The Plague Dogs - Martin Rosen - (1982) DVD

An animated adaptation of Richard Adams' novel, about a pair of dogs (Snitter and Rowf) who escape from a research laboratory and try to survive in the wild with the help of a cunning fox (The Tod). The lab director tries to keep the escape quiet, but as an increasing number of sheep are found killed, word leaks out, together with rumors that the dogs might be plague carriers...

I have never been a fan of anthropomorphism in film. Talking animals bug me. Most Disney work is likeable fluff with little substance and loads of Hollywood phoniness. These aforementioned films are formulaic and frankly rather drab. But the Plague Dogs...the Plague dogs is an exception. The story of two infected dogs who escape from a containment facility is the most heart wrenching story I think I have read, and the film recreates that world perfectly. It is not that there is a bleeding heart liberal inside of me and I would stress that I am not a member of PETA. But this film hurts. What makes this film so powerful is that there is no option for the characters.

You love them immediately for their innocence and nobility. You feel for them because they have no ability even if freed to make anything of their freedom. The dogs are our children. And the world they exist in, is our world, one we have allowed to stand. The Plague Dogs creates a world where the finest of our emotions falls short of saving the day. It creates a world where good things lose and die and bad things remain in control of the world, where friendship can fail, and even the trickster loses...and yet...the beauty of the story is how the best of our emotions, even though they will not necessarily win the day, can make an ending bearable. Though this ending left me drained and hollow. This movie has the ability to shatter a viewer.

There is a powerful message and some timely social commentary to be had here, though the film wisely refrains from overt didacticism and sentimentality. As fate would have it, the film will now stand as one of the last animated features to have been entirely hand colored (to great effect, I might add). At once powerful, haunting and emotionally draining, this film is surely not to be forgotten once viewed  I implore you, view it with those closest to you. Discuss it with your friends, your children and fellow film enthusiasts. Let's not allow this masterwork to languish and slip into further obscurity.

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This movie has no arwork available. Should you purchase this move, your movie will be shipped as disc only (in a clear hard plastic single disc case).