Dog Man

Director: Peter Hastings

Screenplay: Peter Hastings (based on the books by Dav Pilkey)

Stars: Peter Hastings (Dog Man / Petey), Lucas Hopkins Calderon (Li’l Petey), Lil Rel Howery (Chief), Isla Fisher (Sarah Hatoff), Billy Boyd (Seamus), Ricky Gervais (Flippy the Fish), Stephen Root (Grampa), Poppy Liu (Butler), Cheri Oteri (Mayor of Ohkay City), Melissa Villaseñor (Realtor)

MPAA Rating: PG

Year of Release: 2025

Country: U.S.

I like that Dog Man, despite being computer-animated, kind of looks like it has been drawn with crayons. I like the fact that the image has depth and detail, but the buildings and cars and surrounding environment have the feel of a giant set-up with plastic toys. I like the energy and the humor and the off-the-wall wackiness of the concept, which finds a dedicated police officer and his beloved dog being combined Frankenstein-style after a horrible accident into the titular police hero, who always saves the day, but still can’t help fetching or chasing after squirrels. But, most of all I like the fact that the movie, despite being supremely silly and absurd, has a generous heart and call to decency, which is something we need so much these days.

Dog Man is based on a series of graphic novels by Dav Pilkey, who writes and draws them in the style of a couple of hyper-active fourth graders because that is who supposedly created them. Several of Pilkey’s Dog Man books have been adapted by writer/director Peter Hastings, who should know his way around Pilkey’s unique sense of postmodern-subversive-adolescent humor having spent several years producing the hilarious DreamWorks series The Epic Adventures of Captain Underpants (2018–2019), which includes the characters of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the in-world creators of Dog Man. Dog Man is not quite as blissfully whacked out and surreal as Captain Underpants at its finest, but it certainly casts aside the parameters of logic and good sense when they are not needed (which is pretty much all the time). This is, after all, a movie about a police officer who has a man’s body and a dog’s head battling against both an orange cat who envisions himself Dr. Evil-style as the world’s greatest megalomaniacal villain and a sentient, telekinetic fish. Well, maybe it is as blissfully whacked out and surreal as Captain Underpants …

Hastings lends his voice to both Dog Man and Petey, the aforementioned evil-cat-genius who turns out to have something of a soft spot when he attempts to clone himself, but instead creates a miniature version of himself named Li’l Petey (Lucas Hopkins Calderon) who is all heart and kindness. The telekinetic fish, who is named Flippy, is voiced by Ricky Gervais in a way that only Gervais could do, while the constantly frustrated police chief who oversees Dog Man’s exploits is voiced with high-speed, exasperated hilarity by Lil Rel Howery. Other characters include Sarah Hatoff (Isla Fisher), a reporter who ends up helping Dog Man, and Grampa (Stephen Root), Petey’s grumpy, abusive father who provides a window into what he doesn’t want to become.

While Dog Man moves at a fast and furious pace and jokes both verbal and visual are constantly flying, it works as more than animated mishmash because Hastings knows when to slow things down and allow for some genuine connection among the characters. There are real lessons here about decency and forgiveness and the legacy of pain that many carry with them through no fault of their own, which sounds heavy-handed, but never feels that way—perhaps because the characters feel like so sublimely like Crayola scribblings come to life.

Dog Man Collector’s Edition 2000 Blu-ray + Digital Code

Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
Audio	English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 surround French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish
Supplements	Audio commentary by screenwriter/director Peter Hastings Deleted and extended scenes with introductions by Hastings “Meet the Pack” featurette “The Making of Dog Man” featurette “Howl to Draw Flip-O-Rama Style” featurette “Howl to Make Doughnuts for Dogs” featurette
Distributor	DreamWorks Animation
Release Date	April 1, 2025

COMMENTS
While it is unfortunate that Dog Man has not been released on 4K UHD, the 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation on the “Collection’s Edition 2000” Blu-ray is quite good. A direct digital port, the image has good detail that highlights the brush-stroke edges of the characters and the density of visual information throughout the frame. Colors are particularly notable, as the film is awash in strong primary hues—red, blues, greens—that amplify the film’s surreal hilarity. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is a knock-out, with great directionality, surround effects, and a heavy low end that adds plenty of power to the various explosions and action sequences. As for supplements, there is a decent offering here, starting with a highly entertaining audio commentary by writer/director Peter Hastings (who also voiced Dog Man and Petey the Cat). Hastings’s enthusiasm for the source material and his love of animation are plainly evident, as he talks through the film with real joy, pointing out all manner of detail and nuance and bits that you probably missed the first time around. Hastings also introduces eight deleted and extended sequences (Sewer Ball Chase, Petey Robs Bank of Jim, Li’l Petey Adoption People, Petey Puppet Time, Dog Man Chopper Hang Glider, Revenge of the Bank of Jim, Butler Business, and Flippy in Jail Epilogue), most of which were chopped before the animation process, so they exist only as storyboards with soundtrack. There are also two brief featurettes: “Meet the Pack” (5 min.), which focuses on the actors recording their characters, and “The Making of Dog Man: A Sarah Hatoff Exclusive” (6 min.), in which Hastings and other members of the production team discuss the making of the film. In “Howl to Draw Flip-O-Rama Style,” head of story Anthony Zierhunt shows us how(l) to draw some of the film’s characters (Dog Man, Petey, and Li’l Petey) and then how(l) to turn them into a Flip-O-Rama. “Howl to Make Doughnuts for Dogs” is a 3-minute instructional video on how(l) to, well, make doughnuts for dogs.

Thoughts? E-mail James Kendrick

Overall Rating: (3)