Hotel for Dogs Blu-ray Disc (Thor Freudenthal, 2009)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
100 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary; A Home for Everyone; That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!; K-9 Casting; Bark on Cue!; deleted scenes; photo galleries; theatrical trailer; PEDIGREE Adoption Drive

Released: 28 April 2009

For years, Hollywood has been trying to find the next Julia Roberts. There are plenty of famous female stars, but no one has been able to “open” a movie the way that Julia Roberts did during the 1990s and early 2000s. Some actresses command high salaries because they’ve won Oscars, but they do not generate consistently high box-office returns. To be fair, viewing habits have shifted from watching movies based on celebrity wattage to watching movies based on specific genres (such as adaptations of superhero comics) or on brand names (such as kiddie animation from Disney and DreamWorks Animation).

Enter Emma Roberts, who actually looks more like her aunt Julia than her dad Eric. Emma Roberts certainly has the looks and the charm of a movie star, and if her career so far is any indication, she may even have the talent to endure a long, successful career. Although Emma Roberts has appeared in family-friendly flicks so far, promotional campaigns have not been shy about playing up similarities between the teen and her aunt. In fact, her most-recent movie, Hotel for Dogs, takes baby steps towards showcasing her as a romantic lead.

Hotel for Dogs is based on a children’s book about a pair of orphans, Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin), who try to keep a pet dog while being shuffled from foster family to foster family. The siblings eventually take over an abandoned hotel in the middle of a densely-populated city and adopt several stray dogs. Andi falls in love with a nice boy who works in a pet store, and two other kids join the gang.

Hotel for Dogs is fairly cute and enjoyable until its halfway point. At a certain point, the logistics become less and less credible and completely undermine any pathos that the movie tries to generate regarding orphans and unwanted animals. I know, I know...this is a kids’ fantasy. Still, it’s possible to make a kids’ movie without pandering.

Perhaps the most-startling aspect of this production is the fact that Don Cheadle is a part of it. Yes, that Don Cheadle, the excellent actor who has been in numerous major and good movies. Why he is in Hotel for Dogs is mystifying, though it’s possible that he really loves dogs or needs to pay the bills.

Video:
You get an excellent 1.78:1 1080p video presentation. Detail is exceptionally high, and the colors are dense without appearing oversaturated.

Audio:
As expected, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is fussy and crowded, though dialogue and bouncy music cues dominate the soundscape. There is some bass presence when urban vehicles zoom around busy streets, though don’t expect window-rattling booms associated with genuine action sequences.

Extras:
First up is a pleasant, chatty audio commentary by Thor Freudenthal, producer Ewan “Jack” Leslie, Emma Roberts, and Jake T. Austin.

“A Home for Everyone” is a brief overview of the production. “That’s the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!” focuses on the production design and visual effects. “K-9 Casting” shows how dogs were selected for particular roles. “Bark on Cue!” reveals the difficulties behind creating the sound design.

You also get several deleted scenes, photo galleries, and the movie’s theatrical trailer.

The “PEDIGREE Adoption Drive” is a commercial that encourages people to adopt dogs.