Teacher's Pet (2004)

Teacher's Pet has an energy that makes it completely different from every animated film ever! The music matches the great Broadway feel of The Producers and the story is as zany as a Saturday morning cartoon. The cast and writing also helps capture the strangeness and bizarre nature as any painting its creator Gary Baseman has ever made! Highly Recommended to anyone looking for a different film experience! As someone once said, "If ever there were a dark, twisted, crazier, wackier, happier, sadder, madder, badder, better, lovely, scary, freakier, musically, crazily, psychotic, robotic, phonic, larger, smaller, lefter, righter, worser, greater, monster-filled, pun-filled, reference-filled, song-filled, awesome, cooler, jazzier, and just all around interesting film ever made, this would be that film." Oh wait, I said that. Well, anyway.

Sometimes people irk me. More specifically are those people who, when in reference to some of the recent animated features, say things like "Oh it's such a great film, because, not only do the kids love it, it's funny for adults as well! (yay for us!)" This irks me because adults and kids alike have always been able to appreciate a well-made animated feature. So while I do hate this growing trend -one that has seen studios offering "condolences" to parents who drag concession-hungry children to see their movies by using two-tiered, age-discriminating humor (I guess so parents can nod knowingly to each other over the heads of their kids, while receiving these studio "winks", as if to say " They didn't get that one, but we sure did -it's because we're OLDER.")- I do feel the need to point out that Nemo is not the first fish to reference popular culture to adults.Enter Teacher's Pet, Disney's hand-animated feature (released on the heels of the announcement that it is shutting down its Florida animation studio) based on the popular kids series about a dog named Spot (Nathan Lane) who wants nothing more then to become a boy. With its skewed color pallet, course lines and surrealistic characters and environments, creator Gary Baseman offers us a visually stimulating experience –one that provides a refreshing (if not nostalgic) breather to a genre on the verge of becoming sterilized by computers.However, it takes a lot more then just strong visuals to form a well-crafted animated feature –and Teacher's Pet is a prime example of why. Written by former Cheers scribers Bill and Cheri Steinkellner and directed by first-timer Timothy Bjorklund, the humor in Teacher's Pet falls almost completely flat. By attempting to appeal simultaneously to adults and kids alike, they have taken a potentially strong premise for either audience and turned it into a convoluted mess that succeeds only in its ability to bring generations together through boredom. This is supposed to be a kids film -I don't need to explain to my four-year old niece why Spot is now a middle–aged man hitting on moms and shacked up in some sleazy motel- if they wanted "edgy" then they should have pitched it to Matt Stone. Sh*t or get off the pot I say.Reviewed by Shaun English

Based on the Emmy-winning, yet unfortunately short-lived TV show, "Teacher's Pet" is a colorful, witty animated family comedy that would amuse even those who never heard of the series.The story starts off at summer vacation (Which is weird, since this film was released in January), with super-perky mother/teacher Mrs. Helperman taking her son, Leonard, to Florida("Jersey with palm trees") when she is nominated for a N.E.A.T.O. (an award for teachers). When Spot is abandoned at home, he's sad, until he discovers a crazy scientist who thinks he can turn animals into people.Disguising as his school alter-ego Scott Leadready II, Spot hitches a ride to Florida with Leonard and Mrs. Helperman and finds the scientist, Dr. Ivan Krank....And the fun continues."Teacher's Pet" is a really good film, filled with the wild and weird animation of popular artist Gary Baseman. There are also many tuneful songs and funny jokes and gags, including the "Pinocchio" parody in the film's opening. The voice cast, which includes Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammar, Mary Jo Rupp, and Jerry Stiller, does very good vocal talents here.Unfortunately, Disney treated this film like trash; they didn't give it a big ad campaign nor a good film release, which led this film to flop at the box office. Despite this, "Teacher's Pet" is an enjoyable yet sadly underrated film.

Gary Baseman does it again! This movie is an amazing piece of film artistry based on the insanely brilliant tv series of the same name. Unfortunately, this show was really never given its due and suffers from limited viewing opportunities (right now it can be seen daily on Toon Disney). This movie offers a wider audience the chance to see what makes the show so fun to watch.The story involves Spot/Scott (voiced brilliantly by the always-great Nathan Lane) in his quest to fulfill his dream of becoming a boy. When Mrs. Helperman and Leonard go to Florida for the NEATO Teacher's convention, Spot tags along to seek out the evil scientist Dr. Ivan Krank who is currently doing animal-to-human experiments. Hilarity ensues of course. Baseman's unique animation style is a feast for the eyes with its constantly surprising and exciting twists. Watch for spoofs on classic Disney films, especially Pinocchio. While this film is a bit on the short side, the story is well told and fully developed (remember that other great movies of the past like Dumbo, Bambi, and Lilo and Stitch all had similar running times). It just goes to show that you don't need a 3+ hour movie and technology to make a heart-warming and hilarious film.Children and adults alike will love it - there's something for everyone. And even if you're not familiar with the show, the writers have included enough background that you will be able to keep up with what is going on. I give it a 9.5/10 and highly recommend it for everyone! A friend needs a friend, a boy needs a dog, and Disney needs to let Gary Baseman make more Teacher's Pet!