DreamWorks Animation released two films last year: the Oscar-nominated “The Wild Robot’ which sought to bring warmth and whimsy to a tale of a robot who goes on a journey of motherhood, and “Kung Fu Panda 4”, an attempt to resuscitate the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise to middling results. Since 1998, when it premiered with “Antz”, the studio has been churning out family-friendly entertainment teetering between the artistic whimsy of films like “The Road to El Dorado” or pop-culture-friendly comedic romps like the ever-popular “Shrek”. Its new release, the 50th feature from the studio, falls somewhere between the two.
“Dog Man”, an animated film based on Dav Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel, is both part of a franchise, and a surprisingly whimsical take on childhood entertainment. The story of the half-dog, half-man crime fighter was first released as a comic book written by the in-universe characters of “Captain Underpants”, George and Harold, who were featured in DreamWorks’ 2017 film “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”. Plans to continue the series with the diegetic comic book written by the protagonists of that series began as early as 2020. In 2025, “Dog Man” was released in cinemas, now available digitally.
Although animated films thrive when they realise the form can work for more than children’s story, the relationship between animation and the boundless imagination of children is a sharp one and “Dog Man” makes use of all the possibilities that come with the work to deliver a gleefully ambitious bit of chaotic childhood joy that takes a premise that belongs in a horror movie and turns it into an ambling and frenetic piece of children’s entertainment.
