On Trash Island in the Japanese Archipelago, 20 years into the future, the local dog population is visited by a young boy in search of his dog. What ensues is an awesome mission to find ‘Supotsu’ and save all the doggos.
Wes Anderson, stop motion animation and dogs walk into a bar.
What emerges is pure magnificence.
Read that line again – there’s no joke. When you combine Anderson’s directorial vision with a stop motion animation story about dogs, it’s bound to be a winner.
If you, like me, am an animation fan, and have searched up how to get a job at Laika (the studio that’s brought us Kubo and the Two Strings and Coraline), then you, like me, have been waiting anxiously to see how Anderson tackles his next stop motion film after the wonderful Fantastic Mr Fox.
Spoiler: he does not disappoint. I just can’t fathom how LONG it must have taken to film this, and how difficult it must have been to keep consistency with the story if one frame takes a lot of time to set up. Big kudos to the animators here, in Isle of Dogs, their work is seamless, and beautiful. My friend’s favourite scene was when a character is preparing sashimi: chopping wriggling squid tentacles, a live spider crab and fish… the audience gasped collectively when we saw it on screen, but it is a serious work of art. My favourite part of the animation was anytime there was clouds or vapour, such as the fumes from an airplane engine whilst taking off, they used cotton wool or light white string to replicate it and although you laugh because it’s such a funny sight, you still deeply respect it and can accept it as part of the world you’re immersed in. I won’t say it’s easy to suspend disbelief for the whole movie – but in the times where you can’t help but notice the figurines’ plastic melded faces or their slightly-off movements, it’s then that you’re reminded what a feat this whole film is. And to further wow you, all of this intricate stop motion animation is exalted by Anderson’s classic manipulation of colour, and uniquely iconic angles and shots. Don’t worry Anderson fans, they’re all in there.
As usual, Wes Anderson’s new film boasts a stellar cast, with classic returns by Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum, with some awesome newcomers to the Anderson films: Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Greta Gerwig (Director of Lady Bird), Harvey Keitel, Yoko Ono (yes, THE Yoko Ono), Ken Watanabe, Yojiro Noda (vocalist and pianist for the music from Kimi no Nawa [Your Name]) and Akira Itou (creator of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise). Impressive, however, I did cry a little inside when I realised Owen Wilson doesn’t feature…
The story is a beautiful one that centres around the concept of ‘man’s best friend’; in a world where diseased dogs have been exiled from society to squabble and die onゴミ島 (Trash Island), it’s up to a bunch of kids and dogs to a) find the cure to disease, and b) find the cure to society. Anderson keeps all the native speakers’ Japanese dialogue in the film, but graces us with live interpreters to help us understand, but I really enjoyed that aspect of it; even though I am studying Japanese for the HSC, I could only pick up a few words, but the foreign language helps to alienate us from the people to affiliate more with the dogs, who also can’t understand Japanese, which is an interesting perspective to be in.
Finally, to give a recommendation for seeing this in theatres: YES. BIG YES. You will be wowed by the incredible animation, stories, voices and overall experience of Isle of Dogs.
Kena (17)