My Dog Tulip

This film is perfect.

The story is lovely, the music fits brilliantly, the animation, especially in the way. with a few lines and a little colour, it catches the "character" of the dogs is incredible in it's simple perfection.

I came to England (from Scotland) and fell in love with the place thanks to H.E. Bates' books...this little film reminded me so much of them....it's very restrained in it's beauty, summed up by the first line: "In being quite unable to love each other, the Englishmen turn to their dogs"

Why did this film not sweep the Oscars? No other animation comes close...apart from perhaps "Mary & Max".

Everything about it is perfect.

They say , a dog is a man's best friend and I have no doubt this may be the case with some people .

Not with me.

I'm not a dog lover , even though I am a reluctant owner of one.

My Dog Tulip is a strange little animated film that tells the story of a bond between a man and his Alsatian , Tulip.

At first I enjoyed the story telling and relationship he had with this dog but it soon got a bit tedious. There was too much talk of the dogs private parts and it's toilet habits. All this did was confirm my feelings i have about dogs.

The art work is quirky and a lot of it storyboard animation but I still feel that this will only appeal to real dog lovers . If your not , you might struggle to see what all the fuss is with this bloody dog!

I usually would not watch any film that was animated but because the book MyDog Tulip was so enjoyable I decided to give it a try. I'm so very glad I did. The art work is brilliant. My Dog Tulip is not in any way cartoon-like and is not for children, It is very faithful to the book. If you have never lived in England especially during the period covered in the book I would think you might not connect with the film because it is so very British. A lot of Americans might be put off due to this but I found it was one of the pleasant things about it, having lived in England for a few years. Also the author's companionship with his Alsatian (German Shepherd) dog was really heart warming. I also had an Alsatian and could relate to a lot of the things in the film concerning the problems he encountered trying to find a suitable mate for his dog and also the encounter Tulip had with the chickens could have come directly out of my notebook. I enjoyed this film for its artwork, story and British humor. I will definitely watch it again. Tulip could have been a twin for my dog.

When English writer and BBC editor J. R. Ackerley brought home with him a German Shepherd bitch whose owner was in prison, little did he anticipate how difficult would be to care for her. However, despite the fact that Queenie (the original dog's name) was untrained and high strung demanding his full-time attention, he felt unconditionally loved for the first time in his life.

This is a delightful animated movie for adults and older children based on Ackerley's memoir of the same name. Each individual frame was digitally painted with broad brush strokes creating a minimalistic and naturalistic scenes. Tulip is shown acting like a dog when she is taken to the veterinarian, runs out of control in the park, or goes into heat. And life-long bachelor Ackerley used to his peace and quiet is challenged by each one of Tulip's behaviors or problems. This is a movie about unconditional love that dog and animal lovers, or for that matter anybody who has had real feelings for any creature, should treasure.

To understand the origin of Queenie, see the very good comedy drama "We Think the World of You" with Gary Oldman and Alan Bates, based on Ackerley's novel of the same name. It tells how an incarcerated burglar's dog becomes the object of class warfare between his working class wife and parents, who mistreat the dog, and a middle class former boyfriend.

At first this film looks like a short for children. It is not. It is a rather lecherous look at dogs. It is not for prudes. The ideas it discusses seem more shocking because of the innocent animations used to present them. I am one of the least prudish people I know, but found this film repeatedly embarrassing. It seemed unseemly for Christopher Plummer to be relishing such gross things as vomit, diarrhoea, bowel movements, urination, masturbating dogs, getting turned on by dog genitalia, zoophilia, leching over dog breeding, dog erections, tight dog foreskins, and dog behaviour in heat.

It is naughtily amusing by periodically putting a dress on the animated dog Tulip, and has her behave with dog-like motivations but as a human. This makes clear just how different dog behaviour is from human.

The "kindly" old man behaves in ways that belie his gentle voice. He allows his dog to bite children, to bark at all hours, to attack people and poop on other people's property then not clean it up. He does not spay his dog then beats all the dogs attracted. He lets his dog have puppies just so he can derive some perverted pleasure from the birth before drowning them. This clashes drastically with the charming animation which is like entering a painting.

The musical score is rendered with extraordinary crispness. Its cheery oompah band is used rarely to punctuate the story. It is very well done.

The big problem with the film is its deceptiveness. It so very different from what you would expect, you feel tricked into participating in some filthy joke. It is not X-rated porn, but it is quite off-colour and the box should let you know to expect that.