Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs (Japanese: 犬ヶ島, Hepburn: Inu ga Shima, lit. 'Dog Island') is a 2018 American–German stop-motion adult animated dystopian mockumentary science fantasy political satire road action comedy film written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson, narrated by Courtney B. Vance, and starring an ensemble cast that consists of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Kunichi Nomura, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Akira Ito, Greta Gerwig, Akira Takayama, Frances McDormand, F. Murray Abraham, Yojiro Noda, Fisher Stevens, Mari Natsuki, Nijiro Murakami, Yoko Ono, Harvey Keitel, and Frank Wood. A U.S.–German co-production, Isle of Dogs was produced by Indian Paintbrush and Anderson's own American Empirical Pictures, in association with Studio Babelsberg. The film is set in the fictional Japanese city of Megasaki where Mayor Kenji Kobayashi has banished all dogs to Trash Island due to a canine influenza pandemic. Kobayashi's nephew Atari sets out to find his missing dog Spots with the help of a group of dogs led by stray dog Chief. Anderson started developing the film in October 2015 using stop-motion animation, with a voice cast of Norton, Cranston, and Balaban. It draws inspiration from films by Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki, as well as the stop-motion animated holiday specials made by Rankin/Bass Productions, the 1982 animated film The Plague Dogs, and Disney's 101 Dalmatians. Production began in October 2016 at the 3 Mills Studios in East London. By December 2016, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film, scheduling it for a 2018 release. Isle of Dogs opened the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, where Anderson was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director. It was given a limited release in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Fox Searchlight, and went on wide release on April 13. It grossed over $64 million worldwide, and received acclaim from critics, who praised its animation, story, musical score, and deadpan humor. The film received two nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature and Best Score. In the film, none of the Japanese dialogue spoken by human characters is translated except through an interpreter or occasional subtitles.
I've lost all of my pride I've been to paradise and out the other side Part Two: "The Search for Spots." With no one to guide me Torn apart by a fiery wheel inside me An untouched diamond That's golden and brilliant without illumination Your mouth's a constellation The stars are in your eyes I'll take a spaceship and try and go and find you The Middle Fingers of Trash Island wind and weave up-river, inter-stitched by zig-zagging pipe-lines and rusty viaducts. The ruins of a failed utility-complex washed-out by tsunami. The rubble of an abandoned power-plant demolished by earthquake. The remains of a deserted industrial estate destroyed by volcanic blast. I won't hurt you I won't hurt you I won't hurt you I won't hurt you The Old Trash Island Athletic Club, member-less and long-forgotten. Okay, I got a question. What's your favorite food? A double-portion of Doggy Chop from the can mixed into a bowl of broken Puppy Snaps with a vitamin crushed up into it. King's the spokes-dog for that. He's the Doggy Chop dog. - Mmm. Used to be. - Was that your daily meal? Not always. My master was a school-teacher. We weren't rich, you know. You? A center-cut Kobe rib-eye, seared, on the bone, with salt and pepper. Wow. It was my birthday supper. Every year. Mine's hot-sausage, yakitori-style. The snack vendor always saved me one on game-days. - Hmm. Duke? - Ah, green-tea ice cream. My master had a sweet-tooth. I probably inherited it from her.
Isle of Dogs
You heard the rumor, right? About Doggy Chop. - Remind us again. - What rumor? - Oh, they folded. - Oh, no. Doggy... Doggy Chop folded? How about you, Chief? What was your favorite food? Me? Oh, I don't care. Garbage, trash, scraps of rubbish. - I'm used to left-overs. - Hmm. Yeah, yeah. Of course, I wasn't always a stray. Wait. What'd you say? I said I wasn't always a stray. - Really? Since when? - Tell us about that.
Isle of Dogs
I've been hunted by dog-catchers all my life. I'm not easy to trap. I've only got three captures on my record where I actually got sent to the pound, I mean, and the first two times, I escaped within 24 hours, but the third time... I got adopted before I could finish digging the break-out-tunnel. It was a big family. Five kids. Two other dogs, already. They stuck me in the back of a station-wagon and drove me out to the middle of the sticks. Grass, trees, swimming pool. Cartoons on TV. Anyway, one morning a week later, the youngest boy, his name was Toshiro, woke me up at 6:15, bright-eyed, wide-awake, and he tried to pet me.
Isle of Dogs
As you know, we all hate dogs. Chairman Fujimoto-san, President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. You secretly introduced mega-quantities of infected fleas and contagious tick-larvae into a metropolitan city center, creating an unprecedented animal-disease out-break. Thank you. General Yamatachi-san, Commander of the Megasaki Municipal Task force. You oversaw the deportation of over 750,000 caged-animals to a nearly uninhabitable off-shore refuse-center. Good work. Supervisor Kitano-san, Director of Kobayashi Robotics. You developed the most promising artificial life-form in the history of corporate-technology, and a powerful new weapon, to boot. Well done. Yakuza Nakamura-san, Head of the Clenched-Fist Gang. You eliminated all Pro-Dog opposition through the use of bribery, extortion, intimidation, and violent force. My compliments. Brains have been washed. Wheels have been greased. Fear has been mongered. Now we prepare for the final stage of our conspiracy-theory: the permanent end to the Canine Saturation-Crisis.
Isle of Dogs
We call upon dog-lovers everywhere to harken to this transmission: May-day! May-day! Unscheduled Junior Turbo-Prop in severe distress over Sapporo River. Engine-failure, and detachment of left wing. Will attempt emergency-landing on Trash Island coast. Please, make note of the following: to my security-detail / bodyguard-dog, Spots Kobayashi, if still living, I leave all my worldly possessions.
Isle of Dogs