Rock Dog

Rock Dog
English theatrical release poster
Chinese	摇滚藏獒
Directed by	Ash Brannon
Screenplay by	Ash Brannon Kurt Voelker
Story by	Ash Brannon Zheng Jun
Based on	Tibetan Rock Dog by Zheng Jun
Produced by	Amber Wang David B. Miller Rob Feng Joyce Lou Zheng Jun
Starring	Luke Wilson Eddie Izzard J. K. Simmons Lewis Black Kenan Thompson Mae Whitman Jorge Garcia Matt Dillon Sam Elliott
Edited by	Ivan Bilancio Ed Fuller
Music by	Rolfe Kent
Production companies	Summit Premiere H. Brothers Mandoo Pictures H. Brothers Entertainment Eracme Entertainment Dream Factory Group Reel FX Animation Studios Timeless Films
Distributed by	Huayi Brothers (China) Lionsgate (United States)[1]
Release dates	June 15, 2016 (2016-06-15) (SIFF)[2] July 8, 2016 (2016-07-08) (China)[3] February 24, 2017 (2017-02-24) (United States)
Running time	89 minutes[4]
Countries	United States China United Kingdom
Languages	English Mandarin
Budget	$60 million[5][6]
Box office	$24.1 million[4]

Rock Dog (simplified Chinese: 摇滚藏獒; traditional Chinese: 搖滾藏獒; pinyin: Yáogǔn Zàng'áo, literally Rock and Roll Tibetan Mastiff) is a 2016 animated comedy film directed by Ash Brannon (in his solo directorial debut),^[7] from a script by Brannon and Kurt Voelker. Produced by Mandoo Pictures and Huayi Brothers, the film is loosely based on the Chinese graphic novel Tibetan Rock Dog by Zheng Jun.^[8][9] It features the voices of Luke Wilson, J. K. Simmons, Eddie Izzard, Lewis Black, Kenan Thompson, Mae Whitman, Jorge Garcia, Matt Dillon, and Sam Elliott. The film focuses on a young Tibetan Mastiff who leaves his mountain home village to become a rock musician in the big city after a radio falls from the sky.

Rock Dog was released on July 8, 2016, in China by Huayi Brothers and on February 24, 2017, in the United States by Summit Premiere. The film received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing $24 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million. Two straight-to-DVD and blu-ray sequels followed. The second, titled Rock Dog 2: Rock Around the Park, was released on June 15, 2021,^[10] and the third, titled Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat, was released on January 24, 2023.^[11]

Plot

Teenage Tibetan Mastiff Bodi is expected to be the next guard of the village of Snow Mountain; succeeding his father Khampa, who years ago drove out a pack of gangster grey wolves, led by the villainous Linnux. To maintain the illusion of multiple guards, Khampa has local sheep disguised as Mastiffs. However, Bodi struggles to master the Iron Paw, a powerful move that requires him to "find the fire". Khampa has long ago banned music in the village to prevent distractions.

One day, Bodi indirectly causes a nearby flying plane to drop a package, which includes a radio. Entranced with British rock legend Angus Scattergood, Bodi defies his father by modifying a traditional dramyin into a conventional Western guitar and neglecting his duties to pursue music. Despite an incident where Bodi mistakenly alerts the village to a false alarm, elder Fleetwood Yak convinces Khampa to let Bodi follow his dream, giving him a bus ticket to the city with a promise to return and surrender music if unsuccessful. At the bus station, Bodi is discovered by two of Linnux's henchman, Riff and Skozz, and Linnux orders them to kidnap Bodi, reasoning it is his chance to take over Snow Mountain.

In the city, Bodi heads to Rock and Roll Park, hoping to follow in Scattergood’s footsteps. He attempts to join a band consisting of bassist fox Darma and goat drummer Germur. However, Bodi is humiliated after losing a guitar contest to arrogant snow leopard Trey, who after discovering Bodi's idolization for Scattergood, manipulates him into convincing Scattergood to give him some guitar lessons at his mansion. At the mansion, Scattergood is put off by Bodi's attitude and tries to evade him. Bodi and Scattergood later get lost in a back alley and Bodi resorts to busking to get money for Scattergood to return to his mansion. However, Riff and Skozz mistakenly kidnap Scattergood after they see Bodi at the park; Riff and Skozz drop Scattergood off at his home and continue their search for Bodi. Scattergood believes his career is over since he has less than a day to write a new song, when he hears Bodi playing on his guitar and invites him into his home with the facade of a "guitar lesson", where the duo create a new song called "Glorious".

