Dog Man (film)

Last updated

Dog Man
Dog Man film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Hastings
Written byPeter Hastings
Based on Dog Man
by Dav Pilkey
Produced byKaren Foster
Starring
Edited byBrian Hopkins
Music by Tom Howe
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • January 15, 2025 (2025-01-15)(Festival de l'Alpe d'Huez [1] )
  • January 31, 2025 (2025-01-31)(United States)
Running time
89 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million [3]
Box office$41.3 million [4]

Dog Man is a 2025 American animated action comedy film based on Dav Pilkey's children's graphic novel series Dog Man . Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is a spin-off and story within a story of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and the second film in the Captain Underpants franchise. The film was written and directed by Peter Hastings, and stars the voices of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd and Ricky Gervais, with Hastings providing vocal effects for the titular character.

Contents

DreamWorks Animation announced a film adaptation of Dog Man in December 2020, with Hastings set to direct after his experience with Pilkey's works from The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018–20). Karen Foster joined as a producer in January 2024, and the cast was announced that September.

Dog Man premiered at the 2025 edition of the Festival de l'Alpe d'Huez in Alpe d'Huez, France on January 15, 2025, and was theatrically released in the United States on January 31, to positive reviews from critics.

Plot

A villainous orange cat named Petey constantly terrorizes OK City. One of his schemes involves planting a bomb to destroy a building. Famed cop Officer Knight and his dog Greg arrive to defuse the bomb, but it explodes, severely injuring Knight’s head and Greg’s body. Two surgeons save Knight and Greg by stitching Greg’s head onto Knight’s body, creating the dog-human hybrid Dog Man.

Dog Man discovers that, in his absence, his (now ex-) girlfriend has sold their house and moved on. He takes a tennis ball that he used to play with as Knight/Greg, and then leaves. He moves into his former police station, which is managed by the short-tempered head officer Chief. Dog Man earns the city’s trust by repeatedly arresting Petey, creating a heated rivalry between the two.

After a number of jail breakouts, Petey decides to order a cloning machine online, reasoning that multiple copies of himself would have an easier time defeating Dog Man. Due to Petey misreading the instructions, it creates a copy of him as an innocent child, whom he calls Li'l Petey. Petey tries to teach Li'l Petey about evildoing, but he displays no interest towards it, instead preferring to have fun. After Li'l Petey accidentally interferes with Petey’s plan to steal the corpse of an evil, telekinetic fish named Flippy and use “Living Spray” to resurrect him, Petey abandons him in a cardboard box on the streets of OK City. Dog Man quickly discovers and adopts him. Later, Flippy gets resurrected after employees at the Living Spray Factory accidentally puncture a pipe with his metallic claw. The entire factory comes to life after being exposed to the spray.

At his lair, Petey discovers a picture book drawn by Li'l Petey depicting both of them as a family. Feeling guilty, he learns from his former assistant that Li'l Petey has been adopted by Dog Man. He kidnaps Li'l Petey in his sleep using his new orb-shaped mech named 80-HD. Petey tells Li'l Petey that his abusive father had abandoned him when he was a child. In an attempt to cheer him up, Li'l Petey secretly uses 80-HD to track Petey’s father, now a grumpy old man nicknamed Grampa. He brings him back to Petey’s lair, where Grampa immediately begins to berate Petey. Realizing that his father has not changed after all this time, Petey brings Li'l Petey with him into his giant mailman-shaped mech to find Dog Man.

Dog Man attempts to engage in a fight with Petey’s mech, but they are interrupted by Flippy, as well as the now-walking factory and several other sentient buildings. After a fight, Flippy attempts to kidnap Li'l Petey (calling him a “do-gooder”) but is tricked into taking Petey (hidden in the cockpit of 80-HD) instead. He brings Petey to a volcano and dangles him over the edge. Dog Man, Li'l Petey, and Chief show up in a squirrel-shaped tank created by Petey. They manage to convince Flippy to question his morals, but this causes him to lose his telekinesis, dropping Petey towards the lava. Dog Man sacrifices his tennis ball by shooting it at Petey, which pushes him safely onto the ground.

