed both the acting and sledding for Buck.

One of the close-knit twins in the pack, is portrayed by 4 year-old Floyd, a veteran pro who, when not starring in movies such as Snow Dogs, is one of the regulars at the Universal Animal Show in Florida. His sledding double was 2 year-old Ryan, who was always ready to take off, even when it wasn't his turn!

The strong and maternal Alpha leader of the pack, is played by seven year-old Koda Bear, star of such films as Snow Dogs who is known to her trainers as The Princess due to the fact that she has her own entourage and won't go anywhere without her special blanket. Also starring as Maya is the equally beautiful, 7 year-old Jasmine, who always gets very serious whenever shes playing a film role. Their sledding double was Kalista, herself a long time Alpha sled dog, who like her character, helped to keep all the other dogs out of trouble during the filming.

The young sled-dog who starts out in the back of the pack but becomes a heroic leader in the course of the incredible adventures of Eight Below is played by 6 year-old D.J. and his sledding double, Timba. A natural-born movie star, D.J. was previously seen in Snow Dogs and is known to his trainers as a skilled improviser who will always add extra feeling to his performance, while Timba was an on-set favorite due to an exceptionally cuddly nature.

The oldest dog in the pack, known for his well-honed poker-playing skills, Old Jack is played by a relative youngster, 4 year-old Apache, who developed a particular love of helicopter rides during the making of Eight Below. Old Jack's sledding work was performed by Buck, an all-white dog previously seen in Snow Dogs who underwent a dye job to match Apache.

Starring as the silvery, sleek Shadow are Noble, a 3 year-old canine actor known for really getting into character and 4 year-old Troika, famous for her beautiful howling voice, who were both double threats: doing both all the acting and all the sledding for their roles.

The all-brawns-and-a-few-too-brains rebel dog, Shorty, is played by equally playful, all-white, three year-old Jasper, who was especially excited to star in Eight Below because snow is his favorite thing in the world. Jasper's sledding double was the tenacious Yukon, who never seemed to tire of pulling the sled.

Truman, Dewey's identical brother, is portrayed by 3 year-old Sitka, whose favorite things in life include slices of Canadian Duck and frequent belly rubs. Her sledding and action double was 5 year-old Chase, known to the trainers as the big goof ball. Chase graciously underwent a regular dye job to look more like Sitka.