My Dog Tulip (2010)

Although the film is specifically about a relationship between an older man and a dog, I think that the relationship with pets is reasonably universal. OK there are obvious differences between the dynamics of having a dog and those of having a lizard but generally the nature of the affection and the relationship is similar in most cases. I say this as someone who had a dog for about 8 years and now own 2 cats and for all the animals they became a part of my life to the point I could not imagine being without them and did tend to treat them with an affection that they probably don't deserve as mere animals. Anyway, all this rambling is by way of saying that I was open to this capturing this relationship even if it was not specifically the one I had experienced.And I genuinely didn't expect the relationship to be like my experiences but somehow I wished they had at least been vaguely similar because as it was I really got no sense of this affection until it is spelt out in the narration in the closing few moments. Up till this point the material is incredibly detached from emotions and almost scientific in its removed observation of Tulip. The film is remarkably crude in its contemplation of her ablutions, her period in heat and so on; I really felt quite confused by this as I was not sure what to take from it. There seemed to very little that was heartfelt or about a sense of companionship in the way I would see it – for the majority of the film Tulip came over as almost an insect in a jar.The animation is refreshingly rough and personal – there is more heart in this than in the actual material. Unfortunately the animation amplifies the crudity of the film, showing the biological obsessions of Ackerley and it frequently gives the film even more of a sordid feel. Plummer's narration is nicely warm and if there is an hint of affection in the material then his voice brings it out – shame there isn't much to be had.A really disappointing film then; it proposes to be about the relationship between a man and his dog but presents something that is roundly scientific, cold and lacks any sense of heart or feeling. The animation both helps it be better and also be weaker in different ways.

At first this film looks like a short for children. It is not. It is a rather lecherous look at dogs. It is not for prudes. The ideas it discusses seem more shocking because of the innocent animations used to present them. I am one of the least prudish people I know, but found this film repeatedly embarrassing. It seemed unseemly for Christopher Plummer to be relishing such gross things as vomit, diarrhoea, bowel movements, urination, masturbating dogs, getting turned on by dog genitalia, zoophilia, leching over dog breeding, dog erections, tight dog foreskins, and dog behaviour in heat.It is naughtily amusing by periodically putting a dress on the animated dog Tulip, and has her behave with dog-like motivations but as a human. This makes clear just how different dog behaviour is from human.The "kindly" old man behaves in ways that belie his gentle voice. He allows his dog to bite children, to bark at all hours, to attack people and poop on other people's property then not clean it up. He does not spay his dog then beats all the dogs attracted. He lets his dog have puppies just so he can derive some perverted pleasure from the birth before drowning them. This clashes drastically with the charming animation which is like entering a painting.The musical score is rendered with extraordinary crispness. Its cheery oompah band is used rarely to punctuate the story. It is very well done.The big problem with the film is its deceptiveness. It so very different from what you would expect, you feel tricked into participating in some filthy joke. It is not X-rated porn, but it is quite off-colour and the box should let you know to expect that.

I am an artsy, worldly person, but I was creeped out by the ever present toilet humor and the smut, even though it was animated. This movie started out appealing because it was animated, had pleasant music and was set in England. It seemed charming, creative, and well-spoken at first, especially for dog lovers and anglophiles, but it became unpleasant and offensive with graphic animated canine and human sexual functioning and toilet and menstruation humor. It was smutty. You should know this before you watch it in mixed company. It is a definite NO for children and not a date night movie either. I watched the special feature about the making of the film and I am not surprised that it was animated by a middle-aged recluse couple who appear to enjoy what they see as sticking it to middle class values, but it was creepy. And I was horrified by the scene when the main character was preparing to drown puppies. Be forewarned, that just because it is animated does not make it benign or wholesome. It is neither.

A dog is a man's best friend. And sometimes a dog can substitute a woman in a man's life. My Dog Tulip was a book written in 1956 by the English writer J.R. Ackerley about how he rescued a female dog named Tulip from an abusive home. Tulip went on to give J.R. the best fifteen years of his life, and quite possibly the best thing in Tulip's life was J.R. Both had instant chemistry and expressed a strong love for each other. Coming from a cat lover, My Dog Tulip was beautiful in every category.The animation was not CGI, it was hand drawn on a tablet which wound up to be over 100,000 still drawings. I've never seen a film done like this and I've never seen a film quite like this. The animation is scratchy, but it manages to capture the beauty even without it being polished and glorified. It doesn't need to be. It is a complete throwback, and if it would've been made with CGI it would ruin the film.J.R. Ackerley was an openly gay man and often expressed that he was in his writings. He admitted he was after his parents died because of the time period he grew up in where being gay was the absolute worst thing that could've happened to you. Thankfully it isn't like that now. J.R. never found the right partner, but told us in the movie and in the novel My Dog Tulip that it was Tulip who served as his mate.Tulip's behavior would become increasingly protective when another woman came to see J.R., mainly his sister Nancy, Tulip would bark uncontrollably and demand undivided attention from him. She didn't like J.R. with other women. Tulip wanted J.R. to be his only.My Dog Tulip could easily be mistaken as a movie for a young child. One between the ages of four and nine. It is not. The film is totally geared towards adults, or understanding adolescents. It is equipped with dry British humor and a very soft spoken voice. The narrator is always calm, even at the most tense of times.The film deals with topics like love and the menstrual cycle of dogs. It is something many children will not get or even be interested in. They will just want to see the doggy.Compared to a film like Marley & Me, My Dog Tulip holds up a lot better most likely because it is true and not a work of realistic fiction. Marley & Me was nice at showing how bad a dog can be, but My Dog Tulip shows how good and sweet a dog can be to a human. Two totally different films, that are both nicely done in their own way.We all know what happens at the end, it isn't suspenseful. Tulip grows old and dies at fifteen after giving birth to several puppies. Tulip's story is very sweet and soft, even at it's saddest. J.R. died at the age of seventy in 1967. His spirit will continue to live on in his books and this heartwarming and caring film. Easily overlooked for the animation category in the 2010 Academy Awards.NOTE: My Dog Tulip was actress Lynn Redgrave's final performance before passing away on May 2, 2010. R.I.P.Starring: Christopher Plummer and Lynn Redgrave. Directed by: Paul Fierlinger.