Don Shanahan
As the tagline reads, Dog Man is “part man, part dog, all hero.” After scoring well with audiences during a theatrical run that’s still chugging ever so closer towards $100 million domestically, Dog Man debuted on digital platforms back on February 18th. Now, two months later, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Dreamworks Animation bring the movie to physical media and store shelves in April. Film Obsessive was granted a preview copy of the Blu-ray disc for another entry in our “Off the Shelf” physical media review series.
THE MOVIE
Based on Dav Pilkey’s spin-off series from his Captain Underpants franchise and coming from the same animation house enjoying a streak of solid hits, including last fall’s critically-acclaimed The Wild Robot, Dog Man brings the tail-wagging “supa cop” to the big screen against his feline arch rival Petey, voiced by Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson. After a wild accident injures a human police officer and his K-9 partner, a nutty surgery saves their lives by combining the two together. With the head of a faithful police dog and the body of a fearless cop, our hero adopts a new identity to save the good people of Okay City. Written and directed by Peter Hastings (Animaniacs, Tiny Toons), Dog Man also features the voice talents of Isla Fisher as news reporter Sara Hatoff, Lil Rel Howery as the police chief, and comedian Ricky Gervais as the nefarious Flippy the Fish. Check out Film Obsessive’s full review from this past winter for the full skinny.
THE DISC
The home media “collectors edition” of Dog Man arrived on April 1 in Blu-ray and DVD disc formats. It’s surprising, with Dreamworks Animation’s recent string of successes (The Wild Robot, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), that the studio didn’t also drop the hit film on 4K-UHD. Animated movies tend to transfer their video and sound beautifully to that top-level format. While the target demographic kids might not notice the differences of visual and auditory clarity, maybe their discerning adult physical media buyers will.
Hopefully, a double-dip later isn’t coming, since those have have happened in the past. In the mean time, the Dog Man disc is far from bare bones that were previously gnawed down by a gumshoe canine. The bonus features on the Blu-ray and DVD discs are nicely centered for the family crowd, while still including an insightful and energetic director’s commentary from director Peter Hastings (who was also the barking and howling voice of Dog Man himself).
DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES: The extra Dog Man content begins with eight deleted or extended scenes. Each are introduced by Hastings. Many of them are shaves from classic scenes from the actual books from author Dav Pilkey. Being unrealized and unfinished scenes from a CGI-animated movie, all eight are shown from storyboard artist renditions put into motion using temp actors as voices since they were cut before final casting.
- Sewer Ball Scene: This extends an adventurous swim for the rolled-away ball after the realtor visit.
- Petey Robs a Bank: One more mechanical contraption, a giant can opener, is used by Petey for a bank robbery
- Lil Petey Adoption Scene: This is a longer look at the “free kitty” box where a few more possible suitors consider the kitten.
- Petey Puppet Time: Petey tries to mock Dog Man to Lil Petey
- Dog Man Chopper and Hang Glider: A little trim of an action transition that was made to one of the montage chase sequences.
- Revenge of the Bank of Jim: A longer version of an existing scene features more Jim.
- Butler Business: Showing a brand new character made for the movie outside of the books, this scene would have occurred at the end of Petey’s redemptive acceptance towards the end of the film.
- Flippy in Jail Epilogue: Our mastermind villain is shown in fish jail with pen pals he shares comics with.
CAST RECORDING HIGHLIGHTS: A nice featurette was made to go into the casting and their behind-the-scenes work recording their lines. The entire cast from top to bottom get their moment to talk about their motivations to join Dog Man and flesh out their character. The undoubted star of this feature (and the entire movie) is Pete Davidson and Petey. All the energy goes through him.
THE CREATION OF DOG MAN: The production history chronicling the journey from page to screen is stumped by the cast and director Peter Hastings. Throughout the script to storyboard journey in the animation department, the reverence for Dav Pilkey’s source material comes through with the film’s intention to carry over the messages of ADHD, creativity, and more. You can tell this entire project was made by people who clearly love the books.
HOW TO DRAW: This bonus item is perfect for the adoring kids watching Dog Man. Illustrator Anthony Zierhut, the head of story, offers on-screen tutorials of how to draw three characters (Dog Man, Petey, and Lil’ Petey) and how to combine them to make a miniature “flip-o-rama” scene on paper. Lovely addition!
HOW TO BAKE DOGGIE DONUTS: Those family audiences with “fur babies” aren’t forgotten by Dog Man. Playing like a micro-sized cooking show, this item shows folks how to make and bake specialized dog treats. This was a nice final touch to the disc.
