My Dog Tulip (2009)
Certified: 12
Duration: 83 minutes
Directed by: Paul Fierlinger
Voices of: Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, Isabella Rossellini, Brian Murray, Paul Hecht, Euan Morton
KRS release
Clocking in at 58,320 drawings, My Dog Tulip is an independent animated feature with a difference.
Most of all, My Dog Tulip highlights perfectly how mucha dog and owner can understand and balance each other out- Johan Galea
Paul Fierlinger’s film, based on the 1956 writings of BBC editor, novelist and memoirist J. R. Ackerly, is oriented towards adults who can truly understand and appreciate the relationship that builds between the writer and his German Shepherd.
This film is realistic, melancholic and funny.
The drawing style is fluid and very unique; it veers away as much as possible from current trends in animation. Opening with a hilarious line about Englishmen and their dogs, an Ackerly quote, the film does not have a plot per se.
It is much rather a series of anecdotes, a combination of heartfelt stories about how a man makes his dog the central point of his life.
The way the film looks at a dog’s life – especially a dog’s love life – and the scatological humour are certainly aspects Hollywood animation would not touch upon.
The choice of Christopher Plummer as the film’s narrator is spot on. You can simply imagine the veteran actor, who had once played the father to the von Trapp kids in The Sound of Music, being the best friend of a dog. This is narration with a personality that leaps off the screen.
Lynn Redgrave’s turn is another added asset to the film while Isabella Rossellini provides the charm through her voice.
Dog films are usually awash with either Hollywood sentimentality or one slapstick gag after another.
My Dog Tulip is sentimental without being syrupy and has the gags without being overcooked.
The film has an experimental air to it as you see the screen fill with animation that glorifies in its hand-drawn British eccentricities.
The images couple Paul and Sandra Fierlinger bring to the screen are sometimes genuinely surrealistic.
John Avarese gives the film an added character with his smooth, jazz-like score and keeps things moving.
Most of all, My Dog Tulip highlights perfectly how much a dog and owner can understand and balance each other out.