ANI-MOVIES, *Isle Of Dogs

Whereas The Fantastic Mr. Fox was based on a Roald Dahl book, Wes Anderson's second stop-motion animated film was an original idea thought up mostly by him in Isle Of Dogs. This is a futuristic future fable set in a fictional Japanese city but told through the perspective of American viewers. Wes Anderson's auteur-driven filmmaking is on full display here with distinctive symmetry, unique color pallettes, quirky writing, and introspective dialogue. The animation is more fluid than Mr. Fox with a better frame rate which takes this up to Laika levels of productions, although there is some 2D animation thrown in whenever they have the occasional shot being shown a video display. Anderson was inspired to do this from the old Rankin-Bass 3D specials, plus borrowed some plot elements from various Disney films shown from the dog's perspective as well as The Plague Dogs. The film was PG-13 and intended for older audiences as there is some animal cruelty and mature themes which wasn't as cohesive as most people with families might have hoped for, but despite its limited theatrical release it gained numerous accolades. There was some controversy as the plot was catered more for Americans which incorporated colonialism as well as ignoring genuine Japanese culture as the film has stereotypical elements like sumo wrestling, kabuki theater, and haiku is apparently the ultimate form of speechmaking, plus the addition of a blonde American transfer student to advance the story who was ultimately pointless.

Happening in the 2030s, the Japanese town of Megasaki is under the corrupt rule of Mayor Kobayashi who has been planning on ridding their streets of dogs as most of the people running the town are huge cat lovers. To accomplish this, they design a flu intended for dogs, have all the dogs banished to the neighboring garbage-ridden Trash Island, and suppress any chances or protests to thwart their plans, including poisoning a professor who had developed a cure for the flu. Kobayashi inherited his position of mayor from his brother who passed away, and he adopted his rebellious nephew Atari who has created his own self-repaired plane to rescue his guard dog Spots. Atari crashes and is found by a pack of five dogs who decide to help him find Spots, even though the one stray of them named Chief isn't totally with the others on their decision. Chief and Atari get separated from the others and finally come across Spots who it turns out to be Chief's long-lost brother and is leader of a tribe of outcasted dogs, so Chief accepts his brother's position of bodyguard. All this is going on when the minority of dog lovers in Megasaki work against Kobayshi's plan, specifically a foreign exchange student who secretly falls for Atari. The showdown comes down to the dog refugees with their advocates breaking into Kobayashi's re-election celebration where it's revealed that everything was engineered by the mayor's Major Domo who planned this whole conspiracy. The dogs are accepted back into the city, the dog flu is cured, and Chief begins a partnership along a nice female dog he briefly met earlier in the movie.

Isle Of Dogs is one a kind in comparison to other stop-motion animated movies, even among the craft of Tim Burton's productions, although it does give into some cartoon cliches like whenever there's a big dog fight the entire scuffle is covered by a cloud of dust. The cast made this an amazing experience with Bryan Cranston as Chief returning to his anime roots back when he dubbed Macross Plus, plus other Wes Anderson regulars like Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, and Bill Murray. The story relies heavily on flashbacks and monologues that is big on backstory, so be ready for a non-linear experience. Anderson's idiosyncratic brand of cinematography shines in his second animated outing, and despite some its cultural flaws this is a film that demands repeat viewings to soak up all the hidden gems.