Walk Like a Man 1987

Henry Shand Christopher Lloyd goes to Alaska in search of gold and a fortune. There, his spoiled son Reggie Christopher Lloyd resents having to work for money and must share the dogsled with his two-year-old brother Robert, nicknamed Bobo, played by Howie Mandel. The harsh Klondike winter tests the family: in a desperate moment, Reggie pushes the toddler off the sled, leaving him to die in the freezing wilderness.

Two decades slip by. Henry has died, leaving Reggie a massive inheritance of thirty million dollars. Reggie squanders the fortune within a year, and his new bride, Rhonda Colleen Camp, spirals into alcoholism as they tumble into poverty and move back in with his mother, Margaret Cloris Leachman. Margaret has grown increasingly unstable since Bobo’s disappearance and Henry’s death, diverting much of the fortune to buying homes for stray cats.

Meanwhile, a biologist named Penny Amy Steel arrives from Alaska with a surprising claim: Bobo is alive. She reveals that the child has been raised by timber wolves, and the evidence of his upbringing is startling. Bobo’s days are marked by wolfish habits—sniffing at people, greeting with a lick on the face, moving on all fours, growling and barking, and even chewing shoes and playing with his surroundings in rough, animal-like ways. He also causes unintentional chaos, including a scene in public where he wanders into a shopping mall, intruding into dressing rooms, trying on clothes, and leaving stores with items still in tow.

As Bobo begins to act more like a person than a dog, Penny finds herself drawn to him emotionally. Reggie, meanwhile, pushes to speed up the training to settle gambling debts, pressuring Penny to transform Bobo quickly so the inheritance can be redirected to his own schemes. Penny stands up for Bobo in court when she uncovers Reggie’s plan: she refuses to let Bobo be used as a pawn, and the courtroom moment exposes the manipulation. In a bid to prove his point, Reggie mimics canine behavior—growling, barking, chewing on a squeaky toy—to paint Bobo as if he were the one responsible, but the judge dismisses the case nonetheless.

Outside the courtroom, Bobo and Penny share a quiet, hopeful kiss, signaling the possibility of genuine connection beyond the legal battles. Yet the moment is fleeting, as Bobo’s attention is snagged by a passing fire engine, pulling him away into the street’s noise and spectacle. The story threads together themes of family fracture, the blurred line between human and animal behavior, and the complicated power dynamics that surface when money, love, and loyalty collide.