Teacher's Pet (2004)

Spot (Lane) is a dog who can talk and read. Posing as a human, he sneaks into school with his master Leonard (Flemming). Educational adventures ensue.

Director:

Timothy Björklund

Writers:

Gary Baseman (television series Teacher's Pet), Bill Steinkellner (television series Teacher's Pet),

Stars:

Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Shaun Fleming

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathan Lane	...	Spot Helperman / Scott Leadready II / Scott Manly-Manning (voice)
Kelsey Grammer	...	Dr. Ivan Krank (voice)
Shaun Fleming	...	Leonard Amadeus Helperman (voice)
Debra Jo Rupp	...	Mrs. Mary Lou Moira Angela Darling Helperman (voice)
David Ogden Stiers	...	Mr. Jolly (voice)
Jerry Stiller	...	Pretty Boy (voice)
Paul Reubens	...	Dennis (voice)
Megan Mullally	...	Adele (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Ian Wazselewski (voice)
Wallace Shawn	...	Principal Crosby Strickler (voice)
Jay Thomas	...	Barry Anger (voice)
Estelle Harris	...	Mrs. Boogin (voice)
Genie Francis	...	Marsha / Marcia (voice) (as Genie Ann Francis)
Anthony Geary	...	John / Juan (voice)
Rosalyn Landor	...	Blue Fairy (voice)

Storyline

Leonard is a 4th grader; his mother, Mrs. Mary Lou Helperman, is his teacher, and has been nominated for a teaching award. They plan a trip to Florida for the finals, but need to leave their dog, Spot, behind. Unknown to Mrs. Helperman, Spot has been masquerading as a boy, Scott, who is her star pupil. Spot wants nothing more than to be a real boy, and sees a way to this when mad scientist Ivan Krank appears on the Barry Anger show. Krank thinks he can turn animals into humans. Conveniently, his lab is right down the street from where the Helpermans are staying, so Spot, as Scott (and the rest of his family) convinces Mary Lou to take him along. Spot becomes a man, but discovers it's not everything he ever dreamed of after all.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | school | teacher | florida | mad scientist | 

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Taglines:

A musical tail about one dog's dream of becoming a boy.

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Comedy | Fantasy | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mildly crude humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Disney's Teacher's Pet

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,602,245 (USA) (16 January 2004)

Gross:

$6,491,350 (USA) (2 April 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toon City Animation, Toon City, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The little girl voiced by Emma Steinkellner in the opening song first appeared in the Teacher's Pet cartoon "Never Take Candy From A Kindergardner", where she has a crush on Leonard and then moves onto Scott.

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Goofs

When Leonard is searching for Spot around the trailer, the "No Dogs" tire cover is scratched and ruined. In a later scene, it's fine.

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Quotes

Pretty Boy: Florida, Schmorida! It's just Jersey with palm trees!
Mr. Jolly: Well, I suppose most people don't arrive by garbage truck.

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Crazy Credits

The opening and closing Disney credits have been redrawn to match the animation style of the film.

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Connections

Spoofs The Jerry Springer Show (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Small But Mighty"
Music and Lyrics by Randy Petersen and Kevin Quinn
Performed by Jerry Stiller and David Ogden Stiers

User Reviews

Possibly the most under-rated Disney movie,

Timothy Björklund gives us a complete box-office flop of a Disney movie.

Our story follows Spot the dog on his adventure to become a boy. This time, in feature-length form, he travels to California to visit the sane (he swears) Dr. Ivan Krank, who says he can turn any animal human.

Nathan Lane plays Spot Helperman or Scott Leadready II when he dresses up like a boy. I love Nathan Lane's voice acting, he was great in the Lion King, and is great in this, no complaints.

Shaun Flemming plays Leonard Amadeus Helperman, Spot's owner and best friend. His voice acting is done well enough, not as great as Nathan Lane's, but nothing terrible.

Kelsey Grammar plays the SANE Dr. Ivan Krank, a scientist who has developed a very inept way of transforming animals to humans. Kelsey Grammar has fine voice acting, probably from his experience as Sideshow Bob on the hit series The Simpsons.

I have no complaints about this movie, it was well crafted, pretty well drawn, and I don't see why it wasn't a hit. Two big things kind of bothered me though, for one I hate Debra Jo Rupp's voice, I find her annoying! Second, the way the animators drew people kind of make them look creepy.