Petey asks Chief to arrest him for his actions, but Chief refuses, saying he knows Petey wants to be better in order to protect and teach Li'l Petey. Later, Petey drops Li'l Petey off with Dog Man, saying that he needs time to himself. They agree to mutual custody over Li'l Petey. Petey walks off, then grabs a discarded bottle and some dandelions that he had previously dismissed. He puts the dandelions into the bottle, and takes them back to his lair to nurture.

Voice cast

George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the in-universe creators of Dog Man and Captain Underpants, make a brief appearance; George appears in a silent role while Kelly Stables provides the voice of Harold. He was previously voiced by Thomas Middleditch in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. [10]

Production

On December 9, 2020, DreamWorks Animation (DWA) announced that a film based on the Captain Underpants spin-off graphic novel series Dog Man was in development, with Peter Hastings attached to direct after his experience with Dav Pilkey's works from The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018–20). [11] On January 29, 2024, following the release date announcement, DreamWorks announced that Karen Foster would serve as producer. [12] On September 17, 2024, with the release of the first trailer, Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd, and Ricky Gervais were revealed to be part of the film's voice cast. [6] [7]

On October 6, 2023, the film was confirmed to be released in 2025, while it was also confirmed that Dog Man and Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie would be animated entirely at partner studios (excluding Sony Pictures Imageworks who was named as the animation partner for The Bad Guys 2 ). [13] Unlike Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), which was animated by Mikros Image and Technicolor Animation Productions, the film's animation is handled by Jellyfish Pictures, who previously did the animation for DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019) and Spirit Untamed (2021), along with marketing custom animation for Trolls World Tour (2020) and providing additional production assets for The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021), The Bad Guys (2022), and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024). Nate Wragg was the production designer. [14] The film's score was composed by Tom Howe. [15]

Marketing

In May 2024, Jakks Pacific and its costume division Disguise entered into a partnership with Dav Pilkey to make merchandise based on the Dog Man film along with the comic book series. A book featuring the art of the film was released on December 10, 2024, published by Abrams Books. [16] Universal's marketing campaign for the film began in September 2024 with a trailer on YouTube that accumulated 102 million views. Theatrical trailers were paired with screenings of Transformers One , The Wild Robot , Moana 2 , and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 . Television advertisements targeted families during the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) during airings of the National Dog Show , holiday specials, New Year's Eye programming, show premieres and finales, and major sports events. The push extended to Amazon devices, Hulu, Peacock, and Hallmark. On January 20, Dog Man was integrated into the Food Network's Kids Baking Championship , with a film-themed baking challenge, sets, and custom animation. Social media analytics firm RelishMix reported that online marketing led to 246.6 million interactions across social media platforms, attracting both fans of the graphic novels and newcomers intrigued by the animation style. [17]

Release

Dog Man had its world premiere during the 2025 edition of the Festival de l'Alpe d'Huez in Alpe d'Huez, France on January 15, 2025, and was released theatrically in the United States on January 31. [1] [12] On January 24, 2025, a week before release, DreamWorks announced that the short film Little Lies and Alibis, a short connected to DWA's film The Bad Guys , would run before Dog Man in theaters; the film also serves as a promotional feature for DWA's following film, The Bad Guys 2 , set to release on August 1. [18] As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four. [19] [20]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Dog Man was released alongside Companion and Valiant One , and was projected to gross $20–30 million from 3,800 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $40 million. [3] [21] It made $10.8 million on its first day, including an estimated $1.36 million from Thursday night previews. It debuted to $36 million, topping the box office. The opening was the second biggest for animated films released in January after DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016; $41.8 million) and the third consecutive box office-topping debut for DreamWorks after Kung Fu Panda 4 and The Wild Robot (both 2024). Exit polling indicated that 45% of attendees saw the film because it looked "fun" and "entertaining" and a third bought tickets because they were fans of the IP. Men accounted for 52% of the opening weekend audience, with those under 35 comprising 70% and premium large format screens contributing 22%. [17]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 78% of 60 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "Realizing Dav Pilkey's canine creation with a frenzied energy that never lets up, Dog Man will delight kids while throwing their parents a bone." [22] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [23] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [17]

Related Research Articles

<i>Captain Underpants</i> Childrens novel series by Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants is an illustrated children's novel series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Piqua, Ohio, and Captain Underpants, an aptly named superhero from one of the boys' homemade comic books, who accidentally becomes real when George and Harold hypnotize their cruel, bossy, and ill-tempered principal, Mr. Krupp. From the third book onwards, Mr. Krupp also possesses superhuman strength, durability and flight as a result of drinking Alien "Extra-Strength Super Power Juice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dav Pilkey</span> American cartoonist and author (born 1966)

David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. is an American comic book writer of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series Captain Underpants and its spin-off children's graphic novel series Dog Man, the latter published under the respective writer and illustrator pen names of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are also the names of the two protagonists of the Captain Underpants series.

