Underdog

Underdog is a movie by the same director that made Leafie, Hen into the Wild. After hearing the same people were working on another movie, I couldn't wait to see it. I probably still like Leafie more, but this movie is also great!

The story follows Moongchi, a pet dog that gets abandoned by his owner. Because his owner told him to "wait", Moongchi is at first in denial about the fact that his owner is not coming back. Soon he is however forced to face the truth after he meets and befriends other dogs that have been thrown away by their masters. The protagonist also runs into a small dog pack living in the nearby mountains, but very much to his shock, he doesn't get a warm reception. After one of the dogs gets captured by a dog hunter, their hideout gets destroyed and some of the dogs get thrown into a puppy mill, both the city strays and the mountain dogs decide to band together to search for a new home. A german shepherd, a former military dog, knows of a place with no humans. A place full of fields and fireflies where all dogs can live free and happy. With only an old fuzzy memory to guide them, the dogs set out on a dangerous journey to find their paradise.

The theme of this movie is nothing new. The story, however, isn't shy about showing how cruel some humans treat "the man's best friend".  Finland doesn't have many strays, you gotta be extra lucky to ever see a stray dog in your life. (Cats are more common since you can't really tell which cats are just roaming barn cats and which are actually strays). But animal mistreatment is a pretty big problem all over the world, puppy mills being a global hellhole. Both the main character as his love-interest, Bami, were both unfortunate products of puppy mills. Moongchi was taken from his mother too early and the was unlucky enough to be an impulse purchase made by a couple that later abandoned him because he was "too big and loud". Bami was also born to a puppy mill and was lucky enough to escape before she was used as a puppy producing machine.

Even though this movie quite a few character deaths and has sad elements, I still recommend watching this movie. Especially if the fact that the dogs' 3D models having only 3 toes doesn't bother you! XD