Puppy (2017)

Directed by: Genndy Tartakovsky | 5 minutes | animation, short film, comedy, family, fantasy | Original voice cast: Asher Blinkoff, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler, Joe Whyte

The blu-ray of ‘The Emoji Movie’ also contains the short film ‘Puppy’. This film is intended as a teaser for part 3 of ‘Hotel Transylvania’, which will premiere in the summer of 2018. The film is not long (less than 5 minutes) but it serves its purpose as a warm-up.

A few of the regular characters return in the short film. The story revolves around the puppy that Dennis wants and that he gets from Grandpa Dracula against the wishes of his parents. In the sequel, therefore, Dracula is mainly concerned with the puppy and not the little Dennis.

If this is supposed to be a teaser for the ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ feature, what can you expect? First of all, a nice style of animation. Careful attention has clearly been paid to the cinematography and mise-en-scene. Second, the premise is that Draculas, whether full or half Draculas, are no different from “normal” people. The situation in ‘Puppy’ will be (partly) recognizable for every parent. Finally, the level of the jokes is just fine. In 5 minutes the makers manage to make some good jokes that are also visually of a high level. For example, the combination of a puppy and a family of skeletons (and associated consequences) is a funny one.

In short, the makers of ‘Puppy’ manage to attract attention for an upcoming film in a short time. If this is the level of ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ then that film is definitely recommended.