Sgt. Stubby: An Unlikely Hero

You don't very often see kids movie which are based on true stories or war. But that's what this film is about. And surprisingly, it works.

The strengths are the score, the story and the fact that it doesn't have one of the likely endings one might predict. I suspect the outcome is largely due to this being based on a true story. I'm unaware how accurate this portrayal is to the real story, but it seemed like a respectable adaptation to me. The way they managed to show the awful reality of The Great War, while keeping it G rated is really a difficult triumph. It's important for kids to have movies that highlight errors in war, as opposed to just the victories and heroism. This film highlights both.

The weaknesses: the voice acting doesn't stand out as great. The dialogue isn't a strength. But they get a longer leash (no pun intended) because it's a kids movie. The animation is great in the 2D segments, and much of the 3D animation is fine. However there are clips where I can tell they didn't have the funds to make the animation as good as they'd like it to be. The clips of the soldiers marching seem noticeably too synchronized and took me out of the story.

Overall, I recommend this film to anyone. It's not a film expect to win Oscars or nominations. But, It's a distinctive likable real-story dog movie. And the film is especially good if you want a mostly uplifting real story for kids about a subject they likely know little about: World War 1.

I'm probably in the minority, but I find the history of World War 1 to be just interesting and important as World War 2. It seems the average person knows 10 times more about World War 2 than World War 1 and there's about 10 World War 2 movies for each World War 1 movie. World War 1 highlights how futile and unnecessarily evil war can be even for the victors. World War 2 on the other-hand, often enables the attitude of supporting war, because a lot of the losses to world war 2 seem worth it or necessary because of what was gained and what was at stake. A lot of wars are more like WW1 than WW2, and this is something we should all understand.

This film was a great film showing how special one little dog was! It's amazing to me the things that Sgt. Stubby did. The storyline was great along with the graphics. I couldn't help but smile during the whole film. I'm ready to go see it again! A MUST SEE for any dog lover!

I unfairly thought it would be obnoxious, corny & vanilla, like a Christian Redbox rental. Instead, it's an authentic & beautifully storied family film, & probably the greatest kid's war movie of all time. It was such a smart idea to not overly personify Stubby, making his incredible story all the more endearing. Even with a noticeable lack-of-budget in the animation & vocal performances, this heartfelt true story is better than anything Dreamworks, Illumination, or Blue Sky have put out in years.

I usually watch violent crime dramas and so this is a radical departure from my usual taste in films. I loved Sgt. Stubby,. The animation is incredible and the story a great tale (or tail) of doggy heroism during WWI. Stubby was a mutt from New Haven, Connecticut who was adopted by a military unit in 1918. America sent troops to France to fight the Germans and the doggy was hidden on a ship. Stubby had an uncanny ability to sense danger and warn his human masters. He also found wounded soldiers and alerted his caretakers as to their location. I have added this movie to my ten best list of 2018.

This historically accurate, non bloody, non gore children's film perfectly captures the horrrors of war in a perfect 90 minutes. The film is based on the experiences of a small dog called Stubby and several key characters in his life during the later stage of World War I. I would have to say it's perfect for elementary aged kids if you wanted to show them how the war was fought and how it impacted the lives of civilians. My 9 year old loved the film and wishes to see it again.