The real-life story of Scruffy the dog is a pretty interesting one, and the inspirational novel based on this adorable little puppy "embellishes" the story admirably, for lack of a better term. What gets me though, is why the rights for an animated adaptation were handed to Saturday morning cartoon serial producers. I'm not saying Disney are the only ones capable of doing it right; in fact, someone like Martin Rosen might've even surpassed Disney's hypothetical adaptation, given his uncompromising treatment of dark subject matter in the past.
Still, here we are, in a land where limited and recycled animation abounds. Ideally, when confronted with the harsh realities of life, you would not want your main protagonist to react with a "deer-in-the-headlights" look half of the time. But who am I to question the wiles of the ABC Weekend Special crew? I wouldn't really say it veers into the territory of narm, but it just feels like squandering a good story on people with low ambition and lacking storytelling abilities.
Moreover, I'm rather amazed Disney didn't take them to trial for blatant plagiarism. A majority of the "strays", including our spunky eponymous heroine, take not only likenesses, but traits from characters from Lady and the Tramp. Cantankerous Scottish terrier with a stereotypical Scottish accent? Never seen that one before! It feels manipulative as all hell, in addition to being devoid of creativity. It enhances the "cheap, throwaway cartoon special" vibes like mad.
Still, when you look past these surface blemishes (urge to make a Cracked-style "blame coked-out '80s producers" joke rising) there is some genuine heart to be found. Scruffy's voice actor emotes well even if her animation does not, and manages to create a significant emotional connection. It also deals with death and its after-effects rather well (even if it invokes a few too many "Bumbie's Mum" tropes), and Scruffy's mother's extremely dog-like blind faith in her owners' return, and the unintentional suffering it brings on her young, is some sad-ass shit. Also, that collie and her "child". Damn.
Overall though, the story's resonance unfortunately becomes heavily muted by poor production values and a general feeling of throwaway-ishness.
WesternAnimation Doesn't do justice to the heavy subject matter.
The real-life story of Scruffy the dog is a pretty interesting one, and the inspirational novel based on this adorable little puppy "embellishes" the story admirably, for lack of a better term. What gets me though, is why the rights for an animated adaptation were handed to Saturday morning cartoon serial producers. I'm not saying Disney are the only ones capable of doing it right; in fact, someone like Martin Rosen might've even surpassed Disney's hypothetical adaptation, given his uncompromising treatment of dark subject matter in the past.
Still, here we are, in a land where limited and recycled animation abounds. Ideally, when confronted with the harsh realities of life, you would not want your main protagonist to react with a "deer-in-the-headlights" look half of the time. But who am I to question the wiles of the ABC Weekend Special crew? I wouldn't really say it veers into the territory of narm, but it just feels like squandering a good story on people with low ambition and lacking storytelling abilities.
Moreover, I'm rather amazed Disney didn't take them to trial for blatant plagiarism. A majority of the "strays", including our spunky eponymous heroine, take not only likenesses, but traits from characters from Lady and the Tramp. Cantankerous Scottish terrier with a stereotypical Scottish accent? Never seen that one before! It feels manipulative as all hell, in addition to being devoid of creativity. It enhances the "cheap, throwaway cartoon special" vibes like mad.
Still, when you look past these surface blemishes (urge to make a Cracked-style "blame coked-out '80s producers" joke rising) there is some genuine heart to be found. Scruffy's voice actor emotes well even if her animation does not, and manages to create a significant emotional connection. It also deals with death and its after-effects rather well (even if it invokes a few too many "Bumbie's Mum" tropes), and Scruffy's mother's extremely dog-like blind faith in her owners' return, and the unintentional suffering it brings on her young, is some sad-ass shit. Also, that collie and her "child". Damn.
Overall though, the story's resonance unfortunately becomes heavily muted by poor production values and a general feeling of throwaway-ishness.