Icky even by the usual standards of anthropomorphism, this sub-Disney nature walk spends far more time reinforcing gender and class roles than clueing us in to the subtle world of wolves, which was the presumed mission of Alpha and Omega.

The title refers to wolf hierarchy, with Hayden Panettiere voicing Kate, daughter of alpha pack leader Winston (Danny Glover), and genial sad sack Justin Long doing the same for Humphrey, most exceptional of the lowly omegas, more useful as entertainment than for hunting.

Apparently, the pickings have been slim lately in “Jasper, Canada”, where the frequently stampeding caribou are more dangerous to the wolves than the other way around. For whatever reason—perhaps they are squeamish—our crowd is hungry and under threat by another pack, led by Tony (Dennis Hopper). The aristocratic solution is to unite the packs by “marrying” Kate to Tony’s son Garth (Chris Carmack), a popinjay who is actually more interested in the princess’s goofy sister (Christina Ricci).

No effort is made to explain how these critters end up as alphas or omegas or anything in between, but in the surprisingly flat (especially for 3-D) tale’s one original twist, howling is presented as a metaphor for sex. Thus, when Garth is unable to perform his vocal duties at a full-moon fiesta, well, you have to wonder how the movie kept its G rating.

The rest of the story involves Kate and Humphrey—presumably in a nod to The African Queen—being transported to a park in Idaho and slowly finding their way back home. The adventure stops occasionally for tuneless “songs” that resemble Luther Vandross warm-up exercises. And after a couple of these, it never really starts again. Fangs, but no fangs.