| Teacher's Pet: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Film information | |
|
Directed by |
Timothy Björklund |
|
Produced by |
Stephen Swofford |
|
Starring |
Nathan Lane |
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Music by |
Stephen James Taylor |
|
Studio |
DisneyToon Studios |
|
Language |
English |
|
Budget |
$10 million |
|
Gross Revenue |
$6,491,969 |
Teacher's Pet: The Movie is a 2004 musical Disney film based off of Teacher's Pet. This is the sixth Disney movie to be based off of a TV show and the last theatrical movie based on any animated Disney TV show. This is also the third and final movie based on a One Saturday Morning show. The others being Doug's 1st Movie and Recess: School's Out. The film was produced by DisneyToon Studios, and released theatrically on January 16, 2004. Despite being a box office failure, the film did very well with critics.
Plot
The movie opens in the living room where Spot is having a dream where he's watching Pinocchio and says that he'd give anything if he could change into a real human boy like him. Suddenly, the Blue Fairy jumps out of the TV and decides to grant Spot's wish. After several times of failing, she whacks him with her wand and Pretty Boy wakes him up from his dream. When Spot wakes up, Pretty Boy tells him that it's not likely that he'll become a real boy and that it's bad enough that he diguises himself as a boy and goes to school with Leonard. Leonard comes passing by and tells him to get up and be ready for the last day of the school year and Spot gets ready since he doesn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record.
After a quick dress-up and an extended version of the theme song, Spot becomes his alter-ego, Scott Leadready II and he has won the perfect attendance medal and several others. Mary (Debra Jo Rupp) is in tears because Leonard, Scott, and the other 4th graders are gonna be 5th graders next time she sees them in school. All the students have different plans: Leslie's (Mae Whitman) going to visit her Granny Smith, Tyler, Trevor, and Taylor (Pamela Adlon) are skating 24/7, Younghee (Lauren Tom) is visiting Korea, Chelsey and Kelsey (Cree Summer) are shopping, and Ian (Rob Paulsen) gets to visit his uncle after he's grounded for hacking into Buckingham Palace, and Leonard and Scott want to spend the whole summer hanging out together. Then, Principal Strickler (Wallace Shawn) arrives and tells Mrs. Helperman that she has selected a finalist for the Teacher of the Year award (or N.E.A.T.O. for short) and all the students are congratulating her. Strickler also tells her that the school district has asked her to compete in the finals in Florida and Strickler also lends his RV to the Helpermans. Sadly, there is one small rule - "No Dogs Allowed".
While Leonard and his mom are loading their luggage into the RV, Spot is sad that he, Mr. Jolly, and Pretty Boy cant go on the trip, even though it's for two weeks. While Leonard sings a sweet song to his best buddy that Spot can't stand, Leonard's mom interrupts and takes him into the RV and they drive off. In the house, Pretty Boy, Jolly (David Ogden Stiers), and Ms. Boogin the Pet-Sitter (Estelle Harris) are watching soaps and Spot changes the channel and it turns to "The Barry Anger Show." Barry Anger (Jay Thomas) is interviewing Dr. Ivan Krank (Kelsey Grammer) a mad scientist who claims that he can turn animals into human beings. Spot sees this as an oppurtunity to become a boy and it just so happens that he lives in Florida where Leonard and his mother are headed. Spot deicdes to go and have the pets cover for him with Ms. Boogin (who is fortunately very near-sighted).
On the road, Leonard sees Spot outside the window and aks his mom to stop and they go to a gas station. While Mrs. Helperman is putting on her makeup, Leonard finds Spot filling up the tank and he tells him he wants to come to Florida with him, even though Strickler said no dogs are allowed in the RV. Quick thinking, Spot becomes Scott Leadready II and concvinces Mrs. Helperman to take him along for the trip after disguising himself as a bunch of family members and they get onto the road on their way to the Sunshine State and sing a song about the states.
After a week on the road and several stops, Leonard, Mrs. Helperman, and Scott arrive in Florida and Mary has to go to the first round of the Teacher of the Year contest and she leaves the boys on the beach and tells them to meet them at the RV park at 6:00 for dinner. Leonard wants to play fetch but, Scott explains that the real reason he came to Florida and Leonard reluctantly agrees to see Dr. Krank despite the warnings he gives Spot.
Back at home, Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly are watching soaps and turn it to "The Barry Anger Show" again. They have returned the spotlight to Krank because they have an animal control officer report that Krank doesn't turn animals into humans and turns them into mutants. Pretty Boy decides to go to Florida to warn Spot but Jolly doesn't want to go because he's afraid of the outside, but Pretty Boy encourages him to be brave and they run off to save Spot. They hop on a train, which goes very fast. Later, they hitch a ride on a plane to North Carolina and get dizzy.
