American Dog: Why American Dog might become the best animated movie in years

With all those different animated movies coming out nowadays, it's getting to be increasingly difficult keeping them apart. Most of them are either of the 'cute animals fight human evil' type, or try to spoof fairy tales for the umpteenth time, so you'd almost say it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a movie that stands out. Disney will unleash a movie like that in 2008. Yes, it features animals, but they're not singing with high pitched voices or trying to get rid of hunters. No, this is American Dog, created and directed by Chris Sanders, the man behind the most original animated movie of the last ten years, Lilo and Stitch, and here you will read why it's going to be the animated movie to watch.

I can give you various reasons why American Dog had me excited from practically the first second I heard about it.

1. Chris Sanders. Together with Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders created Lilo and Stitch. The movie was based on an original idea by Sanders, and it was an utter joy to watch. What made it stand out from so many of the other animated movies was the fact that it was entirely original: a little girl finds a homicidal alien, and against the odds, they become great friends. It was very subversive and un-Disney, with the cute little girl in the lead having weird hobbies like making pictures of fat people on the beach, and with the other lead being a maniacal creature with only one thing on his mind: destruction. However, somehow, Sanders and DeBlois were able to turn their story into something funny and heartwarming. In my opinion, Stitch is one of the few classic Disney characters to emerge from a non Pixar-movie in the last ten years, and it was thanks to the creators that his look was also stunningly original. Besides that, the whole movie looked wonderful. In an age when animators were already trying to make their movies look more realistic, Sanders and DeBlois went back to the old days of Disney, painting the backgrounds in beautiful watercolours, and opting for a fun, none too realistic look for all the characters. And now Sanders is ready to unleash his unique vision on us again, as American Dog is bound to be just as pleasant a surprise, as long as the new heads of Disney Animation try not to Disneyize or Pixarize it too much (look, I love the Pixar movies, but their last one was way too predictable).

2. The story. Henry is a popular dog. He stars in his own television series, in which he is a James Bond style secret agent who manages to survive the most wonderful adventures. Henry is the toast of the town, but then one day one of the stunts in his show goes terribly wrong, Henry loses concsiousness, and when he wakes up he finds himself on a train, thousands of miles away from his home. Henry has been a celebrity all his life and does not know how to handle himself in this new situation, but luckily he is able to make some new friends that he convinces to get him back home. What ensues is a road trip fraught with perilous situations. What? No fairy princesses? No song and dance? Great!

3. The style. Will you just look at these wonderful pieces of art that have been released for the movie? Of course, this is all very preliminary, but it looks absolutely gorgeous. The characters look original, the movie has a wonderfully original look and I love the way colours have been used in this.

There is one bad thing about this movie though: we have to wait until 2008!

Comments

Chris Sanders eh? Not anymore...

Posted by: Someone | December 16, 2006 at 11:18 PM

No, and that sucks!

Posted by: Patrick | January 05, 2007 at 11:13 AM

This looks very interesting. But the thing is will they allow the smoking and the guns even if its supposed to be make-believe segment. But wow a possibly good project from a creative staff.

Posted by: furryman69 | March 23, 2007 at 08:11 PM