#BEST #DOG #Movie ever: #My Dog Tulip British review, my review

       Adam Thirlwell   The Guardian, Saturday 30 April 2011                                                      There are many methods for turning your life into a piece of performance art, and one of them is to get a dog. A dog is a wild experiment.                                                                                                                Or so you can argue by observing the example of JR Ackerley, who was an editor of the Listener, determined prowler for boys and the owner, for 15 of her 16½ years, of a German shepherd called Queenie, whom he described, under a transformed name, in his memoir My Dog Tulip – first published in 1965, two years before he died aged 71 – which has now been made into a gorgeous animated film.                                                      This book is the greatest of dog books, and now this film is the greatest of dog films.                                                                         

         I agree in my 2011 review: “My Dog Tulip”   **** 4 stars

 “My Dog Tulip” is, hands or paws down, the best, most tender and amusing dog film ever made.  It is a must-see experience for anyone who loves dogs, humans, the movies or entertainment. 

It is difficult for me to contain my enthusiasm for this adult, animated film about a 15-year relationship between an Alsatian dog (with a huge desire for, naturally, doggie sex) and an aging, lonely, gay writer, voice to perfection by Christopher Plummer. 

In a most delightful way, “My Dog Tulip” tenderly explores the relationship between a dog and a human.  As the opening narration states, the English don’t much like each other, so they lavish affection on their dogs.  So do many of us.

           At the heart of the film are 58,320 hand-made drawings by the directors Paul and Sandra Fierlinger.  There are four distinct types of animation:  full color for Ackerley’s everyday life, simple line drawings resembling a New Yorker cartoon for Ackerley’s fantasy life, black-and-white renderings of his memories and, finally, yellow legal-pad doodles to represent Tulip’s life.                                                Tulip, who was named Queenie in real life, arrives as a big puppy and immediately infuses overwhelming energy into Ackerley’s life.  In the film he marvels, “It seemed to me both touching and strange that she should find the world so wonderful.”                                    The most hilarious, and grown up, sequence involves Tulip’s search for a mate.  We see Tulip wearing an awful flowered dress and flouncing around while trying to attract a scruffy male.  As I noted before, this is a cartoon for grown ups.   The narrations are all tenderly and perfectly intoned.                                                         Plummer deserves additional awards for his Ackerley.  Lynn Redgrave, as Ackerley’s sister Nancy, competes for Tulip’s love.         This film instantly became one of my all-time favorites.

           Or, as Ackerley says in the film: “She offered me what I had never found in my life with humans: constant, single-hearted, incorruptible, uncritical devotion, which it is in the nature of dogs to offer.”