Teacher's Pet

2004 "Be careful what you wish for."
5.7| 1h14m| PG| en
Details

Meet Spot, a clever little dog with big dreams of becoming a real boy. When Spot finds out that a crazy scientist can make his wish come true, he takes a cross-country trek with Leonard, his best friend and master, and their mom. However, Dr. Krank's experiments are a little less than perfect, and it will take Leonard and his pet pals to right this genetic wrong.

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Console best movie i've ever seen.
Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!
ccthemovieman-1 "A nice surprise" is probably how I would best describe this animated film. The artwork on the cover makes it look as if it was made for four-year-old audiences but it is hardly that. It is very funny with so many gags I lost count. Those gags are both audio and visual.Nathan Lane's New York City accent was funny as he voiced the lead character, "Spot," the dog who wanted to be changed into a little boy. Actually, all the characters are pretty funny and the songs aren't bad, either. I am not usually a fan of these kids' musicals but the songs were short and the lyrics were humorous. And - I didn't really view this as a kids movie since the vocabulary and the jokes were geared (in a non-offensive way) more toward adults. I understand some parents, in fact, were upset at this movie for that very reason - the jokes go over the heads of most kids in here. Also, the references are not something kids would know. For an adult, this was a clever and big surprise. I would rent this, however, before considering buying it. On my second viewing, maybe it wasn't a surprise anymore, I found it only so-so for some strange reason.
DirectorsCut19 Based on the Emmy-winning, yet unfortunately short-lived TV show, "Teacher's Pet" is a colorful, witty animated family comedy that would amuse even those who never heard of the series.The story starts off at summer vacation (Which is weird, since this film was released in January), with super-perky mother/teacher Mrs. Helperman taking her son, Leonard, to Florida("Jersey with palm trees") when she is nominated for a N.E.A.T.O. (an award for teachers). When Spot is abandoned at home, he's sad, until he discovers a crazy scientist who thinks he can turn animals into people.Disguising as his school alter-ego Scott Leadready II, Spot hitches a ride to Florida with Leonard and Mrs. Helperman and finds the scientist, Dr. Ivan Krank....And the fun continues."Teacher's Pet" is a really good film, filled with the wild and weird animation of popular artist Gary Baseman. There are also many tuneful songs and funny jokes and gags, including the "Pinocchio" parody in the film's opening. The voice cast, which includes Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammar, Mary Jo Rupp, and Jerry Stiller, does very good vocal talents here.Unfortunately, Disney treated this film like trash; they didn't give it a big ad campaign nor a good film release, which led this film to flop at the box office. Despite this, "Teacher's Pet" is an enjoyable yet sadly underrated film.
David A Dein The term "family film" really gets me angry. Why? Because for every film that is out there that is good enough to be for the entire family, there are at least 50 others that are not only wasting their parent's time, but they are not respecting their intended audience. Disney's new animated film TEACHER'S PET is both patronizing and extremely sloppy.Spot Helperman(Voiced by Nathan Lane, The Lion King) is a dog who longs to be a real boy. He dresses up like a little boy and goes to school with his master Leonard (Shaun Fleming, Jeepers Creepers 2), and for some odd reason Leonard's mother (Debra Joy Rupp, TV's That 70's Show) is their teacher. When Leonard's mother wins a trip to Florida, Leonard longs to have fun on the beach with his dog. Spot wants to go to Florida to meet a wacko doctor (Kelsey Grammer) who can turn animals into humans.As I sat through this supposed "musical comedy" I asked myself, Why? Who in their right mind said this film was worthy enough to make? Who said "hey the script is ready, let's make this movie?" The simple answer is money. But let's be honest, this turkey is not going to make any money. This is not the film that is going to be locked in the Disney Vault for ten years, to be released with much fanfare.This is a shoddy movie that aspires to be HEY ARNOLD, THE MOVIE. Its script is not technically a story, it is bad jokes designed to stretch running time. TEACHER'S PET is a 15 minute animated short with over an hour of bad jokes designed to stretch the running time.Most would probably say, "why are you being so hard on this movie? It's designed for little kids not a 24 year old male." I say if you are going to spend large amounts of money on a film and you expect parents to bring their little tykes, and you create a film that makes even a toddler bored, I cannot go easy on it.This film has no charm. The jokes are too abrasive, and there are far too many things going on. It also features this really odd subplot involving Spot and Leonard's mother that made me feel really, really uncomfortable. Its inclusion was both unnecessary and hard to explain without making it sound sicker than it really is.Finally I muse about the PG rating for this film. Why? It will play well only to four or five year olds. When I think of a PG movie I think of kids between 8-10. Why create a film geared at toddlers and market it to seven-year olds? You got me. I don't know why this film is PG. It contains no bad language, no sex, and no real violence. It's not even scary. If anyone can figure this out, I will give you a hearty handshake.If you are looking to waste a child's time, stay at home and rent ET. They'll love it. TEACHER'S PET on the other hand is a vapid mess. If you want my advice, instead of dropping forty bucks to take the brood to see this film, spend that money on a really big cardboard box. Your kids will have far more fun with that.
Sheryl97 This was a VERY funny movie. I took my 11 year-old (did I mention she's pre-adolescent?) daughter and didn't know what to expect. We both laughed SO hard throughout the whole movie! There's a lot of humor both for adults AND kids, so everyone has lots to laugh about. There are subtle and not-so-subtle references to old gag-lines from old movies (well, not SO old), but, most adults will recognize one of the running gag lines in this movie as reminiscent of the first "Airplane!" film. I was VERY pleased there was no bad language or inappropriate stuff. I'm pretty conservative and I got a kick out of all of it. Loved the house number of the Mad Scientist's house!! (I'm not telling!) This movie is played like a Broadway musical -- lots of "let's stop a minute and do a musical number" kind of stuff. It was a hoot, frankly. And VERY well done, I might add! Kudos to the creative team that put this one together. Might we see another soon? Hope so!