Review of My Dog Tulip (2010) by Breen C — 07 Nov 2010

This is quite a wonderful film in many ways, but it does make some strange choices. The best thing about the movie is the style of its animation, which is unique. The film was drawn and colored by hand like a traditional animated movie, but done entirely with a digital pad and stylus rather than paper and ink and paint.

I'm pretty sure this is the first big-release movie to be done in this style, so it's a bit of a landmark. The style is utterly charming - it looks like the watercolor art of a very precocious 8-year-old come to life (I mean that as a compliment).

Some parts are done with literal stick figures, while others have quite a lot of detail and color. It's an unusual mix that keeps the movie consistently visually interesting. The story is told mostly through narration by Christopher Plummer, and who better to narrate a charming English story? (No one, that's who.

) The narration seems like its mostly if not entirely taken directly from the pages of the J.R. Ackerley's memoir upon which the film is based; there are a lot of classically well-written passages to appreciate.

I liked the film's first half better than its second half, however. The first half consists mostly of little observations and moments in the relationship between the dog and the writer. The second half focuses a lot on the dog's bodily functions and Ackerley's attempt to find the dog a mate, and it's a bit gross and not as sweet as the earlier parts.

Still, overall this is mostly a nice story, and I really hope to see more movies done in this animation style in the future.