Escape from Dog Island

Indie auteur Wes Anderson (‘Rushmore,’ ‘The Royal Tenenbaums,’ ‘Moonrise Kingdom,’ ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’) is one of those successful directors in Hollywood whom one can truly call “quirky,” and I’ve come to anticipate his films with a certain eagerness reserved only for a few of his peers.  ‘Isle of Dogs’ is his first old school, non-CGI, stop-motion animated film since his fantastic ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ nearly 10 years ago, and upon seeing its teaser trailer a few months ago I’ve been impatiently waiting for it to hit my local megaplex.

The timeless story of a boy and his (lost) dog, ‘Isle of Dogs’ is set in a dystopian near future Japan when all dogs are banished to an island of trash for carrying and potentially spreading dog flu upon their masters.  Undeterred by the strict edict, young Atari Kobayashi crash lands on Trash Island in his XJ-750 Junior Turboprop plane in search of his dog Spots and in the process embarks upon the adventure of a lifetime with the help of a pack of stray mutts, while the mayor of Megasaki City (and his uncle) back home scrambles to get him back and rescue him from his own naiveté.

 

I loved this movie.  Wondrously fanciful, engrossing and heart-warming, ‘Isle of Dogs’ is that rare animated triumph in a world oversaturated with glossy computer-animated movies.  The story's idea may have been informed by Japanese history, even though the it went in the opposite extreme: The Dog Shogun.  As a fan of anime and Japanese pop culture, ‘Isle of Dogs’ is just my cup of Japanese tea.  And all this coming from a cat lover no less.

Grade: A