Blu-ray Review: Dog Man (Collector’s Edition 2000)

By John Corrado

DreamWorks Animation has always had two modes, which is what allows the studio to balance prestige animated films with more cartoony efforts. So for every How to Train Your Dragon, there’s a Boss Baby.

This is why the studio is able to so effortlessly follow up a great film like last year’s Oscar-nominated The Wild Robot, with one as outwardly goofy and enjoyable as Dog Man, without even missing a beat.

Based on the book series by Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey, Dog Man is the tale of a half-man, half-dog “supa cop” who is created when a human officer gets into an accident with his police dog, and the dog’s head is surgically sewn onto his body in order to save them both.

The irascible police chief (Lil Rel Howery) assigns the newly minted Dog Man (voiced by the film’s writer-director Peter Hastings) to take down feline super-villain Petey (Pete Davidson), a cat bent on world domination. To help with his evil plans, Petey creates a clone of himself, a sweet kitten named Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon). The characters also contend with reporter Sarah Hatoff (Isla Fisher), and a mutant, reanimated fish named Flippy (Ricky Gervais).

Pilkey’s books themselves are a spinoff from his Captain Underpants series, with the character of Dog Man having been sprung from the imaginations of the two young protagonists, who create comic books in their spare time. As such, the film moves at a fast pace (including sped-up montages to help move the story forward), capturing the tone of something that is meant to have been created by two young boys with ADHD.

The main appeal of Dog Man lies in its steady stream of jokes and cartoon action, with humour that is clever and juvenile in equal measure (there are a lot of dog versus cat jokes, of course). Likewise, the film is similar in tone and style to DreamWorks’ 2017 Captain Underpants movie, utilizing the same 2D-3D animation technique. There is a lot of visual creativity on display in how the animators mimic Pilkey’s crude, comic strip-style illustrations.

This isn’t meant to have the depth of The Wild Robot. But Dog Man does have a few surprising moments of heart as well. It’s a film that will absolutely delight its target audience of kids and should get lots of replay value from younger viewers who love the books, while also easily amusing older viewers as well with its breakneck pace and zany humour.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The “Collector’s Edition 2000” Blu-ray comes with a selection of bonus features, including deleted scenes and a couple of featurettes. The package ships with a slipcover.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (Play All – 10 minutes, 35 seconds): With introductions by screenwriter/director Peter Hastings.

Sewer Ball Chase (1 minute, 42 seconds)
Petey Robs Bank of Jim (1 minute, 17 seconds)
Li’l Petey Adoption People (1 minute, 4 seconds)
Petey Puppet Time (1 minute, 13 seconds)
Dog Man Chopper Hang Glider (50 seconds)
Revenge of the Bank of Jim (2 minutes, 33 seconds)
Butler Business (57 seconds)
Flippy in Jail Epilogue (56 seconds)

• Meet the Pack (5 minutes, 5 seconds): The cast talks about their roles, including director Peter Hastings providing the dog noises for Dog Man.

• The Making of Dog Man: A Sarah Hatoff Exclusive (5 minutes, 43 seconds): A fast-paced look at the making of the film, from adapting Pilkey’s books for the screen, to mimicking his art style in 3D animation.

• Howl to Draw – Flip-O-Rama Style (Play All – 12 minutes, 24 seconds)