Funny thing about this poster... I'm pretty sure that cow, cat, and owl on the poster don't actually appear in the movie. And while there IS a horse in the movie, it doesn't look like the one on the poster.
Rover Dangerfield was released on August 2nd, 1991. Produced by Hyperion Animation (the same guys that brought us The Brave Little Toaster), the film revolves around the fact that its main character is a celebrity except animated as an animal. Y'know, kind of like Bee Movie. Except that instead of Jerry Seinfeld as a bee, the main character is Rodney Dangerfield as a dog. In addition to voicing his cartoon canine counterpart, Rodney also came up with the idea for the film and developed the story with Harold Ramis of Ghostbusters fame.
Now, one important thing to note is that the film was originally conceived as an R-rated comedy that more faithfully captured Rodney's stand-up routines. Then the Warner Bros. executives got their hands on it - if they had to release the film, it had to be a kids' movie because Disney was of course doing great with animated movies for kids in the 1990s and Warner Bros. wanted a slice of that pie (which is also how we got Quest For Camelot). I don't know how the film fared at the box office, but it has a forty-percent rating (in other words, rotten) on Rotten Tomatoes. But, if you go online, you can find a lot of people with fond memories of the film.
So, does Rover Dangerfield deserve the respect that Rover supposedly doesn't get? Or is this movie... if you'll forgive the obvious joke... a dog? Well, if nothing else it can't possibly be any worse than Bee Movie. At least this doesn't have the dog hooking up with a human being. What say we give the film a watch?
The movie begins in the Nevada desert on a dark, moonlit night... just before the camera goes into maximum overdrive and takes us to Las Vegas. Rover's voice goes into a spiel about what a magical place Vegas is. "I tell ya, the action never stops! Tourists come from all over the world! It's wild! It's exciting! People get lucky here! Boy, and what a town to get lucky in!" he exclaims as we're bombarded with neon signs.
It isn't long before we actually get to SEE the Rodney Dangerfield-voiced dog, doing a little gambling with his pooch pals. And making lots of jokes that aren't very funny.
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| A protagonist in a kids' movie? GAMBLING? Never thought I'd see the day... |
After the gambling, Rover and his buddy Eddie (voiced by Ronnie Schell) pay a visit to some showgirl dogs he worked with as a pup. He asks where a dog named "Flappy" is, only to learn that he was fired for not remembering the routine. "Boy, I saw that comin'. Flappy was dumb," Rover says. He was so dumb, according to Rover, that...
- He used to walk backwards and wag his head!
- When Carmine taught him how to sit, he forgot how to stand!
- And when Carmine tried to paper-train him, he went right on the paper... only problem was, Carmine was reading it!
So, yeah. That joke had three punchlines. It's not even, like, mentioning Flappy and how dumb he was is a Running Gag, it's three punchlines right after another. It's like, we get it, Flappy was dumb. What, could the writers just not decide which punchline to use, so they just used all three of them?
Hey, is that music I hear? Methinks Rover is going to sing!
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| Eddie is basically that guy who thinks hanging out with somebody much cooler than him and imitating everything that cool guy does will automatically make HIM cool. Alas, that's not how it works. Sorry, Eddie. |
I've admittedly never been to Vegas. Is it really as fun as this film claims it is?
Anyhow, after the song Rover says, "You know how many people work here? One out of four!" Eddie starts laughing hysterically, which he does after almost every joke Rover makes. It's basically clueing the audience in that what Rover's saying is supposed to be funny. Why didn't they just throw in a laugh track while they were at it?
Next, Rover heads backstage to visit his owner, a showgirl named Connie (Shawn Southwick). Unfortunately, Connie has an incredibly sleazy thug of a boyfriend named Rocky (Sal Lindi). Rover has no idea what she sees in him... and, to be honest, so do I.
Later, Rover and Eddie come actross some mobsters meeting up with Rocky and doing some shady activity. One of the mobsters is voiced by the great Bob Bergen. Yes, Porky Pig shares a voice actor with a mobster. I love that we live in a world where I can say that.
