"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine"
Subscribe To Weekly Newsletter!

TEACHER'S PET
by Peter Sobczynski

January 16, 2004

(out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Starring: Nathan Lane, Shaun Fleming, Rob Paulsen, Debra Jo Rupp, David Ogden Stiers. Directed by: Timothy Bjorklund, Timothy Björklund. MPAA Rating: PG for some mildly crude humor. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures.

Last fall, word began to leak out that Walt Disney Studios, less than thrilled over the weak response to their recent films (not counting those made by the Pixar subsidiary), had pretty much decided to abandon the traditional 2-D approach to animation on the theory that people were only interested in 3-D CGI movies. Animation purists howled, arguing that the reason that recent traditionally animated films (such as Disney’s megabomb "Treasure Planet") flopped was not because of the stylistic approach but because the stories that were being illustrated were dull little tales utter lacking in the charm, surprise, wit or emotional content contained in treasures like "Finding Nemo" and "Toy Story". Of course, the purists are correct-a film is generally only as strong as the underlying story and no amount of technological glitz can change that-this is why "Finding Nemo" would have been just as brilliant if it had been made in 2-D and why something like "Brother Bear" would have never gotten off the boards at Pixar.

To prove this, there are now no fewer than three examples of traditional animation currently in release that are so hugely entertaining and appealing that they serve as a rebuke to the notion that the approach is dead. One is the surreal "The Triplets of Belleville", which I (and many others) picked as one of 2003’s best films. Another is "Tokyo Godfathers", an inspired and touching riff of John Ford’s "Three Godfathers" from Japan’s Satoshi Kon (whose previous film, "Millennium Actress", was another highlight of last year). Now there is "Teacher’s Pet", a film that actually comes from Disney themselves, though the low-key marketing and mid-January release suggest that it was less than a high priority for the studio. Perhaps this was the key-maybe the people responsible for the recent bland studio output were off "improving" other projects and left the filmmakers to their own devices. Whatever the cause, the result is a smart, funny and visually impressive movie that may not wind up becoming an enduring classic but it is about four times better than you might expect.

The film is a spin-off of a now-defunct TV series (unseen by me, though it did apparently win some acclaim and an Emmy) and centers on Spot (Nathan Lane), a dog whose greatest wish in life is to be a real boy like his master/friend Leonard (Shawn Fleming). Instead of asserting his dog-self a la Mr. Peabody, Spot spends his days dressing up as a boy (named Scott) and attending school with Leonard. So successfully does he "pass" that the teacher (Debra Jo Rupp) never notices, even though she is also Leonard’s mom. As the film opens, Leonard and his mom are off to Florida to attend a Teacher of the Year competition and Spot is forced to stay at home. While channel-hopping, he sees an interview with Dr. Wazselewski (Kelsey Grammer), a madder-than-mad Florida-based scientist who claims to have perfected a machine that will change animals into humans and all he needs is the perfect test subject. Disguising himself as Scott, Spot catches up with Leonard and hitches a ride to meet his post-modern Blue Fairy.

Sure, there are heartfelt morals and Valuable Lessons Learned in "Teacher’s Pet"-the importance of Being Yourself and such-but what kind of blind-sided me about the film was its weirdo approach to such familiar material. The look of the film, for example, is strikingly unlike the majority of current American animated films. With its intriguingly garish look, the style seems inspired less by Disney and more by the output of the Fleischer Brothers in the 1930’s-right down to the way that the skeletons of the various characters seem ready to erupt from their skin at any minute. The vocal casting is also pretty impressive without ever overwhelming the material-even though I, as a rule, would recommend limiting any child’s exposure to Nathan Lane or Jerry Stiller (who does the voice of Pretty Boy the bird), I must admit they are good. The only weak spot in the casting is Grammer-sure, he is funny as the mad scientist (especially when dealing with a couple of failed experiments, played by Paul Reubens and Megan Mullally) but you can’t listen to him in another cartoon without thinking of Sideshow Bob.

There are also a lot of big laughs in "Teacher’s Pet" and it comes as a blessed relief that there is only one bit of brief gross-out humor on display. Some of the gags are of the we-know-it’s-only-a-movie variety (as Leonard and his mom burst into another song, Spot bemoans, "I’m starting to feel Von Trapped!") and some are in-jokes directed at the studio itself (including a reference to "101 Dalmatians" and the comment stating that Florida is "just Jersey with palm trees). Some of the other jokes are a lot more complex-we discover during the end credits that the soap opera voices we briefly heard were provided by Luke and Laura themselves. My favorite is one so multi-layered that it may not have even been intended as a joke: when Spot is turned into a real boy, he is crushed to learn that, thanks to those pesky "dog years", he has actually been transformed into a middle-aged man. Could this finally be the long-awaited Disney comment to that Roberto Benigni debacle?

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2004 Peter Sobczynski
All rights reserved.
Used with permission
Peter's Archives

While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.