Back in Florida, after a long hot walk in Okechobe, the boys find Krank's lab in a swamp. Krank is angered at another failed attempt after trying to turn a frog into a human and orders his minions, Dennis the Mutant Crocodile and Adele the Mutant Mosquito (the mutants that Pretty Boy and Jolly saw earlier on TV) to destroy the machine, but Spot stops him and asks him to turn him into a boy. The dog explains to Krank that he keeps failing due to the selection of his subjects. Since he's been experimenting on insects, amphibians, and reptiles, what he needs to create a human is a mammal. Krank agrees to turn Spot into a boy and Spot is excited, despite Leonard's protests.
Spot is turned into a human, but he's not turned into a boy he's turned into a grown man, which is his age in dog years. Just as Scott and Leonard are about to leave, Krank traps them in a cage to turn them into media freaks. While he leaves to make plans for his world tour, Ian shows up (who is Krank's nephew) and decides to free them and keep their secret at home in exchange for a slimy old chew toy and they escape. When Krank finds out Ian freed them, he orders Dennis and Adele to find Spot and grounds Ian until he leaves.
Scott and Leonard finally escape and they start to get hungry and Scott needs some new clothes when they find a poster of a lost dog, they find her using the Twilight Bark (ala 101 Dalmatians) and earn $500 (due to the dog having a litter). Scott gets a fancy suit and a new necktie and they rent a Ferrari.
Meanwhile, Ian calls his parents and tells them about how horrible and scary Krank's house is, but he likes it anyway. Krank then tells Ian to stay of the phone. Dennis and Adele come back. but without Scott and Leonard and Krank angrily tells them to keep searching for them.
When Leonard and Spot meet Leonard's mom back at the RV, Spot lies to her and tells her that Scott's family came to take him home, in order to explain his new human form. After drinking coffee and going hyper. Leonard throws him out of the motor home and Mrs. Helperman grounds him for the rest of the night. She also invites human Spot for dinner and he agrees.
That night, Mrs. Helperman starts to fall in love with human Spot and things go from bad to worse with Spot and Leonard, Spot tells Leonard that he's plans on becoming his new stepdad in order for them to stay together. Leonard feels strongly uncomfortable with that and the two start a nasty argument. Losing his patience, Leonard tells Spot to get out of his life, to which Spot sadly agrees. When Spot leaves, Leonard begins to regret his words.
After hitching a ride with some bikers, Pretty Boy and Jolly end up in Cuba and ask for a ride to Florida and the people send them to Florida via a garbage boat.
Mrs. Helperman goes to the awards ceremony while Leonard is in bed crying. Just then, Pretty Boy and Jolly arrive and Leonard explains everything that has happened the past few days. Spot is also staying in a motel and realizes human life isn't all it's cracked up to be so, he decides to go back to Leonard and make things right. Unfortunately, Leonard thinks the only way to be with his best friend again is have Krank turn him into a dog, despite Pretty Boy and Jolly's protests. After Leonard leaves, Spot arrives and he, Pretty Boy, and Jolly go to save Leonard.
When they get to the lab, Spot and Leonard apologize to each other and a showdown begins when Krank is about to turn Leonard into a dog to use him as bait to lure Spot. When the machine runs out of power, Spot installs the nickel Krank gave him earlier and it turns Krank into a mouse. When the machine is about to explode, Spot stands right in front of the zapper to change back to a dog and it zaps him. After the explosion, Leonard finds that Spot has turned to a pile of blue dust. Angry and crying, Leonard kicks the machine and it zaps Spot again, changing back to a dog. The two reconcile and head to the ceremony.
Later at the awards ceremony, Mrs. Helperman has won the award, while the pets are outside cheering for her. Just as Spot is about to quote a historical figure, Pretty Boy and Jolly point out how they are going to get home without letting Mrs. Helperman figuring out they came. Luckily, Spot has a plan. That night Spot is dressed up as Scott Leadready again and convinces Mrs. Helperman to let him drive home with them. Meanwhile, Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly are hiding under the RV's beds as part of Spot/Scott's plan. Spot decides to end his identity as Scott Leadready for the rest of the summer, and with Krank eaten by Jolly, Ian has to take care of Dennis and Adele.
