Guide Dog

I enjoy the short films of Bill Plympton. The artwork is lovely (featuring unusual colored pencil animation) and the sense of humor is always rather twisted and weird. GUIDE DOG is exactly what I expected from the man--for good and for bad. I was not disappointed, though very little caught me by surprise either. I can almost guarantee if you watch it you'll like it.

The film begins with a dopey-looking dog responding to an ad for guide dogs. However, he's not the most competent dog and he isn't very lucky, so again and again bad things befall the blind people he's trying to guide. It's all pretty funny--somewhat like a Roadrunner cartoon.

This film is one of the bonus shorts included with the wonderful DVD "A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films"--a must have for fans of the genre.

Guide Dog (2006)

*** (out of 4)

Sequel to GUARD DOG has the same dumb canine walking down the street when he notices a job opening for a guide dog. He takes the job and goes out with the blind but he keeps getting them killed due to a variety of strange occurrences. This sequel isn't nearly as funny as the first film but there's still plenty here to love. Once again the colored pencil drawings are incredible to look out as the detail and weird visuals it gives are something truly marvelous to look at. There were times when I was drawn away from what was going on in a scene just because the beautiful colors really caught my focus and wouldn't let it go. Another major plus here is that once again we're greeted with a very dark sense of humor, which of course means this here isn't for kids. The various ways that the blind people keep getting killed might turn some people off but trust me, it's all done in good fun and it works. The highlight of the film would have to be the sequence where the dog is trying to walk the woman across the road before she gets hit by a car.

This is one of wackiest and greatest cartoons I have ever seen. It almost goes beyond description because the artwork and the story are so crazy, you literally have to see this to appreciate it. I spent most of the five-plus minutes either with my jaw dropped or laughing out loud at what was seeing. I understand this is a sequel, sort of, to "Guard Dog." Oh, man, it that is anywhere as good as this, I'd love to see it.

This dog is one of the funniest character I have ever seen on film: animated or live-action. He sees a "Help Wanted: Guide Dog" sign in a window, applies for the job and unbelievable things occur with the people he tries to help.

Just take my word for it: this is fantastic. I saw it on The DVD "A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films." The ironic thing is that this wasn't nominated; it was a bonus feature on the disc.....and it was better than ANY of the nominated films of either category (animated or live-action.)

This is the only cartoon I have EVER watched three times in one day.