Film: A Dog's Purpose (2017)

[Lupus Paws]

TL;DR - Whilst it's not the most exciting film I've ever seen (if seen from a non-therian perspective), I'd recommend therians watch it, as it's thought-provoking, sweet, and has a clear existential tone which ties in well with therianthropy.

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So I saw this film advertised a few days ago, and it grabbed my attention. I had a look for reviews online, and it seemed to be poorly-received, but I decided to watch it anyway, largely because I thought the idea of reincarnation would be interesting in a therianthropic context.

Plot (No Spoilers) (Using gender-neutral pronouns to fit in with the logic of the film)
The film follows a dog (from it's own perspective) transitioning through its various lives, always being reincarnated into a pup after death. Throughout these lives, the dog tries to understand its purpose.

After being euthanised as a pup in its first life, it is then reborn into a red spaniel who, after being found dehydrated by a boy (named Ethan), comes to live with him and his family. This section of the film is the longest, and has as much a focus on Ethan as it does on Bailey (the dog). Once Bailey dies, it is once again reincarnated, this time as a police dog. After this, it is again reincarnated multiple times, each time as a different breed, with different owners, and a different lifestyle.

Throughout the film, the dog tries to understand the purpose of its existence, which is done through its own doggish outlook.

My Thoughts
Whilst it was by no means the best film I've ever seen, I still really enjoyed it as a therian. It ties in nicely with a spiritual explanation of therianthropy, but its first-person perspective through the eyes of the dog makes it enjoyable to all therians. I think it'll be one of those films which I'll watch every now and then when I'm bored on a rainy day.

[hotdogwolf]

I have the book and I seen the movie. It was good and also sad. I cried throughout the whole movie and I don't think I could watch it again because when I was watching it all I could think about as my dog that passed away. The movie was better then a lot of other dog movies that I have seen over the years. Well except for Homeward bound and Lassie. This movie is different in that we really do see the world of a dog's perpective and not just that from the human characters in the movie. Also that dog's really do care about there owners even if sometimes the owners don't. I hope that when people watch this movie that they take away that there dog's are more then just companions.

[Lupus Paws]

I have the book and I seen the movie. It was good and also sad. I cried throughout the whole movie and I don't think I could watch it again because when I was watching it all I could think about as my dog that passed away. The movie was better then a lot of other dog movies that I have seen over the years. Well except for Homeward bound and Lassie. This movie is different in that we really do see the world of a dog's perpective and not just that from the human characters in the movie. Also that dog's really do care about there owners even if sometimes the owners don't. I hope that when people watch this movie that they take away that there dog's are more then just companions.

I'm sorry about your dog. It was a sad movie even for myself, so I can see how you would have found it harder to watch.

I think seeing the world from the dog's perspective really did help create an engagement in the film, and was a pretty cool way of narrating it.

[hotdogwolf]

Thank you. The narration from the dog's perspective was different and necessary if you are going to have a story about a dog point of view of himself and the world around him. I think the film itself if one of thoughts films that needs to grow on people before it can be appreciated more, Seeing how it didn't do so good in the theatres.

[Lupus Paws]

Thank you. The narration from the dog's perspective was different and necessary if you are going to have a story about a dog point of view of himself and the world around him. I think the film itself if one of thoughts films that needs to grow on people before it can be appreciated more, Seeing how it didn't do so good in the theatres.

I noticed a few mistakes and areas for improvement throughout the film, but as a therian I really enjoyed seeing the world through the eyes of a dog, even if it was a bit sickly-sweet at times. I agree that it needs to grow on people, although I think it's only going to be truly appreciated by a certain group of people.

[hotdogwolf]

What kind of mistakes and improvement.?

[Lupus Paws]

What kind of mistakes and improvement.?

For example, in the scene where the dog's a police dog, and is keeping his handler up at night, there is a clip where she's in the room with her handler sitting up in the bed, then when she leaves the room a second later he's lying down, and then immediately after that he's sat back up again. It's nothing major, but just something I noticed.

I think the CGI/graphics could have been improved when Bailey's chasing the chickens, too. It just looked off.

I think at times it was a little bit sickly-sweet, but in all honesty I can't really have a grudge with that, because I think it's what made the film what it is.

[hotdogwolf]

That may have been do to editing and not so much of a mistake but it's nice of people to point out stuff like that in a movie. But movies are not prefect and there's limits on how long a movie can run in the theatres.

[Lupus Paws]

That may have been do to editing and not so much of a mistake but it's nice of people to point out stuff like that in a movie. But movies are not prefect and there's limits on how long a movie can run in the theatres.

Yeah, I'm nitpicking a little bit. I still really enjoyed it.

[Allenfox]

A Therian Looking Tv series that I have not watched yet, but you will likely be interested in is:
"LEGEND OF WHITE FANG"

Its got Quite a few elements that many of us can relate to, Dog and Wolf socialization issues, (guessing Native American beliefs), Talking Wolves/Dogs, and classic 90s cartoon animation:

https://youtu.be/lxykR3D-6co?t=110

Granted Tv Series like this probably led to many of the problems with "Wolfaboos" we have today.

Out of all of the Old tv series I looked up a good while back this seemed to be the most worthy posting.