Yes! Another obscure animated dog movie--like Nine Dog Christmas, but more mature. I love Millionaire Dogs; it's off-beat and even a little bizarre. It's original but still reminded me of plenty of others as it played out. For one thing, there are cityscapes in the scenery that are completely reminiscent of Disney's Oliver & Company.
The movie opens on a limousine that, says the foreboding music, is driven by someone evil. To our surprise a dog emerges from said limo, and you realize this poor terrier mutt is a victim of rich snobs who think it's acceptable to pull the 'drive over the bridge and dump the pup trick,' as Rumbo so accurately stated in the movie Fluke. Not much later, an old woman on a motorcycle rides by with a parrot on the bike.
A second dog shows up; J.D. is an agile and streetwise dog who can get around on his own, like some blend of Dodger, Tramp, Charlie Barkin & even a bit of The Fox & the Hound's Chief (possibly because of his face and the way he moves.) He is, we learn, a Labrador mix (who appears for all the world a scruffy, shaggy, wiry mutt.) Rescuing the newly abandoned Chuffie, who loves astronomy and astrology, J.D. finds himself in a new home. It's Villa Lilly, belonging to the elderly woman, a paradise in the middle of a city. From the beginning, original 'pop' music plays sometimes in the background-but it actually serves to enhance the mood.
Miss Lilly's wish is to have her house converted into a home for lost and abandoned animals, a Foster's Home for Non-imaginary Friends. The crew that already calls the place home is a tight-knit family of very different animals, each with their own talents, traits, and hidden desires. Their loyalty to each other is punctuated by the 'Daffy Little Symphony' song (which ends sounding like the friends singing together at the end of Grease) but is put to the test later on when a fortune befalls them.
This crew is made up of three other dogs; Sherman is a Bullmastiff/Boxer-type guard dog, who longs to be a trophy-winning Olympic champ. Toy dog Velvet yearns for fashion-model status; there aren't many other canine characters who're hip, trendy teens & likes headsets & pop music. Then there is Bella, with her flowing red hair that gives the impression of a canine Little Mermaid or Jessica Rabbit. Bella is a beauty queen who gave up a life of circus tightrope/highwire performance for love--with a Lab who dumped her for a Basset hound. She and J.D. have both been around; they know the importance of freedom, the pain of rejection. Her story first made me think of Megara from Hercules; the premise of making sacrifice for a love who shows their gratitude by promptly leaving you for someone else.
The second couple is Sherman/Velvet, a blossoming one that seems a tad odd because Sherman's such a deal larger (& older?) than Velvet. Slightly reminds me of Buster fancying Angel from Lady & the Tramp 2, but not that bad.
A pet psychologist is employed by Lilly's greedy, strange, niece and nephew. He, oddly enough, is a goose, resembling Boris from Balto.) But Dr. Quack is willing to help Ronnie & Hannie by going so far as to try and kill the dogs. He lures each dog into his traps by appealing to the selfish dreams they have each begun to chase--why? Well, Lilly has passed away in her sleep. And her will leaves everything, including a million bucks, to the dogs.
Like Fagin reading to his dog gang in Oliver, Lilly fell asleep on a story she was telling her dogs--but she didn't wake up. There are paranormal elements to the story; J.D. is alerted to Lilly's passing away by instruments that play themselves, & a dark shadow passes over the house. The movie isn't afraid to deal with such a sad scene. J.D. is a dog of action & the only one who refuses to fall into any of the pits the others do--despair, avarice. Every time he leaves them, he ends up returning to help. Bella is always fearful of being abandoned again.
When the money proves to be the root of evil & goes to the friends' heads, Emmo the parrot ends up a manager to four dogs: a rising supermodel, an autograph-signing entertainer with a new agent, a bodybuilder training in his new gym, and a terrier trying to become the next Laika, & the first space dog on the planet Pluto. J.D. is the only one who sees that this was not Lilly's wish being fulfilled; he knows that they must use their fortune to help others who are as poor as they used to be.
Quack's plot leads Velvet to a dark alleyway, certainly not the promised fashion-world, in which she finds herself lost. Sherman is locked up in a factory that seems to make meat out of dogs. Chuffie winds up in a facility for space testing--on animals. Emmo quickly realizes that someone is trying to kill them all. Bella finds herself in chains at a fur factory. J.D. must use Lilly's motorcycle to rescue everyone in a chase that also brings the ride at the end of Oliver to mind. All J.D. seems to care about immediately is finding Bella.
Bella & J.D. create a ghost of Miss Lilly to frighten the twins away--later, Lilly's voice calls to them and thanks them. Her spirit lives in the walls of the home.
Overall, Millionaire Dogs is fun, funny, and well-done. Admittedly, the animation in many places is strange (not in a positive way) and there are errors as well. If the dogs had been drawn more consistently from one scene to another, it would have been the greatest improvement possible for the film.
