The drumming in the beginning and the whistling in the middle got stuck in our heads around that time. My older one would grab the sticks and do the beat. My younger one was only around three years old at the time so he couldn't really do it. Neither of them could whistle even now so they would just kind of hum or make fake whistling sounds. I would tease them by whistling for them, and they would tease me back by snapping their fingers. I can't really snap my fingers very well or loudly.
We would also repeat the lines in the movie, of course. When the younger one wouldn't listen, we would say to him, "You're disobedient. Sit!" And I actually can't remember the other lines now. It's funny because we quoted it all the time. "Fetch-i" I guess was one of them. And "I don't fetch." Even after rewatching the film recently, the other lines still don't stick. The difference maybe is that I watched it by myself this time and not with the boys. Maybe if we watched it together, I would remember more. Mostly because they would probably want to see it over and over. It was the same with "Fantastic Mr. Fox", which was also directed by Anderson.
This was his second animated movie, and it was pretty good on its own. I'm glad he doesn't do sequels. But I was thinking about what I would call it if there was another installment of this. I would probably call it "Yule of Dogs". Because it sounds like "You love dogs", of course. And then you would have to make it a Christmas movie because of the title.
Would I still set it in Japan? What would the story be? Something about saving Christmas as usual? Or maybe just dogs enjoying the holidays? How popular is kurisumasu in that country, anyway? I read something somewhere before that Kentucky Fried Chicken is popular there because the Japanese were led to believe that that is how Americans celebrate the holiday. Maybe Oracle the dog learns about the Yuletide season and try to introduce it to his dog friends and they try to spread holiday cheer all over Tokyo. And hilarity ensues or something.
Anyways, I always assumed Wes Anderson was an Akira Kurosawa fan, and this film kind of validated that for me. He obviously takes great care to frame his shots and uses movements well. Characters move within the frame and the pans, dollies and tilts usually have a purpose. For Anderson, it seems more just for fun sometimes, but that's fine. But what really sticks out for me is how multiple characters move together as a group. Their placement within the set and the shot kind of give me the same sentiment.
And then the music in this film is obviously an homage or a reference to those samurai films. It was a very enjoyable experience. My kids enjoyed the film, but I wonder what adults would think of it, especially if they had not been exposed to Kurosawa films.
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