Taglines: A musical tail about one dog’s dream of becoming a boy.
Disney’s Teacher’s Pet is the story of a dog, Spot (Lane), that is so curious about the world that he has taught himself how to read, and sneaks to school with his master, Leonard (Flemming), where he poses as a human, Scott, so he can expand his awareness and education.
See Spot Run. See Spot Talk. See Spot try to change species in the new feature-length animated film, Disney’s Teacher’s Pet a hilarious musical tale of loyalty and friendship between a boy and his talking dog. Timothy Bjund makes his feature film directorial debut with an eye-popping splash, courtesy of the eclectic, off-kilter artistic vision of world renowned illustrator Gary Baseman (whose art is frequently featured in such top national publications as The New Yorker, Time, Sports Illustrated, and Rolling Stone), the witty words of former Cheers scribes Bill & Cheri Steinkellner, an all-star cast led by two-time Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane and perennial Emmy Award winner Kelsey Grammer, and 11 songs that enchant, amuse and complement the rapid-fire animation’s fur-flying pace.
Disney’s Teacher’s Pet is the hysterical tale of Spot a talking canine whose ultimate wish is to become ‘a real boy.’ When the opportunity presents itself through the DNA manipulations of wacko scientist Dr. Ivan Krank.
Spot quickly follows his ‘family’ (his best friend and master, Leonard, and their mother/fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Helperman) to Florida in order to make the evolution to human form. However, Dr. Krank’s experiments have had far from perfect results (witness mosquito girl and alligator boy) and, although Spot’s transformation to human is complete, not all the calculations are exactly correct. It’ll take his best buddy Leonard and his quirky pet pals (a cat named Mr. Jolly, and a boisterous bird named Pretty Boy) to help him out of his tight Spot and try to right this genetic wrong.
Inspired by the critically-acclaimed, five-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning television series, Disney’s Teacher’s Pet is produced by Stephen Swofford (Recess: School’s Out) for Walt Disney Television Animation. Lane sparkles as the title character(s), voicing both Spot the loyal family dog, and his intelligent, alter-ego-in-kids-clothing, Scott Lane’s comic contributions, as recognized on stage with a 2001 Tony Award for his tour-deforce as Max Bialystock in Mel Brooks’ The Producers and a 1996 Tony Award for his performance in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum are evident in virtually every animated frame of Disney’s Teacher’s Pet.
Grammer (Frasier) gives a wickedly over-the-top performance as the scheming Dr. Krank, a self-proclaimed ‘man of science’ dismissed by most others as a Wacko. Dr. Krank believes he’s created a machine that will transform animals into humans, feeding Spot’s lifelong wish of becoming a ‘real boy.’ Once aware of Dr. Krank’s existence, Spot embarks on a quest to meet the not-so-good doctor and achieve his impossible dream.
Disney’s Teacher’s Pet (2004)
Directed by: Timothy Bjrund
Starring: Nathan Lane, Shaun Flemming, Rob Paulsen, Debra Jo Rupp, Wallace Shawn, David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Stiller, Megan Mullally, Estelle Harris, Genie Francis
Screenplay by: Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner
Production Management: Craig Sawczuk
Art Direction by: Gary Baseman
Music by: Stephen James Taylor
MPAA Rating: PG for some mildly crude humor.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: January 16, 2004
Views: 69