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| "Where's that muh-meh-eeh-muh-meh-money you owe us?" |
Eddie winds up accidentally letting go of his bone, which hits the lamp, alerting the mobsters of their presence. Immediately, the mobsters assume that the cops have shown up and that Rocky set them up. Paranoid, aren't they? I mean, if the cops DID show up, wouldn't they have heard sirens or seen headlights or something?
Rocky tells the fleeing mobsters that the source of the bone was a dog, but they don't listen and tell him that he's runnin' out of chances. Once they leave, Rocky attempts to throw the bone at Rover's head, but Rover escapes.
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| Uncle Jesse really went down a dark path after Full House went off the air. |
Rover wakes up the next morning... hung over? Uh, what happened after he and Eddie messed up Rocky's deal with the mobsters? Did he get drunk? Is it even safe for dogs to drink alcohol? Where would a dog even GET alcohol? Are there, I dunno, dog bars in Vegas or something? Y'know what, I'm probably thinking about this too hard...
Connie tells Rover that she's going on the road for two weeks... and for whatever reason she can't take Rover along, so she's asked Rocky to take care of him. He's not too thrilled about this, mainly because he knows that Rocky will use this opportunity to exact his REVENGE.
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| I like the gag here of Rover taking things out of Connie's suitcase and putting them away. |
And exact revenge Rocky does, although he does take his sweet time doing it as opposed to just doing it the second Connie's car drives away. Nope, instead he lets Rover watch some Looney Tunes on TV (synergy!) and then grabs him, stuffs him in a sack, and throws him off the Hoover Dam.
Fortunately, Rover has the benefit of being the main character of a kids' movie, so he's rescued by a couple of fishermen and comes to in the middle of the country.
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| "Please don't do that 'why the long face' joke. I've heard that one a million times this week already..." |
After some WHACKY SHENANIGANS involving a flock of sheep, he meets another resident of the country - Mr. Combine Harvester.
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| Could be worse. You're in a cornfield, you could run into the aliens from Signs. |
Rover winds up getting sucked up by the combine harvester, but, again, he's the main character of a kids' movie, so he somehow survives. "I'm turnin' into a corndog!" he exclaims after the machine spits him out among the harvested corn.
The driver of the machine, Farmer Cal (Gregg Berger), and his son Danny (Dana Hill), find Rover and start discussing what to do with him. Danny wants to keep him, but Cal suggests taking him to the county shelter... where, if nobody comes to claim him, he'll be put to sleep. Jeez, that's a rather dark thing to bring up in a kids' movie. Not exactly Pound Puppies, is this?
Rover begs Cal to take him in, though that's likely futile since the humans presumably can't hear what the animals are saying (maybe they actually can, I don't know). Eventually, Cal agrees that Danny can keep him... for now. If Rover gets into trouble, he's outta there.
Once he arrives at Cal's farm, the first thing Rover does is wisecrack about the pigs. "Slow down, will ya? You're eatin' like PIGS!" he says. I know The Lion King came out after this, but it did that joke better. Just sayin'. And it for whatever reason takes him this long to realize that he's on a farm. I think the barn should've been enough to give it away, but apparently Rover's a few sodas short of a six-pack.
And now that Rover realizes he's on a farm, it's time for him to make more unfunny jokes. "Hey, you think the rain'll hurt the rhubarb? I think I'll change my name to Jethro! Pay my doctor with a HOG!" he says. Fortunately, another one of Cal's dogs, Raffles (Ned Luke), shows up and saves us from having to listen to more of Rover's stand-up act.
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| "Could you help me find my way to the set of Babe?" |
Rover quickly learns that life on the farm isn't very much like life in Vegas. He's introduced to the farm's other dogs - Max (Bert Kramer), Duke (Robert Pine), Lem (Dennis Blair) and Clem (Don Stewart) - and discovers that for dinner, instead of the scrumptious steaks he was fed in Vegas, he has to eat (GASP!) dog food. "Boy..." he says, "You heard of 'come and get it'? This is 'try and eat it'!"
