Set in a dystopian future in Japan, where dogs have been banished to a remote island due to a canine flu, a young boy embarks on a journey to find his pet. Follow Atari on an epic adventure in search of his dog in Isle of Dogs.
The Story
Set in a dystopian future in Japan, where by executive decree all canine pets in the city of Megasaki are exiled due to a 'dog flu' and have been quarantined in a massive dump on a remote island. Isle of Dogs follows the story of Atari Kobayashi, a 12-year-old boy who ventures to the island to seek his dog, Spots. Upon arriving, Atari receives help from five stray dogs named Rex, King, Duke, Boss, and Chief, who are fed up with their isolated existence and decide to protect the boy from the Japanese authorities who have come to retrieve him.
The Making of the Film
This is Wes Anderson's second animated film, using the same stop-motion animation technique seen in the successful adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's novel, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). The director says Isle of Dogs was inspired by the classic Japanese films Rashomon and Seven Samurai from legendary director Akira Kurosawa. Anderson first announced Isle of Dogs in 2015, serving as an unofficial follow-up to his Academy Award-winning animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The similarities between the two films are striking, maintaining the director's typical gaze and style (for example, the almost exclusive central framing). That said, it doesn't seem so awkward that the film is set in Japan yet all the dogs have American voices.
Controversy and Release
And just as happened with the recent adaptations of Ghost in the Shell and Death Note, the film has already been subject to some criticism on social media, with users accusing Anderson of whitewashing his cast of predominantly white American actors in a Japanese setting. Although this may be because the director wanted to rehire his friends and frequent collaborators for his new film, it was notably dissonant in the trailer. The film features the voices of Bryan Cranston (Chief), Edward Norton (Rex), Bill Murray (Boss), Jeff Goldblum (Duke), Bob Balaban (King), Kunichi Nomura, Koyu Rankin, Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber, among other actors. Produced by Indian Paintbrush, and directed and written by Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Isle of Dogs will be released in theaters on March 23, 2018.
Official site: Isle of Dogs
