Young sheepdog Bodi has been trained in the ways of his family business but his heart lies elsewhere: in rock and roll music.
He wants nothing more than to travel to the big city and meet his hero, rock icon Angus Scattergood, and persists in trying to join what to him is the greatest band on earth.
Meanwhile, the wolves are circling, eager to locate Bodi’s village and consume the sheep that live there, and they believe that Bodi is the key to doing so.
Who’s in it and what’s it about
It’s a third film with the word “dog” in the title for Luke Wilson, who was in “Dog Park” and “My Dog Skip” before more prominent roles in the comedies “Charlie’s Angels”, “Legally Blonde”, “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Old School”.
He voices Bodi, opposite British actor and comedian Eddie Izzard (“Cars 2”, “Oceans Twelve”, TV’s “Hannibal”) as Ozzie and J.K. Simmons as Bodi’s dad (“Law & Order”, “Whiplash”, “Zootopia”.)
Stand-up comedian Lewis Black, also of “Inside Out”, plays wolf villain Linnux, while the voiceover cast also includes Keenan Thompson (“Marty & Maya”) Mae Whitman (“Arrested Development”) Sam Elliott (“The Big Lebowski”) Matt Dillon (“Drugstore Cowboy”) and Jorge Garcia (“Lost”).
Who’s behind it
“Rock Dog” is a Chinese-American co-production, with Ash Brannon making his feature film debut as a solo director, having co-directed “Toy Story 2” and “Surf’s Up”.
The story is based on a graphic novel created by Zheng Jun, himself a Chinese rock star. Its original locations were Tibet and Beijing.
Animation studio Reel FX had previously worked on “Free Birds” which did well at the box office though not with reviews, and “The Book of Life” which enjoyed better parity between box office revenue and review scores.
When’s it gonna be out
“Rock Dog” arrives in the Americas after a Chinese debut mid-2016. There is a February 24 release in the United States, with central and south America represented by February 23 openings in Chile and Mexico. Singapore has been slated for mid-March. JB