Teacher's Pet Review
by Andy Keast (arthistoryguy AT aol DOT com)February 2nd, 2004
Teachers Pet (2004): *** out of ****
Directed by Timothy Björklund. Screenplay by Bill and Cherie Steinkellner, based on the TV show created by Gary Baseman. Featuring the voices of Nathan Lane, Kelsy Grammer, Shaun Fleming, Debra Jo Rupp, Jerry Stiller and David Odgen Stiers.
by Andy Keast
At 68 minutes, there's a lot in "Teacher's Pet" to see. Bad press and timing had essentially doomed this one to failure, between Disney's announcement that it was demolishing all hand-drawn animation (which produced the most successful
studio empire in movie history) to go digital and a January dumping-ground release date. Don't buy the bad hype. This movie is actually pretty good. I laughed out loud a lot here more than I usually do at comedies.
It's a variation on "Pinocchio," about a housedog (voiced by Nathan Lane) that thinks and behaves like a human being, and who one day hopes to become a real boy. It's based on a TV show created by cartoonist Gary Baseman (unseen by me), and the animation is distinctive for taking Disney anthropomorphism and spinning it on its head. The movie is done almost completely in the hand-drawn
manner, which I've always thought to be more expressive and less artificial than CGI. Pastel drawings and jump cuts add to the movie's bizarre universe.
The musical numbers by Randy Petersen and Kevin Quinn are self-referential enough to avoid schmaltz, and sincere enough to be taken seriously. Kelsey Grammer has some memorable lines as a mad scientist (or something) who has developed a device that turns animals into humans and vice versa, often with disappointing results ("It's alive!!! IT'S ALIVE!!! That's a good start!"). Teacher's Pet has a lot of similar moments that I imagine both adults and kids will enjoy, so it's a shame no one will see them.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
