Rock Dog (2016)

When a radio falls from the sky into the hands of a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, he leaves home to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician, setting into motion a series of completely unexpected events.

Director:

Ash Brannon

Writers:

Ash Brannon (screenplay by), Kurt Voelker (screenplay by)

Stars:

Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, J.K. Simmons

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Wilson	...	Bodi (voice)
Eddie Izzard	...	Angus Scattergood (voice)
J.K. Simmons	...	Khampa (voice)
Lewis Black	...	Linnux (voice)
Kenan Thompson	...	Riff (voice)
Mae Whitman	...	Darma (voice)
Jorge Garcia	...	Germur (voice)
Matt Dillon	...	Trey (voice)
Sam Elliott	...	Fleetwood Yak (voice)
Will Finn	...	Floyd / Carl (voice)
Ash Brannon	...	Ian (voice)
Liza Richardson	...	Radio DJ (voice)
Julie Craig	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Deng Feng	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Kellen Goff	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

Teenage Tibetan Mastiff Bodi (Luke Wilson) is expected to be the next guard of the village of Snow Mountain, succeeding his father Khampa (J. K. Simmons), who years ago drove out a pack of gangster Grey wolves, led by the villainous Linnux (Lewis Black). Khampa has some local sheep disguised as Mastiffs to give the illusion the village has multiple guards to keep the wolves at bay, but Bodi has trouble perfecting his father's signature move the Iron Paw, which projects a powerful blast that can only happen if Bodi "finds the fire." Khampa has forbidden music in the village as it distracted Bodi from his duties when he was younger..

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Plot Keywords:

musician | rock band | animal protagonist | anthropomorphism | deception | 

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Taglines:

Chase your dreams. Watch your tail

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jack Black was considered for the role of Angus Scattergood.

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Goofs

Angus's best rock guitar is levitating in its case.

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Quotes

[From Trailer; Angus Scattergood has been locked out of his mansion and was trying to get back in, only to be electrified by the fence and slams into a sheet of glass before flopping down on the road]
Angus: [lying on his back] I am completely paralyzed except for my mouth.
[moves his arm and index finger]
Angus: I am completely paralyzed except for my mouth... and my finger!

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Crazy Credits

The first half of the closing credits shows important things from the movie in flash, including the actors next to the items. Before the director credit, it shows the David B. Miller memorable credit.

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Connections

Featured in Animation Explosion: Rock Dog (2018)

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Soundtracks

Shout It Out
Written and Produced by Daniel Mandelman and Jaco Caraco
Courtesy of Daniel Mandelman - Papas Dream Music and Jaco Caraco - Caraco Music

User Reviews

Much better then I had thought

I saw the trailer for this, which played along with the trailer for Sing, which I think may have hurt the ratings for this partially. Both cliché movie ideas that BOTH turned out to be well done in the end.

I thought I wouldn't watch either, but did, but I do find I like this movie better than Sing- primarily because of Sing being another American Idol, Got Talent, etc reminiscent flick/show and piggybacking on that old hype. Rock Dog has clichés, but it's certainly more heartfelt and uplifting, you can't help but adore Bodi's cheerful attitude and blissful innocence.

(The last couple end songs were pretty good, too, which is also surprising.)

I give this movie a rating of 8 / 10 because I would have preferred perhaps a few different voice actors better suited and the animation models to have more variety within species- say, the crocodiles. Not that I expect it to be as diverse as the heavily funded Zootopia, which had each shown character/background character in the film with its own character sheet and specialized design/sculpt and even gait; I just wish there had been a bit more variation in some of the designs; it makes sense, I suppose, for the sheep to be over simplified to push the purposeful trope.

I digress. . .

It's a simple storyline that we've seen before with simple character models/sculpts, but it's heartfelt, sometimes comedic, with a bout of passion- it's a truly good feel movie that all ages can enjoy, I recommend it for a rainy day that needs a pep talk.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

China USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tibetan Rock Dog

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,704,749, 26 February 2017

Gross USA:

$9,420,546

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,157,646

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Premiere, Huayi Tencent Entertainment Company, Mandoo Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1