''StarDog and TurboCat'' is a 2019 British 3D

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

produced by Head Gear Films and Screen Yorkshire and distributed by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution and animated by Red Star 3D. Originally titled ''SpaceDog and TurboCat'', the film was directed and written by Ben Smith and features the voices of

Nick Frost Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz ...

Luke Evans Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy ''St Trinian's'' ...

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...

Ben Bailey Smith Benjamin Harvey Bailey Smith (born 21 September 1977), also known by the stage name Doc Brown, is an English actor, comedian, rapper, screenwriter, songwriter, and voiceover artist. He portrayed DS Joe Hawkins in the television series '' Law & ...

Charli D'Amelio Charli Grace D'Amelio ( ; born May 1, 2004) is an American social media personality. She was a competitive dancer for over 10 years before starting her social media career in 2019, when she started posting dance videos on the video-sharing pl ...

and

Cory English Cory English (born 1968) is an American actor. Early life Born into a blue collar family in Rochester, New York, English was the youngest of four boys. English attended Wayne Central High School in Ontario, New York. He lived for several years ...

. It received mixed reviews from critics, who generally approved of the film's animation but considered the film itself unsophisticated.

Plot

In 1969, a

Golden retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

named Buddy is launched into space with a backpack in a

space capsule A space capsule is an often-crewed spacecraft that uses a blunt-body reentry capsule to reenter the Earth's atmosphere without wings. Capsules are distinguished from other satellites primarily by the ability to survive reentry and return a payl ...

by his owner, David. However, soon after leaving Earth, the capsule malfunctions and shocks Buddy, mutating his DNA and giving him superpowers before flying out of orbit, leaving Buddy frozen and floating in space. 50 years later, the capsule reenters Earth's atmosphere, causing Buddy to crash land back on Earth in the fictional town of Glenfield, where he awakes in a dumpster. After Buddy attempts to speak with a human, he is met with frightened and angry reactions from the townspeople, to the confusion of Buddy. He discovers that the capsule has gone missing. He sees a police truck and chases it for several blocks until it stops at the police station. Buddy finds a caged dog called Victor in the trunk of the truck, who asks Buddy to help free him. Officer Peck then exits the vehicle and takes Victor into the station, which is connected to the local

animal pound An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding. Etymology The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...

. Buddy runs into a nearby alley, where he is introduced to a

tuxedo cat Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

named Felix (known by his superhero alias TurboCat) who lassoes and electrocutes Buddy, who he believes is a stray dog, dragging him into a

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman. Housed in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit a ...

-like vehicle. TurboCat then drives away into his gadget-filled secret hideout in the Glenfield Museum, where his robot butler, Sinclair, awaits him. Once there, TurboCat reveals to Buddy that humans hate animals in Glenfield, and that Officer Peck is responsible for putting stray animals in the pound, where they are never seen again. Buddy explains his situation to TurboCat, which he does not believe, and tells him that he wants to find the space capsule so that David might find him, to which TurboCat replies that he might be willing to assist Buddy if he brings him milk. Buddy finds milk in the lunch packed by David and brings it to him, but is turned down. Buddy also hands Felix the carrot he found, and it is revealed that the carrot belonged to Cassidy, a former magician's rabbit who Felix has a crush on. Felix goes off to find Cassidy, but is stopped by Officer Peck. As Felix runs away, he is followed closely by Buddy. Eventually, Felix hops on Buddy's back, and Buddy suddenly starts to run with superhuman speed. After escaping Officer Peck, Buddy and Felix arrive at a grocery store called the Mega Store, where Cassidy's carrot came from. The two break into the store and Buddy becomes distracted by items in the store. Buddy’s distractive almost got him and Felix caught by a human but by using a cute eye trick, (which Buddy tried on Felix early in the film) causes the human to leave.

Cast

as Felix/TurboCat *

as Buddy/StarDog *

as Cassidy *

as Sinclair *

as Bullion *

as Tinker *

as Peck * Morgan Cambs as Alex * Ben Smith as David * Dan Russel as Victor * Robert G. Slade as Todd

Production

The film's animation was done by

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

-based animation studio Red Star 3D in its first animated feature film. Prior to animating ''StarDog'', Red Star was known for making animations for theme parks.

Release

''StarDog and TurboCat'' was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 6 December 2019. After being acquired by Viva Kids, the film was released in theaters in the US on 21 May 2020.

Reception

Box office

''StarDog and TurboCat'' grossed $48,547 in its opening weekend in the United Kingdom, eventually earning $195,844 in total. In the United States, the film grossed $80,490. Internationally, the film earned $504,953, bringing its worldwide total to $585,443.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''StarDog and TurboCat'' received mixed reviews. On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''StarDog and TurboCat'', the film received rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

''s Alan Ng gave the film a rating of seven out of ten, remarking that the animation was "pretty good" and writing, "Though there’s not a lot for us adults, the kids will love ''StarDog and TurboCat''s endearing characters and goofy fun." Eddie Harrison from '' The List'' gave the film a three out of five rating, referring to the character design and backdrop as "fairly basic", and writing, "The world-building isn't as sophisticated as it should be, yet the delivery is smart enough...For Red Star 3D, it's a decent first crack at creating a fresh brand of animation." Harrison also lauded Evans's performance as Felix, writing that he was the "break-out character" and had a "laconic edge". ''

Starburst MicroPro International Corporation was an American software company founded in 1978 in San Rafael, California. They are best known as the publisher of WordStar, a popular early word processor for personal computers. History Founding and early su ...

''s Jacob Walker gave the film five out of ten stars, opining that the animation was "chunky and colourful, which will keep

he viewer He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

invested" and that the story was "fun and sweet". However, Walker also wrote, "The movie could certainly be more focused...The jokes generally aren’t funny enough to keep the majority of adults entertained." Kevin Maher of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "tiresome stuff". Maher praised the film's animation but criticized the characters, narrative, and American setting, also noting a lack of character development. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Cath Clarke also gave the film two out of five stars and called it "daft" but "likable enough", lauding the voice cast as "smashing" and writing, "From time to time this is reasonably entertaining...Otherwise, the action is relentless and laboured with the odd pause for a sentimental lesson or moment of personal growth. ''StarDog'' may work its slight charms on young children, but older kids will feel they’ve seen smarter, funnier and cleverer before."

References

External links

* * * * {{Mojo title, id=7531096, title=StarDog and TurboCat 2019 films 2019 3D films 2019 computer-animated films 2010s British animated films 2010s animated superhero films 2010s English-language films British 3D films British computer-animated films British children's animated films 3D animated films Animated films about cats Animated films about dogs Animated films about fish Films about mice and rats Animated films about rabbits and hares Film superheroes Animal superheroes Films set in 1969 Films set in 2019 2010s British films