Dug's Special Mission

Over the past couple of decades, films - esp. those aimed at younger audiences, have got into the terrible habit of adapting a patronising attitude, where all the animals are cute, and 'problems' are simplistic, with overraught moralism, and a fake veneer of 'child-ness,' have made - what had been - a whole, wonderfully diverse type of film (and TV) making into something similar to treacle; sickeningly sweet and cloying.

When one thinks back to the so-called 'golden age' of cartoons, with the wonderful Warner Brothers, et. al., the thing which made those cartoons so enjoyable - for people of ALL ages was they were made so they could be enjoyed by all.

A terribly dangerous thing which has gained a strong grip in media today- sort of a 'think about the children'-type nonsense, where everything seems to be judged to have 'sharp edges' (I'm saying this as a metaphor), and the 'goody-goody, (overly) concerned adults' step in - and through THEIR adult eyes - looks at things meant for children.

These people will see something in an animated film, and THEY think it 'looks like' a sex organ,' and THEY think a 'small child' will also think this, and therefore, the child's , life, mind - who the hell knows - will be 'ruined.'

Wrong.

Children DON'T perceive ANYTHING as adults - or even as older kids do.

So, a Bugs Bunny cartoon holds it's power, because no matter the viewer's age, there's always something specifically for them.

I say this, because p, I just saw UP, and for this reason, I've just explained, I avoid films marketed for/to kids, because I can't stand that 'P.C.' mind-set, and it's rotting destructiveness.

I can't say how utterly surprised - VERY happily so - to have seen this really well-made, film.

I'm a grown-up, but, like anyone, there's always a kid in me, but, even still, I want my adult mind to find enjoyment as well, and after watching Up, I can happily say that there still beats the hearts and (creative) minds of people who understand at a film - whilst it might be 'kid-accessible,' MUST still be accessible to adults, as well.

I came by staying Up, after first coming across (on YouTube) a video of 'Dug's best moments,' and I could not stop laughing - out load (a sure sign - to me, anyway) that the filmmakers 'get it.'

The voice casting - Ed Asner, doing, what's pretty much an extension of his wonderful Lou Grant, is superb, as Carl, the older man, who's promise to his love, sets the film in motion.

Jordan Nagai, as Russell, was a fully thought-out, living, breathing kid, and not just some plastic, lifeless part. Young. Mr. Nagai brought a real heart to Russell, a kid, I know I could partially with, who isn't perfect, comes from a divorced home, and really is just learning to find HIS way in the world.

He's young, but, he's not dumb. He's polite - a real plus, but, he's also got - as Mr. Grant once memorable said - 'spunk.'

He's someone I would really have liked to have known at his age.

Dug - played to perfection, by Bob Peterson - is brilliant. He's not the smartest, nor the dumbest, but, he is all heart, and definitely. It's all dog-heart.

His introduction, where he repeats over and over about his 'smart master,,' only to be totally distracted when he gets the scent of.. 'SQUIRREL,' had me, and I know, it must've had a lot of others laughing so hard with recognition.

The filmmakers' little touches, such as Dug - and Kevin also does this - giving things to Carl and/or Russell covered in doggy (or bird) saliva, with it still hanging out of there mouths, is both funny, for it's truthfulness, and for the genuine-ness of the love and heart of these characters' for one another,

I can't recommend Up enough - it sounds like so much ..., you-know-what, when someone says 'it's for all-ages,' but, Up truly is one of the few films which DOES get it right.

Remember Dug from the Pixar film UP? He was the Golden Retriever sort of dog given an ability speak. He was very friendly except when he was distracted by Squirrels, which he was every ten seconds, despite there being no squirrels in the part of the world he was.

Well, he's back and it's his birthday. And the big, angry, Doberman Pinscher dogs don't like him, so they give him an assortment of pointless tasks, like watching a rock. For the sake of amusing the audience, this always turns out all right for Dug and badly for the Dobermans.

There's no clear indication of where this very funny and heartfelt cartoon first appeared, but it appears to have been on a DVD. I'm guessing it was the DVD release of UP.

As we all know, Dug is the dog that meets Carl and Russell on top of a mountain top while he is on a mission hunting for an elusive tropical bird on the orders of his master Charles Muntz. Well, "hunting" is a bit strong since Dug has been sent on a wild goose chase to keep him out of the way of the main, err, "wild bird chase". This short film are the events that led Dug to be on that mountain top as Alpha tries to keep Dug occupied with a series of seemingly harmless "missions".

In addition to the short film that accompanies the cinematic release of their feature films, Pixar will mostly use one of the characters from the main film to generate another short film that will go on the DVD release of same. In this case I was very happy to find that this was to be the loyal but rather dopey dog Dug since he was one of my favourite characters from the film with both physical comedy and his funny dialogue (essentially the thoughts of a dog "SQUIRREL!"). This short film is well placed within the context of the main events and sees Alpha essentially ditching Dug with pointless missions such as "this is the bird's favourite hole in the ground, stay in this hole until you see the bird". Needless to say Alpha's plans manage to backfire as Dug manages to somehow get in Alpha's way with a mix of innocent cheerfulness and exuberance.

The ways that this happens are funny but they are made funnier by Dug as a character, the dialogue being a match for the film in terms of style and him being funny simply by virtue of being in the scene. Even the jokes that are repeated from the film (SQUIRREL!) are funny here. The ending of the short isn't particularly strong but this is forgivable since it is not really the "end" but rather nicely dovetails into a scene in the main film that we had previously come into from the perspective of Carl and Russell.

Overall Dug's Special Mission is a typically enjoyable DVD short film from Pixar that makes funny use of one the funnier characters from Up to produce a funny DVD extra that sits well alongside the main film.

I saw Dug's Special Mission as I love Pixar and Up is my second favourite of Pixar's films. Plus I wanted to see what this short film was going to be like from Dug's perspective. It was very well done, with a lot of what I loved about Up shown here. As with all of Pixar's work, it is beautifully animated, with character designs that have life and backgrounds and colours that have such a bright and breezy look to them. The music has a uplifting and nostalgic feel to it, the story is cute with a lot of heart to it and while the physical humour is genuinely amusing there is always room for some poignancy as well particularly at the end. The characters do engage, I personally like Dug and I liked what was done with him here, and the other dogs, Carl and Russell are great in support. The voice work is as solid as can be. Overall, very well done, I liked it very much. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I really impressed after watching this mini movie... You need to watch Up first and then watch this movie and enjoy!