Togo: Lassie with Ice in its Veins?

Okay, so I just finally caught "Togo" on Disney+ and color me impressed. I went in expecting some fluffy, feel-good family nonsense, and while it WAS uplifting, it also had some serious grit! Willem Dafoe, man, he just gets that grizzled old-timer vibe, doesn't he? Anyone else think he was channeling a bit of Walter Brennan there? Anyway, the whole serum run thing... knew about it vaguely, but didn't realize how much of a freakin' BEAST Togo was. Forget Balto getting all the glory; that dog was a legend! It totally gave me old-school adventure vibes, like something Disney would have made back in the day, but with way better cinematography (obviously). Speaking of which, that scenery was insane! That shot where Togo is leading the team across that ice floe… seriously thought they were gonna fall right through. Reminded me a bit of “The Incredible Journey” (the original, not that remake garbage). Anyone else see a connection, or am I just showing my age? My question is: did anyone else tearing up when Togo was a pup and he kept escaping to run with Leonhard Seppala? I'm not a huge dog person, but that little guy had heart! And Seppala risking everything to let him lead...that's real connection. Did they ham it up a bit? Maybe. But it worked for me. Did anyone else get a major case of the feels during that part, or just me? Also, gotta ask, does anyone know if they used real wolf howls throughout the movie? They sounded pretty authentic, and added to the tension in a few scenes. Or was it all sound design magic? Either way, kudos to the sound crew. All in all, a surprisingly good flick that hit all the right nostalgic notes for this Gen Xer.