And the dogs in the country don't gamble. For fun, they howl at the moon. And they all sleep together in one shed. Oh, and did I mention the wolves? There are wolves around, and they've been known to sneak onto the farm. As the other dogs sleep, Rover laments through song that he wants to be back in Vegas... and somehow doesn't wake the other dogs up.
The next morning, Rover is woken up by a rooster named Chester, and when he complains runs afoul of his wife.
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| "I'll have ya know I'm close friends with Colonel Sanders! I can see to it that ya wind up on the dinner table!" |
WHACKY SHENANIGANS ensure, and then Rover is put to work with Raffles on the sheep-herding. He uses this as an opportunity to channel the drill sergeant in every movie that takes place in the army ever.
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| "You are not even sheep! You are nothing but unorganized, grabastic pieces of wool! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn." |
Eventually, Rover spots a girl dog who lives on the farm next door, Daisy (Susan Boyd). He sends Raffles off claiming that he can handle the sheep himself, then ditches the sheep to go flirt with her. At one point during this scene, Rover's eyes randomly point off in different directions, which is a common thing I've noticed in Rodney Dangerfield caricatures. I know we're supposed to find it funny, but to be honest, I find it kind of creepy.
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| "I can't believe it! I'm losin' to a rug!" |
Rover launches into another musical number about how much he loves Daisy... but then remembers that he has, y'know, a JOB to do and rushes back to the sheep. But Farmer Cal's there, too, and he is MAD! You see, while Rover was off wooing a girl dog the sheep... uh... got stuck in a tree?
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| "Well, you see, we encountered this guy called the Winter Warlock while Rover was away, and he gave us this magic corn..." |
Cal makes Rover sleep in the cellar until he stops being such a failure at being a farm dog. Daisy stops by to talk to him, pointing out to him that life isn't just a stand-up comedy act. "Maybe if you pitch in and stop looking for an angle, you might just get to LIKE farm life," she says.
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| I see the animators wanted to do something interesting with the lighting. |
After letting Rover out, Daisy takes him to just look at the starry night sky. Methinks they're going to feel the love tonight.
And no, that wasn't an innuendo. Get your minds out of the gutter, guys.
The next morning, Rover becomes depressed after he hears Cal badmouthing him. He starts lamenting that he can't do anything right and that he doesn't belong on the farm... isn't it a bit too early for Rover to go all "I'm a complete loser and I should leave"? We're only thirty-eight minutes in. Well, anyway, he wanders around moping about what a screw-up he supposedly is, but then Daisy gives him a pep talk and he decides not to leave. Sooooooooooo... yeah, that was totally necessary, right?
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| Why the girl dog wearing eyeshadow? I mean, aside from "so we can tell it's a girl"... |
So we get a montage of Rover helping out around the farm. He herds sheep, plays fetch, watches the snow fall, cracks jokes about a snooty British-accented turkey voiced by Tress MacNeille, all the things a dog can do on a farm, he does.
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| I don't know why, but I find Tress MacNeille's performance as the turkey hilarious. |
Once the holiday season comes around, it's time to go searching for a Christmas tree. And if you're at all familiar with this film, you should know what THAT means!
Okay, for those who haven't ever looked up the film online, it means that Rover is going to sing "I'll Never Do it on a Christmas Tree". Yes, the film has a song about how this dog isn't going to do his business on a Christmas tree. "Let It Go" can suck it - THIS is the best song to ever come out of an animated movie!
I'm just joking, of course. This song's catchy, but it's certainly not the BEST song to ever come out of an animated movie. "Hakuna Matata" exists, after all.
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| He's having way too much fun singing this, by the way. |
That night, Rover spots a pack of wolves (Chris Latta, Danny Mann, and Bernard Erhard) sneaking onto the barnyard. They're hoping to have a turkey dinner. Where's a Sam Elliot-voiced cow with a guitar when you need him?
