Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Iffy humor, stereotypes abound in awful animated movie.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Pup
What's the Story?
Kanuto is a sheepdog who does his best to keep his flock from getting into trouble. But he runs into problems when Blackie the sheep spies the moon landing on TV, and will stop at nothing to figure out her own way to get on the moon. While attempting to catapult herself to the moon, she ends up lost, and when other sheep are seduced by a wolf who promises them careers in showbiz, Kanuto seems in over his head. With so much going wrong, the farmers who own Kanuto decide he isn't cut out to be a sheepdog, and bring in a drill sergeant pit bull to restore order. It's up to Kanuto to rescue Blackie (and win her love) even as she finds a rocket ship bound for the moon, rescue the other sheep, and prove himself worthy of being a sheepdog.
Is It Any Good?
PUP is a slow-paced, hard-to-follow computer-animated movie that is rife with iffy humor and bad stereotypes. If the bad Californian and Russian voices were the extent of it, that would be awful enough, but there's a scene involving Asian spiders that sounds like it could have been written in the 1940s for all its broken pidgin English and "kung fu" stereotyping. While the idea behind the movie had the potential to be interesting and enjoyable, the movie resorts to inappropriate humor, excruciating songs, and the aforementioned stereotypical characters.
Simply put, this is yet another subpar attempt to capture the Pixar magic. While the animation isn't awful, too much of the content makes this a movie to avoid.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about cultural stereotypes. Why is it wrong for movies to promote cultural stereotypes?
If you could remake this movie, how would you do it?
How does this film compare with other computer-animated movies?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : March 25, 2014
- Cast : Kristina Hughes , Peter Hudson , Brian Vermeire
- Director : Francis Nielsen
- Studio : Phase 4 Films
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Animals
- Run time : 82 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Some language and rude humor.
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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