American Dog

How do you go from this




to this?



When I first found out about American Dog, I got really excited. It looks like an Edward Hopper painting brought to life. I loved Lilo and Stitch, but American Dog looked like a much more personal project from Chris Sanders. The story even sounded a little like Cars, where the dog, cat, and overgrown rabbit take a road trip through middle America. Rumor has it John Lasseter didn't like Lilo and Stitch and didn't care much for Chris Sanders. I'm sure Lasseter had his reasons for stopping production on the film, but it's disappointing to see it replaced with something that looks so generic and unoriginal. American Dog is unique. Each character has his own personality. And some of the stills and concept art I saw were just plain quirky. Bolt just looks like Balto with a higher budget. And why do they always make these character pose and grin in these images? It's just plain... blah.

I understand that Disney had to release some kind of animated movie about a dog in order to fulfill their marketing obligations, and that's the only reason to make Bolt. But I really hope American Dog isn't gone forever.

Cartoon Brew posted a nice cartoon from Chris Sanders. At least we still get to see how the cat is supposed to look.

Even if Sanders just brings back the characters in comic form, I'll be happy. However, I know that's impossible since Disney now owns all rights to the characters as well as 30% of Sanders' soul.

Jason