The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground, or just above it.

The hunters may be the dead or the fairies (often in folklore connected with the dead). The hunter may be an unidentified lost soul, a deity or spirit of either gender, or may be a historical or legendary figure like Theodoric the Great, the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag, the Welsh psychopomp Gwyn ap Nudd or the Germanic Woden (or other reflections of the same god, such as Alemannic Wuodan in Wuotis Heer ("Wuodan's Army") of Central Switzerland, Swabia etc.)

It has been variously referred to as Wilde Jagd (German: "wild hunt/chase") or Wildes Heer (German: "wild army"), Herlaþing (Old English: "Herla's assembly"), Woden's Hunt, Herod's Hunt, Cain's Hunt, the Devil's Dandy Dogs (in Cornwall),Gabriel's Hounds (in northern England),Ghost Riders (in North America),Mesnée d'Hellequin (Old North French: "household of Hellequin"), Cŵn Annwn (Welsh: "hounds of Annwn"), divoký hon or štvaní (Czech: "wild hunt", "baiting"), Dziki Gon or Dziki Łów (Polish), Oskoreia or Åsgårdsreia (Norwegian: "ride of Asgard"),Estantiga (from Hoste Antiga, Galician: "the old army"), Hostia, Compaña and Santa Compaña ("troop, company") in Galicia, and güestia in Asturias.

The Wild is a 2006computer-animated film directed by Steve "Spaz" Williams, produced by Clint Goldman, assistant produced by Jim Burton and C.O.R.E. Feature Animation, and was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures on April 14, 2006, in the United States.

The movie begins with Samson the lion (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) telling his son Ryan (voiced by Greg Cipes) stories of his adventures in the wild. Ryan attempts to imitate his father's roar, but all he can manage is a squeaky meow. Ryan is teased by the zoo guests and he sulks away on his rock. During the night, when the zoo closes, all the animals are free to roam. Samson heads off to play a game of Turtle Curling with the other animals, while Ryan is taunted to come with his friends Eze the Hippo (voiced by Miles Marsico) and Duke the Kangaroo (Jack DeSena) to stalk the gazelles like his father. Samson later observes as his best friend Benny the Squirrel (voiced by James Belushi) tries to get Bridget the Giraffe (voiced by Janeane Garofalo) to go out with him, but she is clearly not interested. Along with Bridget, an unlucky koala named Nigel (voiced by Eddie Izzard), and a dim-witted snake named Larry (voiced by Richard Kind), Samson competes in a Turtle Curling Game against a team of Penguins. Meanwhile, Ryan's friends sneak into the gazelle exhibit. Ryan tries to stop Eze and Duke with a roar, but meows instead. However, it wakes the gazelles into a stampede, which ruins his father's game. This ends up invoking Samson's anger as he scolds Ryan for spending all day sulking. Ryan retorts by saying he sulks because he would feel much better being a loser if his father wasn't "Samson the Wild."