A long time ago on now 'pay-only' forums, I used to discuss animation...I don't recall discussing plague dogs (though Watership Down was discussed at length), though now having seen the film a few times, I realize that this is in so many ways a theoretical example of what animation could be. Had I not actually seen Plague Dogs, I would have gathered no film like this actually existed. Perhaps it's something like the researchers who first discovered the naked mole rat, finding something that in all probability shouldn't exist, but seems--at least theoretically--possible. Plague Dogs is an animated film simply telling a great story without a single limitation placed upon it because it belongs to a genre. For this very reason, it has never been reissued in the US so if you want to see it, it might be worthwhile investing in a region free VCR that plays PAL. I've never read the book, but the film takes a stance that would be difficult were it done as an animated film, live action or any other possible way. In the end, I'm not sure it matters whether it is about animals or not. Hope persists in bleakness, memories (love and loyalty) outweigh the present, and innocence is shattered by a world more bitter than a dozen R rated movies. Dumbo perhaps perceived the world given to us in Plague Dogs, but finds an all too easy solution. Plague Dogs has no solution other than to live...even in death. The balance between the two strong dog personalities is perfect. Rowf is both a hardened cynic, yet his spirit and willingness to fight carries the film. Snitter, who strangely leads the duo, is idealistic, yet emotionally and psychologically crippled. But strangely, I'm reminded of Aldous Huxley who once said that in a world of insanity, perhaps those who are crazy are the most sane. Snitter's remarks, though clearly irrational often feel more right than the actual choices left to the poor dogs. When Snitter settles in his old home next to the fire (all an illusion), one really wishes he could stay there. These delusional episodes are often aimed right at the heart. Snitter is an immediately sympathetic character who makes his point from the beginning of the film: to find a new master. Snitter knows his persuers are not masters, he in fact defends masters to the very end. It is a crippling blow to anyone who's loved an animal, has children, or had any other responsibility to the innocent. There's no one there to tell Snitter that masters and man are the same. That those who hunt him would probably just as readily give him a home. It's fate that's put him on this road and there's no way out. As much as Watership Down is a good film, Plague Dogs is a great film. A once in a decade film. Perhaps the only thing like it is Grave of Fireflies. I can't think of a single western animated film that comes close except perhaps those early wild wanderings by Walt when he still believed that 'love is a song that never ends' and that animation could be a medium for everyone. Haha! Like that once, now abandoned hope, snitter's last line cries out 'there isn't any island!' Plague Dogs is just that fleeting hope, now crushed, never to be repeated in cinema. Miyazaki may perhaps give animation a grand treatment that is well deserved, yet even Mononoke is not so brave as to do what Plague Dogs did. A Wonderful yet tragic film for so many reasons.
Review of The Plague Dogs