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| I know... out of context, it kind of looks like the wolves are staring at Rover's butt. |
Rover tries to stop them, but because it's three wolves against one clearly out of shape dog, he doesn't have much luck. Fortunately, Farmer Cal comes a-rushin' out of the house with a gun, spooking the wolves and causing them to scamper. "Whoo! Heh... I'm glad WE'RE okay!" Rover says... just before realizing that the turkey died anyway. D'oh. And just to add insult to injury, then Cal shows up, sees Rover with the corpse, and assumes that Rover killed the turkey despite Rover's best efforts to convince him otherwise. Is it bad that I find this scene funny, if only in a "this really should not be as funny as it is" kind of way?
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| Boy, this movie took a dark turn all of a sudden... |
Cal decides that he's going to give Rover the Old Yeller treatment. He takes him out into the woods, ties him to a tree, and picks up his gun. "This is hard for me, Rover," he says, "But you've taken a life. I'm sorry." But just when it seems like he's about to reconsider, in come the wolves.
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| Wouldn't a wolf eating a dog qualify as cannibalism? |
Rover manages to save Cal and defeat the wolves, all the while making a bunch of unfunny jokes comparing the wolves to the one in the fairy tales. Y'know, "That was for the Three Little Pigs!" and "I know what YOU'RE thinkin' - you'd rather be at GRANDMA'S house!" and "Who do you think you're dealin' with, Little Red Riding Hood?" Get it? It's funny because they're wolves. Why stop there? Why don't you throw in a reference to Peter and the Wolf while you're at it?
Unfortunately, Cal is unconscious, so Rover gets the other dogs and enlists their help in getting Cal home. Rover's a hero! He even gets his picture in the newspaper, which Eddie shows Connie, clueing her in as to where he is. So she drives out to the country to pick him up... just as Rover is serenading Daisy with another love song. Bad timing rears its ugly head once again.
Soon Rover is back in Vegas, telling unfunny jokes to his pals and having a great time. But then guess who decides to show up?
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| Never trust people who have hair like that. Just a word of advice. |
Rover attacks Rocky in retaliation for, y'know, the Hoover Dam thing, and he winds up accidentally revealing to Connie that he tried to murder her dog. She responds by punching him in the face. Dang, wasn't expecting THAT!
Realizing that his goose has been cooked, Rocky runs off with the dogs in hot pursuit. But then he spots his little mobster buddies in a limo and ducks inside. Oh, goody, are we going to get a battle between dogs and mobsters?
Well, no. But don't worry, Rocky's gonna get his comeuppance.
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| "You suh-seh-eeh-suh-seh-still owe us that muh-meh-eh-muh-meh-money, Rocky." |
"Wanna see the Hoover Dam?" one of the mobsters asks a horrified Rocky before the limo drives off. So, yeah. Rocky's gonna get murdered. Dark? Yes, but I ain't gonna say he didn't deserve it.
So, predictably, Rover still misses Daisy and the farm. Fortunately, Connie understands and drives him back to the farm and lets Cal take him in. But Daisy's still upset at him for leaving, but a reprise of that love song is enough to have her forgive him. It's a good thing, too - because apparently, Rover and Daisy got BIIIIIIIIIIIIZ-ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
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| Were the little Rover puppies all born with the ties, or did Cal have to go out and buy them? And if it's the latter, what store sells puppy-sized ties? |
What's the Verdict?
My expectations going into Rover Dangerfield were admittedly pretty weak, but the movie is actually better than I thought it would be. Nice animation, likeable characters, some catchy songs, and while Rover's constant one-liners can get annoying, every so often I do get a chuckle out of the film. The funniest thing about the film is that Lem and Clem have cultured British accents that you wouldn't expect a farm hound to have. It's a great film to show your kids if you want to get them into Rodney Dangerfield.
Still, I'm glad this didn't lead to MORE animated movies where the whole joke is that it's some random celebrity as an animal. We'd have to wait until 2004 to get another movie like that.
P.S. How DID the sheep get stuck in the tree? I mean, aside from "it's funny"...
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