Teacher's Pet (2004)
1h 14m | PG-13
Meet Spot, a clever little dog with big dreams of becoming a real boy. When Spot finds out that a crazy scientist can make his wish come true, he takes a cross-country trek with Leonard, his best friend and master, and their mom. However, Dr. Krank's experiments are a little less than perfect, and it will take Leonard and his pet pals to right this genetic wrong.
Director: Timothy Bjorklund
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Genre: Animation, Family, Music, Comedy, Drama
Video: 720p
Cast
Nathan Lane
as Spot Helperman / Scott Leadready II / Scott Manly-Manning (voice)
Kelsey Grammer
as Dr. Ivan Krank (voice)
Shaun Fleming
as Leonard Amadeus Helperman (voice)
Debra Jo Rupp
as Mrs. Mary Lou Moira Angela Darling Helperman (voice)
David Ogden Stiers
as Mr. Jolly (voice)
Jerry Stiller
as Pretty Boy (voice)
Reviews
Starts off amusing and quirky, but the novelty very quickly wears off. If you enjoy the television series then I'd imagine you'll connect with this. I haven't seen the aforementioned so wouldn't know, but as a standalone film it's pretty bad. As noted, it does start off weird - in a positive sense - with Nathan Lane pleasing as Spot, even if it's just him playing Timon from <em>'The Lion King'</em> let's be honest. If you take out Lane it's an irritating set of characters/voices. Away from that, you have the practically nonexistent plot which loses interest with every minute. It would've, at least in my opinion, worked better if they began in the same odd way but then developed an actual plot that's worth following. Unfortunately, they chose the easy way by, I assume, relying heavily on the TV episodes. <em>'Teacher’s Pet'</em> is not for me, despite the very short run time. I did appreciate the references to other Disney films, though.