<i>The Adventures of Captain Underpants</i> 1997 novel by Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Captain Underpants is an American children's novel by Dav Pilkey, and the inaugural novel of the Captain Underpants series. It was published in September 1997, becoming a hit with children around the world. In the novel, George Beard and Harold Hutchins turn their principal, Mr. Krupp, into the "greatest superhero of all time", The Amazing Captain Underpants. It has spawned many sequels and subseries such as Super Diaper Baby, Dog Man, and The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DreamWorks Animation</span> American animation studio

DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has produced a total of 50 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film, Dog Man, was released on January 31, 2025. They have an upcoming theatrical slate of films, which includes the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon on June 13, 2025, The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025, Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie on September 26, 2025, and Shrek 5 on December 23, 2026.

<i>Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy</i> Book by Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy are the sixth and seventh books in the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey. The first part was published on August 1, 2003, and the second part was published on September 30, 2003. The books feature the debut of George and Harold's new pets Sulu and Crackers who first appeared in the first and second parts respectively. The second part also features the debut of time travel in the series, which would become a core theme of the series later on.

<i>The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby</i> 2002 childrens graphic novel by Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby is a 2002 children's graphic novel by American author Dav Pilkey, credited on the cover as in-universe authors George Beard and Harold Hutchins. The book is a spin-off of Pilkey's Captain Underpants series. It follows a baby named Billy who gains superpowers shortly after birth. Billy teams up with a super-powered dog, Diaper Dog, to fight Diaper Dog's former master, a sentient piece of feces named Deputy Dangerous.

<i>Harold and the Purple Crayon</i> 1955 childrens book by Crockett Johnson

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a 1955 children's picture book written and illustrated by Crockett Johnson. Published by HarperCollins Publishers, it is Johnson's most popular book, and has led to a series of other related books, as well as many adaptations. The story is written in third-person point-of-view, and follows a toddler boy on an imaginative adventure through the night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mireille Soria</span> Animated film producer

Mireille Soria is an American film producer, most notable for working at DreamWorks Animation on many of their films and for producing the animated sitcom Neighbors from Hell.

<i>The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future</i> Book by Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future is a graphic novel written by Dav Pilkey, the second spin-off of the Captain Underpants series. The book is credited to Captain Underpants characters "George Beard" as the author and "Harold Hutchins" as the illustrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Soren (animator)</span> Canadian animator

David Soren is a Canadian director, writer, voice actor, and storyboard artist at DreamWorks Animation. His most notable work are TV specials based on the Madagascar film franchise: Merry Madagascar and Madly Madagascar. He directed the 2013 animated feature film Turbo, which is based on his own original concept, as well as the 2017 animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie based on Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Middleditch</span> Canadian actor (b. 1982)

Thomas Steven Middleditch is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He has voiced Penn Zero in the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2014–2017), Harold Hutchins in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Sam Coleman in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Terry Opposites in the Hulu adult animated sci-fi series Solar Opposites. Middleditch made his Broadway debut in 2024 as Eli in Eureka Day. He also appeared in ads for Verizon Wireless.

<i>Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot</i> Book by Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot is the twelfth and final book in the Captain Underpants series, written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey. The book continues after the eleventh book as George, Harold, and their clones switch places, only to find their gym teacher Mr. Meaner has become Sir Stinks-A-Lot, who turns his students into slaves. The boys team up with their adult counterparts to save the world.

