My Dog Tulip (2010)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Dreadfully Boring

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

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.

As a lover of dogs and animation, I found this film appealing. It is a perfect example that combines the two alongside '101 Dalmatians,' 'Oliver and Company,' 'The Plague Dogs' and pretty much any incarnation of 'Scooby Doo,' although the animation style of this film differs from that of all four of the titles since it has a sketchy if wobbly look. Most of the animation was smooth but jerky on the chickens and the backgrounds were as sketchy as the characters and both had rather subtle colours if the fantasy sequences on paper were plain and simple.The narrative of this film was engaging and reminiscent of 'Marley and Me.' I liked how Joe's typing or handwriting fitted in with it as well as the fantasy sequences depicting Tulip and other dogs in anthropomorphic ways on lined or plain sketch paper while the music had an old-fashioned feel that suited the film's style very well. Although some parts of it were crude and disgusting (especially Joe cleaning up Tulip's runny mess in the middle of the night - it nearly made me vomit) and risqué (no wonder it's a UK 12 rating), I was touched by the unlikely relationship of Joe and Tulip. Although she was a live-wire and seemed to be more interested in his sister Nancy, he still loved her. Parts of the film reminded me of when my parents owned a dog themselves such as Tulip dragging her bottom on the floor with her hind legs in the air (probably what dogs do when they need to relieve themselves) and going on heat since I observed Jasmine (my parents' Cavalier King Charles spaniel that they acquired in 2008 but was sadly returned to her breeder in 2011) dragging her bottom on the floor and my dad suggesting she needed a wee as well as her moments of going on heat. While the pace of the film was pretty slow until Tulip had her puppies, it was at this point that it became rushed because it seemed like little or no time between the birth of Tulip's puppies and her death (mentioned but not seen: only depicted as her fading away and returning as an anthropomorphic spirit). I like the fact that this film was dedicated to Lynn Redgrave since it was her final film before her unfortunate passing.All in all this is an obscure yet distinctively-animated film that has its blend of crude, risqué and touching moments and is easier to follow than 'The Plague Dogs'. 8/10.

Although the film is specifically about a relationship between an older man and a dog, I think that the relationship with pets is reasonably universal. OK there are obvious differences between the dynamics of having a dog and those of having a lizard but generally the nature of the affection and the relationship is similar in most cases. I say this as someone who had a dog for about 8 years and now own 2 cats and for all the animals they became a part of my life to the point I could not imagine being without them and did tend to treat them with an affection that they probably don't deserve as mere animals. Anyway, all this rambling is by way of saying that I was open to this capturing this relationship even if it was not specifically the one I had experienced.And I genuinely didn't expect the relationship to be like my experiences but somehow I wished they had at least been vaguely similar because as it was I really got no sense of this affection until it is spelt out in the narration in the closing few moments. Up till this point the material is incredibly detached from emotions and almost scientific in its removed observation of Tulip. The film is remarkably crude in its contemplation of her ablutions, her period in heat and so on; I really felt quite confused by this as I was not sure what to take from it. There seemed to very little that was heartfelt or about a sense of companionship in the way I would see it – for the majority of the film Tulip came over as almost an insect in a jar.The animation is refreshingly rough and personal – there is more heart in this than in the actual material. Unfortunately the animation amplifies the crudity of the film, showing the biological obsessions of Ackerley and it frequently gives the film even more of a sordid feel. Plummer's narration is nicely warm and if there is an hint of affection in the material then his voice brings it out – shame there isn't much to be had.A really disappointing film then; it proposes to be about the relationship between a man and his dog but presents something that is roundly scientific, cold and lacks any sense of heart or feeling. The animation both helps it be better and also be weaker in different ways.

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!