Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero

You don't very often see kids movie which are based on true stories or war. But that's what Stg. Stubby is about. Surprisingly, it works.

The strengths: The music, the story and the fact that the movie doesn't have one of the likely endings one might predict. I suspect the ending is largely due to Stubby being based on a true story. I'm unaware how accurate this portrayal is to the real story, but it seemed to me like a respectable adaptation. The way they managed to show the awful reality of The Great War, while keeping it G rated is really a difficult triumph of the film. It's important for people to have exposure the errors in war, as opposed to just the victories and heroism. This film highlights both.

The weaknesses: The voice acting doesn't stand out as great. The dialogue isn't a strength. But they get a longer leash (no pun intended) because it's a kids movie. The animation is great in the 2D segments, and much of the 3D animation is fine. However there are clips where I can tell they didn't have the funds to make the animation as good as they'd like it to be. The clips of the soldiers marching seem noticeably too synchronized and took me out of the story.

Overall, I recommend this film to anyone. It's not a film expect to win Oscars or nominations. But, it's a distinctive likable real-story dog movie. And the film is especially good if you want a mostly uplifting real story for kids about a subject they likely know little about: World War 1.

I'm probably in the minority, but I find the history of World War 1 to be just interesting and important as World War 2. It seems the average person knows 10 times more about World War 2 than World War 1 and there are about 10 World War 2 movies for each World War 1 movie. World War 1 highlights how futile and unnecessarily evil war can be even for the victors. World War 2 on the other-hand often enables the attitude of supporting war, because a lot of the losses to World War 2 seem worth it or necessary because of what was gained and what was at stake. A lot of wars are more like WW1 than WW2, and this is something everyone should understand.

This historically accurate, non bloody, non gore children's film perfectly captures the horrrors of war in a perfect 90 minutes. The film is based on the experiences of a small dog called Stubby and several key characters in his life during the later stage of World War I. I would have to say it's perfect for elementary aged kids if you wanted to show them how the war was fought and how it impacted the lives of civilians. My 9 year old loved the film and wishes to see it again.

I usually watch violent crime dramas and so this is a radical departure from my usual taste in films. I loved Sgt. Stubby,. The animation is incredible and the story a great tale (or tail) of doggy heroism during WWI. Stubby was a mutt from New Haven, Connecticut who was adopted by a military unit in 1918. America sent troops to France to fight the Germans and the doggy was hidden on a ship. Stubby had an uncanny ability to sense danger and warn his human masters. He also found wounded soldiers and alerted his caretakers as to their location. I have added this movie to my ten best list of 2018.

You don't very often see kids movie which are based on true stories or war. But that's what this film is about. And surprisingly, it works.

The strengths are the score, the story and the fact that it doesn't have one of the likely endings one might predict. I suspect the outcome is largely due to this being based on a true story. I'm unaware how accurate this portrayal is to the real story, but it seemed like a respectable adaptation to me. The way they managed to show the awful reality of The Great War, while keeping it G rated is really a difficult triumph. It's important for kids to have movies that highlight errors in war, as opposed to just the victories and heroism. This film highlights both.

The weaknesses: the voice acting doesn't stand out as great. The dialogue isn't a strength. But they get a longer leash (no pun intended) because it's a kids movie. The animation is great in the 2D segments, and much of the 3D animation is fine. However there are clips where I can tell they didn't have the funds to make the animation as good as they'd like it to be. The clips of the soldiers marching seem noticeably too synchronized and took me out of the story.

Overall, I recommend this film to anyone. It's not a film expect to win Oscars or nominations. But, It's a distinctive likable real-story dog movie. And the film is especially good if you want a mostly uplifting real story for kids about a subject they likely know little about: World War 1.

I'm probably in the minority, but I find the history of World War 1 to be just interesting and important as World War 2. It seems the average person knows 10 times more about World War 2 than World War 1 and there's about 10 World War 2 movies for each World War 1 movie. World War 1 highlights how futile and unnecessarily evil war can be even for the victors. World War 2 on the other-hand, often enables the attitude of supporting war, because a lot of the losses to world war 2 seem worth it or necessary because of what was gained and what was at stake. A lot of wars are more like WW1 than WW2, and this is something we should all understand.

I teach American Military History as an elective at the high school level in which we cover the role of animals (including Sergeant Stubby) and I loved this film! The film makers accomplished something incredibly difficult in the way they captured the intensity and sadness of WWI while keeping the movie appropriate for children. Both my daughter and wife were overcome with emotion and both had plenty of follow-up questions. Bravo!