Teacher's Pet

Teacher's Pet has an energy that makes it completely different from every animated film ever! The music matches the great Broadway feel of The Producers and the story is as zany as a Saturday morning cartoon. The cast and writing also helps capture the strangeness and bizarre nature as any painting its creator Gary Baseman has ever made! Highly Recommended to anyone looking for a different film experience! As someone once said, "If ever there were a dark, twisted, crazier, wackier, happier, sadder, madder, badder, better, lovely, scary, freakier, musically, crazily, psychotic, robotic, phonic, larger, smaller, lefter, righter, worser, greater, monster-filled, pun-filled, reference-filled, song-filled, awesome, cooler, jazzier, and just all around interesting film ever made, this would be that film." Oh wait, I said that. Well, anyway.

What you may find when you look at the cover of this movie is some oddly drawn people, one of which being a dog wearing clothes. What you find when you look at the movie, however, is an auroma of cute characters, funny jokes, a touching story, and hummable songs. Spot Helperman is quite frankly one of the best dog characters in cartoon history. Nathan Lane's portrayal of the character is stunning, to say the least. The cast is very well chosen, and the writing is clever beyond belief. Teacher's Pet has a peculiar animation style to match it's clever and original plot. The art is something you will only find from Gary Baseman. While the animation can be awkward at times, it has a rather adorable way of standing out in a crowd of millions. Let me be the first to say that Teacher's Pet is one treasure you want to cherish for years to come.

This movie was hard to watch, and gave me a stomach ache. The fast moving visuals & dialogue, combined with the over the top eccentricity of plot line, made me glad for only one thing: that it was a short film.

Starts off amusing and quirky, but the novelty very quickly wears off. If you enjoy the television series then I'd imagine you'll connect with this. I haven't seen the aforementioned so wouldn't know, but as a standalone film it's pretty bad. As noted, it does start off weird - in a positive sense - with Nathan Lane pleasing as Spot, even if it's just him playing Timon from 'The Lion King' let's be honest. If you take out Lane it's an irritating set of characters/voices. Away from that, you have the practically nonexistent plot which loses interest with every minute. It would've, at least in my opinion, worked better if they began in the same odd way but then developed an actual plot that's worth following. Unfortunately, they chose the easy way by, I assume, relying heavily on the TV episodes. 'Teacher's Pet' is not for me, despite the very short run time. I did appreciate the references to other Disney films, though.

Nathan Lane voices a little blue dog who dresses up as a boy so he can go to school in this, the latest big screen version of a Disney Channel animated series (like their wonderful "Recess" film... uh, never mind...). The voice cast also boasts Jerry Stiller (in full-on shout mode, God bless him) and David Ogden Stiers (in perhaps his funniest voice performance). This one works as a witty and daring stylistic departure from Disney norm, perhaps outdoing even the much lauded "Lilo and Stitch" in that regard. Visual gags abound, taking several stylized shots at fellow "Disney icons" (i.e., Pinocchio, the Seven Dwarfs). In the big film story, Spot a.k.a. Scot follows his master and his master's clueless mom to Florida in his search for a mad scientist (voice of Kelsey Grammar) who has been trying to transform animals into people. Yup, that's right. He's no longer just going to dress the part. He's getting the operation! And transsexual/ gay subtexting? Fuhgeddaboutit.

While critics will praise this Disney TV spin off because it doesn't look like a Disney film little else distinguishes this film from typical TV drek. It needs it's short running time because there really isn't much there beyond it's tv incarnation . The animation is average Korean junk . Unless you are a devoted lover of Basemans designs or a mindless Disney fanatic this film will bore you . It did me.

Reading these comments has been very interesting. This seems to be a film that you either love or you hate. To some, that itself is testimony to the movie's faults, but to other's, it is a sign of a risqué flick that is worth close viewing, if not cult status. I tend to be of the latter persuasion. I can certainly imagine how those who expect wholesome Disney family entertainment would object to disturbingly transgressive moments as when it seems your dog might marry your mom (and then Oedipus enters the messy picture), but those who hate the stultifying pap that Disney is known for might love this work's challenges. This is more Ren and Stimpy than Little Mermaid. My 6-year-old son liked it and laughed hysterically many times (but he likes Ren and Stimpy, which we have on tape). But in the end he'd probably give it a 7 or 8 out of 10, because there was a lot of humor here that went above his head. It is also a very fast and busy film that can lose you (and bore you) if you don't grab on and pay attention. Multiple viewings might be necessary. Baseman's world is also a challenge, although I found it wonderfully imaginative. There are, I think, a few too many songs, although many are well-written in terms of lyrics. Having said all this, however, I was disappointed at the film's "be yourself" (which means "be a slave to your master") ending, which might be satisfying for the kids, but undermined the film's own playful transgressions.

Based on the Emmy-winning, yet unfortunately short-lived TV show, "Teacher's Pet" is a colorful, witty animated family comedy that would amuse even those who never heard of the series. The story starts off at summer vacation (Which is weird, since this film was released in January), with super-perky mother/teacher Mrs. Helperman taking her son, Leonard, to Florida("Jersey with palm trees") when she is nominated for a N.E.A.T.O. (an award for teachers). When Spot is abandoned at home, he's sad, until he discovers a crazy scientist who thinks he can turn animals into people. Disguising as his school alter-ego Scott Leadready II, Spot hitches a ride to Florida with Leonard and Mrs. Helperman and finds the scientist, Dr. Ivan Krank. ...And the fun continues. "Teacher's Pet" is a really good film, filled with the wild and weird animation of popular artist Gary Baseman. There are also many tuneful songs and funny jokes and gags, including the "Pinocchio" parody in the film's opening. The voice cast, which includes Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammar, Mary Jo Rupp, and Jerry Stiller, does very good vocal talents here. Unfortunately, Disney treated this film like trash; they didn't give it a big ad campaign nor a good film release, which led this film to flop at the box office. Despite this, "Teacher's Pet" is an enjoyable yet sadly underrated film.