Doggy Poo

 
 An animation titled Doggy Poo! My mind boggled as I scanned the Central Park Media list of forthcoming titles. I thought of South Park's Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo, as nausea-inducing a cartoon character as you would never hope to meet. On the other hand, CPM releases Japanese animation, and anime spawned the delightful Dr. Slump TV series, in which everything—and I mean everything—is alive. Dr. Slump was charmingly absurd, so perhaps Doggy Poo would be, as well.

Well, Doggy Poo is many things, "charming" among them, but it bears no resemblance to my expectations. First of all, it isn't Japanese animation; it's from Korea. And the animation is stop-motion clay animation, not painted cel or computer graphics. This children's feature doesn't share Dr. Slump's goofy humor or South Park's aggressive gross-outs; instead, Doggy Poo is earnest, sweet, and cute. In fact, it's so cute I couldn't stop thinking "wicked cunning" (which is Maine dialect for "as cute as humanly possible"). This cuteness probably didn't hurt when Doggy Poo won the 2003 Tokyo International Anime Fair Best Pilot Prize and the 2003 Big Apple Anime Fest Viewer's Choice Award.


Doggy Poo is the story of the lowest of God's creations, who is mocked by nearly everyone (other characters include a curious songbird, a high-handed hen, a philosophical leaf, and a disdainful dirt clod). The titular character, symbolically stranded on an isolated dirt road, wonders what his destination might be on the road of life. How could a doggy poo have any reason to exist? Doggy Poo finds an answer, as this short feature gently affirms the cycle of life.

What's Good: Pretty clay animation; good characterization; fine soundtrack; extremely cute; suitable for younger children.

What's Bad: Rather slow and static; DVD case says "60 minutes," when the feature is in fact about 32 minutes.

DVD Features: Aspect ratio 4:3; English and Korean with English subtitles; Dolby Digital Stereo; The Making of Doggy Poo (Original producers' documentary); alternate angle color storyboards for entire program; original Korean pilot; U.S. pilot; author biography; music video; photo gallery; set gallery; behind-the-scenes gallery; Central Park Media previews. Collector's Series DVD also contains a limited-edition 8-song soundtrack CD.