Back at the park, Bodi feels betrayed when Scattergood takes full credit for the song they wrote together on a radio. Trey mocks Bodi and everyone in the park leaves, with Darma and Germur feeling sorry for him. Soon after, Bodi is captured by Linnux's henchmen via tranquilizer darts, who inadvertently reveals the fake Mastiff guards under interrogation. Linnux plans an attack on Snow Mountain, while Bodi is put into a boxing match at Linnux's Fight Palace, but Bodi has his opponent break the cage surrounding them so he can escape.

Scattergood, guilt-tripped by his robot butler Ozzie for exploiting Bodi for his own selfishness, uses his old tour bus to find him and apologize. At Rock and Roll Park, Scattergood meets with Darma and Germur and discover Bodi's capture when they see his dart-covered guitar. Scattergood forgoes sending in "Glorious" to rescue Bodi. Meeting Bodi outside of Linnux's hideout, Scattergood makes amends by giving his old acoustic guitar with his autograph and takes him to Snow Mountain to stop Linnux and his henchmen. Linnux and his gang overpower Khampa and the whole village and attempt to devour the villagers, but Bodi appears. In a climactic showdown, Bodi finds his inner fire through music, using Scattergood's guitar to levitate everyone, subduing the wolves. Khampa banishes Linnux with his Iron Paw and embraces Bodi's musical aspirations.

At the city, Scattergood publicly credits Bodi for "Glorious". Bodi forms a band with Darma and Germur, and they perform the song to the city, including the Snow Mountain villagers, Khampa, redeemed wolves, and other friends, while Trey comically fails to gain entry to the venue, being turned away by a bear bouncer.

Voice cast

J. K. Simmons, Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Lewis Black, Kenan Thompson and Mae Whitman starred in the English version of the film.

• Luke Wilson as Bodi (博迪; Bódí), a young Tibetan Mastiff who is eternally optimistic and wants nothing more than to play rock music.^[12][13]
  • Adam Friedman provides Bodi's English singing voice, including the final song "Glorious".^[14]
• Eddie Izzard as Angus Scattergood (安格斯·史卡特古德), a British Persian cat rock legend who is suffering from a serious case of songwriter's block.^[12][15]
• J. K. Simmons as Khampa (坎帕; Kǎnpà), Bodi's father, an elder Tibetan Mastiff who takes his duties as the village guard extremely seriously and despises music after defeating the wolves at one point.^[12]
• Lewis Black as Linnux, the CEO of Linnux Industries, alpha male wolf of a sinister wolf gang, and club owner of the Fight Palace.^[12]
• Kenan Thompson as Riff (Chinese: 里夫; pinyin: Lǐfū), the smallest henchman in the wolf pack. He tries to take on jobs bigger than himself just to impress his boss Linnux, but they almost always result in epic failure due to the lack of unity between him and his absent-minded partner, Skozz.^[12]
• Mae Whitman as Darma (达玛; 達瑪; Dámǎ), a red fox who has been playing her bass guitar at Rock n' Roll Park for years.^[12]
• Jorge Garcia as Germur (格尔穆尔), an absent-minded goat drummer.^[12]
• Matt Dillon as Trey (特雷), an arrogant and egotistic snow leopard who humiliates Bodi in Rock n' Roll park.^[12]
• Sam Elliott as Fleetwood Yak, a wise and elderly yak who is Snow Mountain's village elder. His name is a pun on the British rock band Fleetwood Mac.^[12]

Production

Concepts for the film began in China, with production companies ^[16] It was animated by Reel FX, which produced Free Birds (2013) and the Golden Globe-nominated The Book of Life (2014).^[17][5][18] Rock Dog cost $60 million^{[clarification needed]} to produce, making it the most expensive Chinese-financed animated production.^[8][19][20] The film was distributed by Huayi Brothers Media.^[21]

Release

The film premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, which took place between June 11 and June 19, 2016.^[2] It was released in China the following month on July 8.^[5] In the United States, the film was theatrically released on February 24, 2017, by Lionsgate through its Summit Premiere label.^[8]

During its original theatrical run, Wanda Cinema Line withheld most Chinese theaters from showing Rock Dog, limiting the film's box office in China. Allegedly, this was due to a conflict with Huayi Bros.^[5]

Home media

Rock Dog was released on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD release made $1.8 million and the Blu-ray release made $1.16 million.^[22]

Reception

Box office

Rock Dog grossed $9.4 million in the United States and $14.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $24.1 million, against a production budget of $60 million.^[4][23] In the United States, Rock Dog was released alongside Collide and Get Out, and was expected to gross $6–7 million from 2,077 theaters in its opening weekend.^[24] It ended up grossing just $3.7 million, finishing 11th at the box office and marking one of the worst-ever debuts for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters.^[25]

