Men And Dogs In 'Eight Below'

New Movie Is A Survival Story About Dogs Stranded In Antarctica

(CBS)  Opening this weekend is the new Disney movie "Eight Below," an action-adventure film set in the frozen wilds of Antarctica.

The film is based on the true story of a group of explorers who are forced to leave behind their team of dogs for six months in the wilderness until a rescue mission is dispatched.

Jason Biggs and Paul Walker discussed the making of the film, in a visit with The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler.

Walker's character has a strong connection to the sled dogs and says he suffers terribly after leaving the team behind.

"They're his everything," Walker told Syler. "They are his family. Not to mention that I think they saved his neck a countless number of times. He feels pretty bad about leaving them behind."

Biggs' character is not a fan of dogs, but always received a loving greeting from them. That was arranged by smearing his face with something tasty, so that the dogs would run up and lick him.

"It was baby food but it was like this nasty chicken, liver, fat-based gelatin," he said. "It was disgusting. And it was freezing cold so it was all frozen."

The movie was filmed in Vancouver, where it's not quite the freezing climate of Antarctica. They got through it with a bit of that old movie star treatment.

"It was a big Hollywood movie," Biggs said. "We got hot chocolate brought in and warming tents."

As for working with a team of dogs as their co-stars, Walker joked that it was actually easier than working with people. Although the dogs did need the help of a couple of very hands-on trainers.

While there were eight dogs in the story line, there was one point when the shoot involved more than 60 dogs. And they're all trained to do one specific thing: run, run, run.

"Once you hook them up and they start pulling that sled, they just want to go and go and go. The hard part is to reel them in," said Walker.

The Early Show had a chance to meet a couple of those canine stars, out on the Plaza with Dave Price.

With a little help from their trainers, the dogs showed off a few tricks and charmed the crowd.