from Film Forum, 01/22/04Moving from Saturday morning cartoons to a big screen animated feature, Teacher's Pet grants Spot the talking dog his wish. A mad scientist genetically transforms the clever canine into a "real boy." But there's a problem—Spot lives his new human life in "dog years," so he's aging far too rapidly. With their faithful "fido" facing a swift decline, Spot's master and friends conspire to fetch him out of his ultimate makeover.
This family-friendly Disney feature has an impressive list of voice talents—Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Shaun Fleming, Debra Jo Rupp, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Stiller.
The reviews aren't bad either.
David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) raves, "This is one teacher's pet which deserves straight A's. Regardless of whether they are fans of the show, kids will find their ribs tickled by the flick's kooky characters and outrageous sight gags."
Phil Boatwright (Movie Reporter) says it's cute, and credits it with "a creative storyline and a wonderful voice performance from the witty Nathan Lane. The plot makes room for life lessons concerning selfishness and helping others fulfill their dreams."
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) says, "There is so much visual humor and verbal wit packed into a relatively short amount of time that our attention is arrested and we soon find ourselves getting used to the look of the film."
Tom Snyder (Movieguide) calls it "wacky, goofy fun for the entire family. The comical situations are a little edgy at times … but the movie has a moral worldview extolling the virtues of being content with how God made you and attacking science—especially genetic scientists—for trying to play God."
from Film Forum, 01/29/04Of Teacher's Pet, Jimmy Akin (Decent Films) writes, "Refreshingly, there is little of the crude humor that films many children's films these days." But he concludes with "significant reservations. Though it's quite clean in many respects, there is an awful lot of lying in the film. That's a bad example for children in the audience. Then there's the fact that Spot/Scott has a severe case of … um … 'identity confusion,' of feeling trapped in one body when he wants to be in another. I wouldn't remotely put it past the folks at Disney to not include that as a subliminal message for children in the audience."