The film had a poor opening weekend in China, eventually earning $5.7 million.^[26][5] It was suggested that the largest Chinese theater chain, Wanda Cinema Line, attempted to limit the number of screens the film would be shown on. The film was shown only on seven of Wanda's screens—0.3 percent of all its screens in China. Huayi Bros., the film's production company and an owner of a competing theater chain, poached Wanda's executive Jerry Ye a few months before the film's release and made him CEO of its film division.^[5]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Rock Dog is amiable enough, but its second-tier animation and uninspired story add up to a movie whose meager charms are likely to escape all but the youngest and least demanding viewers."^[27] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average to reviews, the film has a score 48 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.^[29] Many critics have compared the success of animated films like Kung Fu Panda and Zootopia with the failure of Rock Dog.^[30][31]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
2017	The 13th China International Children's Film Festival	Best Animated Feature	Rock Dog	Won	[32]
	Golden Rooster Awards	Best Animated Feature	Ash Brannon	Nominated	[33]
2016	Shanghai International Film Festival	Best Animated Feature Film		Nominated	[2][34]

Sequels

A sequel to the film, Rock Dog 2: Rock Around the Park, was made available for digital download on June 11, 2021, followed by a June 15 release for DVD and Blu-ray.^[10] Taking place a year later, Bodi and his band True Blue work with pop sensation Lil' Foxy, while learning about the price of fame and being true to yourself.^[35][36]

Another sequel, titled Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat, which is the third installment of the trilogy, was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on January 24, 2023.^[37] In the film, Bodi is compelled to join the music competition show Battle the Beat to restore Angus Scattergood's good name.^[11]

References

1. "Rock Dog". Box Office Mojo.
2. Frater, Patrick (June 2, 2016). "Shanghai Festival Unveils Competition Lineup". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
3. "摇滚藏獒（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese).
4. "Rock Dog". The Numbers. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
5. Amidi, Amid (July 7, 2016). "Report: Duelling Chinese Businessmen Are Sabotaging The Release of 'Rock Dog', Director Ash Brannon Caught in the Middle". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
6. Ryan, Fergus (July 6, 2016). "Is Wanda Sabotaging Huayi's 'Rock Dog's Box Office Chances?". China Film Insider. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
7. "'Rock Dog' and the positive impact of creative self-expression".
8. Amidi, Amid (October 7, 2016). "'Rock Dog' Gets U.S. Release Date, New American Trailer". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
9. "Rock Dog". February 23, 2017.
10. Milligan, Mercedes (April 30, 2022). "'Rock Dog 2: Rock Around the Park' Gives an Encore with Lionsgate". Animation Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
11. "Animated 'Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat' Due on Blu-ray Combo Pack Jan. 24". Media Play News. November 30, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
12. Amidi, Amid (August 3, 2015). "5 Things You Need To Know About The Chinese/American Feature 'Rock Dog'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
13. "Rock Dog (2016) - Financial Information".
14. Soundtrack.net
15. "No wag to this tale".
16. "Amiable but Generic 'Rock Dog' Chases Its Own Tail".
17. "OFFICIAL TRAILER: Reel FX "Rock Dog" – Animation Scoop".
18. "'Rock Dog' Review: This Animated Musical Isn't Very Amped up". February 24, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
19. "'Rock Dog': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. February 24, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
20. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2016-07/05/content_25977091.htm. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
21. "5 Things You Need to Know About the Chinese/American Feature 'Rock Dog'". August 3, 2015.
22. "Rock Dog (2016) - Financial Information".
23. "Review: 'Rock Dog' Needs to Sit and Stay...Away from Audiences". Forbes.
24. "Audiences Plan To Get Into 'Get Out' – Weekend B.O. Preview". Deadline Hollywood. February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
25. "Universal/Blumhouse's 'Get Out' Now Grabbing A $30M+ Opening". Deadline Hollywood. February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
26. "China Shocker: Indie 'Big Fish & Begonia' Scores Massive Launch, Expensive 'Rock Dog' Flops". Cartoon Brew. July 11, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
27. "Rock Dog (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
28. "Rock Dog reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
29. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
30. "Review - 'Rock Dog' is a Bad Bootleg, Save for Eddie Izzard". February 23, 2017.
31. "'Rock Dog' won't have you howling for more".
32. "《天籁梦想》摘得第十三届中国国际儿童电影节最佳儿童片大奖-新华网". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
33. Tencent VFE Team. "第31届中国电影金鸡奖颁奖典礼_腾讯视频". v.qq.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved October 11, 2020.
34. "《摇滚藏獒》入围金爵最佳动画片 郑钧6年磨一剑--江西频道--人民网". jx.people.com.cn. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
35. "Rock Dog 2". Redefine.
36. "Interview with 'Rock Dog 2' director Mark Baldo | ReDefine".
37. "Rock Dog 3: Battle the Beat Blu-ray Disc Details | High-Def Digest".

External links

• Official website
• Rock Dog at IMDb
• Rock Dog at Box Office Mojo