Cast
The cast
Note: The cast and the characters they play is listed as they appear in the film's credits
| Voice actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Nathan Lane | Spot/Scott |
| Kelsey Grammer | Dr. Krank |
| Shaun Fleming | Leonard |
| Debra Jo Rupp | Mrs. Helperman |
| David Ogden Stiers | Jolly |
| Jerry Stiller | Pretty Boy |
| Paul Reubens | Dennis |
| Megan Mullally | Adele |
| Rob Paulsen | Ian |
| Wallace Shawn | Principal Strickler |
| Jay Thomas | Barry Anger |
| Estelle Harris | Mrs. Boogin |
| Genie Ann Francis | Marsha/Marcia |
| Anthony Geary | John/Juan |
| Rosalyn Landor | Blue Fairy |
| David Maples | Beefeater |
| Pamela S. Adlon | Trevor, Taylor and Tyler |
| Timothy Stack | Daddy |
| Emma Steinkellner | Little girl |
| Ken Swofford | Officer White |
| Lauren Tom | Younghee |
| Mae Whitman | Leslie |
| Kevin M. Richardson | Conductor |
Soundtrack
| Teacher's Pet: The Movie | |
|---|---|
| |
| {{{artist}}} | |
| Released | January 13, 2004 |
| Recorded | 2003 |
| Length | 34:21 |
| Label | Walt Disney Records |
| Produced by | Walt Disney Records |
On January 13, 2004, the movie's soundtrack was released it contains several original songs and the musical numbers.
- Teacher's Pet- Christy Carlson Romano
- I Wanna Be a Boy (movie version) - Nathan Lane, Shaun Flemming, Jerry Stiller, and David Ogden Stires
- A Boy Needs a Dog - Shaun Fleming
- A Whole Bunch of World- Shaun Fleming, Nathan Lane, and Debra Jo Rupp.
- Small But Mighty- Jerry Stiller and David Odgen Stiers.
- I, Ivan Krank- Kelsey Grammer
- Take the Money and Run - Jack Sheldon
- I'm Moving On- Nathan Lane, Debra Jo Rupp, Shaun Fleming, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullaly, Paul Reubens, David Odgen Stiers, Jerry Stiller
- A Boy Needs a Dog (Reprise) - Nathan Lane, Shaun Fleming
- Proud to Be a Dog - Nathan Lane, Shaun Flemming, Rob Paulsen, Megan Mullaly, and Paul Reubens
- Hot Diggety Dog - The Disney Chorus
- Mambo Del Perro- The Disney Chorus
- Wacko (The Barry Anger Theme) - The Disney Chorus
- Top of the World Blues - Carmen Twillie
Reception
Critical reception was fairly positive, with a 76% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "Despite its short running time, Teacher's Pet is a witty and irreverent family film." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 74/100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Box office
Over its 4-day opening weekend, Teacher's Pet took $3,602,245 in 2,027 theaters, a mere $1,777 per theater, making it one of the lowest openings in history. By the end of its run, the film had only made $6,491,969.
Notes
- Moral: Be careful what you wish or dream for, because the grass isn't always greener where you think it is. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have any dreams and passions at all, and you must be respectful of those of your loved ones, even if they're different than your own.
- This is the first time Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris have worked together since the end of Seinfeld.
- When Spot is walking down the beach, he notices a little boy and his pet cocker spaniel, this was an animated homage to Gary Baseman and his dog, Hubcaps.
- The Barry Anger Show is a spoof of The Jerry Springer Show.
- After the credits, the last roll says "In Loving Memory of Hubcaps Baseman". Baseman's dog died while the movie was in development.
- Pretty Boy gets the last line in the series.
- Krank's adress 666 Acko Way is a reference to 666 Park Avenue.
- This movie was announced in the opening previews of the VHS and DVD releases of Lizzie McGuire: Fashionably Lizzie, Lizzie McGuire: Growing Up Lizzie, Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade, and Recess: All Growed Down. All four titles were released December 9, 2003.
- This is the first time to have Nathan Lane voice Spot since the season 1 episode You Can't Bite City Hall.
- Pretty Boy's line when he and Mr. Jolly end up in Cuba, "Missed it by that much", is based on Maxwell Smart's catchphrase from Get Smart.
- This is the Teacher's Pet series finale.
- This movie was rated PG for mild crude humor. It's the only One Saturday Morning based movie to have a PG, as both Doug's 1st Movie and Recess: School's Out were rated G.
- The first episode is available as a bonus feature on the movie's DVD, along with two deleted scenes and other bonuses. It is unknown if this movie will be released on BluRay.
- When Spot is walking down the beach, he notices a little boy and his pet cocker spaniel, this was an animated homage to Gary Baseman and his dog, Hubcaps.
- The magazine Leonard is reading says "Gary Fashion" which is an inside-joke to the shows creator, Gary Baseman.
- Towards the ending scene where Leonard appears shirtless, he has no belly button, though he did have one during the beach scene.