Jim Henson’s Dog City
– The Movie (1989/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C Extras: D Feature: C+
In one of his many later attempts to expand the universe
of The Muppets, Jim Henson decided to send up old hard boiled, gumshoe
detective films and 1930s gangster films with Dog City, a TV series that replaced people with Muppet Dogs. It did not work out and is not even a cult
item, but there is Dog City – The Movie
(1989), which is either the pilot or a compilation of some shows. It runs 40 minutes, but sticks every pun
(including many bad ones) you could imagine.
To its advantage, it is ambitious and has plenty of new
Muppets, production design, costumes and sets.
I liked their cars in particular and it is not totally politically
correct, but it also is not that memorable or funny, painting itself into a
corner with more jokes and clichés than a storyline. Maybe if you watch several of the Warner Gangster
films of the time, several Film Noirs of the period and Howard Hawks’ original Scarface, the jokes will work better,
but it is only so strong on its own.
Maybe the separate episodes worked better.
The 1.33 X 1 image is a little softer than a professional
NTSC analog videotaping should be, especially considering the detail in the
production, but is not bad otherwise. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is more of a problem with audio that is compressed and
dialogue that is sometimes hard to hear, though both aspects seem a generation
down. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
