Veteran sled dog Old Jack and his owner, guide Jerry Shepherd (Paul Walker), brave Antarctica's hostile climate in "Eight Below."

Q: How can a movie set in icy Antarctica be all warm and fuzzy?

A: When it's "Eight Below," a heart-warming survival adventure that manages to transcend its cutesy-poo Disney pedigree.

Inspired, as they say, by actual events -- which in turn inspired an award-winning 1983 Japanese movie, "Nankyoku Monogatari (Antarctica)" -- "Eight Below" recounts the stirring tale of a valiant sled-dog team stranded in a harrowing Antarctic winter.

And, of course, the humans who reluctantly leave them behind -- and eventually return to search for them.

Not that the members of a 1993 National Science Foundation expedition want to abandon the dogs.

But, with badly injured geologist Davis "Doc" McLaren (dependably deft Bruce Greenwood) needing immediate treatment and the mother of all Antarctic storms closing in, guide Jerry Shepherd (handsome but blank Paul Walker) has no choice but to leave his eight beloved "kids" behind at the team's base camp.

Pilot Katie (Moon Bloodgood) promises to return immediately to retrieve the sled team. Due to circumstances beyond everyone's control, however, the dogs remain leashed outside their base camp, awaiting rescue. Until it becomes clear that nobody's coming back for them -- and that the dogs are on their own, alone and unprotected, in the world's harshest climate.

Their quest for survival forms the heart of "Eight Below," which thankfully allows the heroic dogs (some of whom also appeared in Disney's shameless "Snow Dogs") to behave like canines rather than cartoons.

For much of its (too-long) running time, the movie almost plays like a nature documentary, exploring pack behavior, nature's often brutal demands -- and bonds of loyalty that sometimes trump basic survival instincts.

Screenwriter David DiGilio extends these themes to "Eight Below's" human characters, tracing Jerry and Doc's different paths -- which, inevitably, lead them back to Antarctica.

Working with ace director of photography Don Burgess ("The Polar Express"), director Frank Marshall ("Alive," "Congo") fills "Eight Below" with awe-inspiring frozen vistas that underline nature's unforgiving, but undeniably majestic, beauty. (Northern Canada, Greenland and Norway stand in for Antarctica.)

And, at the heart of the movie, "Eight Below's" captivating canine stars -- from motherly Maya to blue-eyed, inquisitive Max -- show off such convincing dramatic chops you wish a little of their collective acting ability had rubbed off on Walker.

But never mind. They've got the title roles and make the most of them, making "Eight Below" one of the rare family-friendly movies that will actually interest everyone .