<i>Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie</i> 2017 superhero film directed by David Soren

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a 2017 American animated superhero comedy film based on Dav Pilkey's children's novel series, titled Captain Underpants, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by David Soren from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, and stars the voices of Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, Thomas Middleditch, Jordan Peele, and Kristen Schaal, the film was released during the 20th anniversary of the Captain Underpants series. In the film, two fourth-grade pranksters, named George and Harold, hypnotize their humorless principal, named Mr. Krupp, into thinking he is a superhero, named Captain Underpants. The film loosely adapts the first, the second, the fourth, and the eleventh Captain Underpants books.

<i>The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants</i> American animated comedy television series

The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. Developed for television by Peter Hastings and Mark Banker, it is a standalone sequel to the 2017 feature film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, based on the Captain Underpants book series by Dav Pilkey.

<i>Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight</i> Computer-animated streaming television series

Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is an American CG-animated television series, developed by Mitch Watson and Peter Hastings for Netflix. It is the third TV series in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, following Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny. Produced by DreamWorks Animation Television, the series premiered on Netflix on July 14, 2022. A second season was released on January 12, 2023. A third and final season was released on September 7, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hastings (director)</span>

Peter Hastings is an American writer, director, and producer of animated television. He is known for The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain. He has won six Emmy awards and a Peabody award. He also directed the musical film The Country Bears (2002) and the animated film Dog Man (2025).

References

  1. 1 2 "Programme - Festival de l'Alpe de Huez" (in French). Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Dog Man (U)". British Board of Film Classification . December 24, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Rubin, Rebecca (January 29, 2025). "Box Office: Dog Man Chases $30 Million Opening Weekend, Sci-Fi Thriller Companion Targets $10 Million". Variety . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Dog Man – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  5. 1 2 @Dreamworks (December 4, 2024). "RINGGG! 📞 This SUPA SQUAD answered the call! Watch this paw-some 🐾 cast ROOOMBA into theaters January 31! 🎟️🔥" (Tweet). Retrieved December 5, 2024– via Twitter.[ non-primary source needed ]
  6. 1 2 3 Maison, Jordan (September 17, 2024). "Meet Dog Man in First Trailer for Animated Film". Cinelinx. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Weiss, Josh (September 17, 2024). "Dog Man: Captain Underpants Spinoff Starring Pete Davidson Fetches First Tail-Wagging Trailer". SYFY Official Site. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Instagram".[ non-primary source needed ]
  9. ↑ "Instagram".[ non-primary source needed ]
  10. ↑ Hood, Cooper (January 30, 2025). "Dog Man's Captain Underpants Cameos Explained". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (December 9, 2020). "DreamWorks Developing Dav Pilkey's 'Dog Man' as Animated Feature". Animation Magazine.
  12. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (January 29, 2024). "'Dog Man' Movie Based On Books From 'Captain Underpants' Creator Set For 2025 Release From Universal And DWA". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ Amidi, Amid (October 6, 2023). "Dreamworks Shifting Away From In-House Production In Los Angeles; Sony Imageworks Is A New Production Partner". Cartoon Brew . Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  14. ↑ Taylor, Drew (September 17, 2024). "'Dog Man' Director Explains the 'High-End Handmade' Visual Style of the 'Captain Underpants' Spinoff - Exclusive". TheWrap. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  15. ↑ Reporter, Film Music (October 1, 2024). "Tom Howe Scoring DreamWorks Animation's 'Dog Man'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  16. ↑ Foster, Elizabeth (May 14, 2024). "JAKKS Pacific Bites Into Upcoming Dog Man Movie From DreamWorks/Universal and Dav Pilkey's Global Bestselling Book Franchise for Toys and Costumes". Markets Insider . Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 2, 2025). "The Dog Man Cometh With Second-Best January Debut For Animated Pic With $36M; Why Didn't Companion Find More Friends At Weekend Box Office? – Sunday AM Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  18. ↑ "The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis". January 24, 2025 – via YouTube.
  19. ↑ Hayes, Dade (December 9, 2021). "NBCUniversal's New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films To Peacock After As Few As 45 Days Of Release". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  20. ↑ Moon, Mariella (July 14, 2021). "Netflix extends exclusive rights to Universal's animated films in the US". Engadget . Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  21. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 29, 2025). "Dog Man To Bark Louder Than Companion At Weekend Box Office With $20M+ – Preview". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  22. ↑ "Dog Man". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Dog Man". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.