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The sweet and friendly Good Boy! is positively canine in its eagerness to please. As with Cats and Dogs, the premise is irresistible: Dogs, it is revealed, are superior beings from another planet sent here long ago to colonize Earth. Over the years, however, they became pets instead of masters, and Canid 3942 (voiced by Matthew Broderick) has been dispatched by the Greater Dane to determine whether dogs should stay or be recalled to the home planet. Canid, more adorable than E.T. and way more civilized than Stitch, finds his mission complicated when, after crash-landing his spaceship, he is befriended by Owen (Liam Aiken), your requisite lonely misfit, who operates a dog-walking service. He names the dog Hubble and is stunned to discover his new super-intelligent pet's extraterrestrial origins. Hubble is horrified at how dogs have become domesticated, and he must retrain the neighborhood pooches (voiced with loads of personality by, most prominently, Carl Reiner, Delta Burke, and Brittany Murphy) before the Greater Dane arrives to fetch them home. Good Boy! may not be best-in-show, but dog lovers of all ages will lap this up, particularly the predictably heartwarming conclusion when Hubble learns to stop worrying and love to fetch. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

For his debut feature, John Hoffman wrote and directed this effects-heavy family film based on the story Dogs from Outer Space by Zeke Richardson. Produced by Jim Henson Productions, Good Boy! presents the idea that dogs are actually an intelligent alien species sent to earth thousands of years ago to spy on humans in preparation for a full-scale invasion and takeover. But when the spies stop reporting back to the home planet, Canid 3942 (voiced by Matthew Broderick) is sent to earth to investigate. Once there, Canid 3942 encounters Owen Baker (Liam Aiken), a young boy who runs a dog-walking service. Owen befriends the space-dog, renaming him Hubble. When it becomes obvious that the dogs of earth have forgotten their mission, Hubble enlists the help of Owen to get them all into shape before The Great Dane arrives to inspect. If they fail, all of earth's dogs will be recalled to their home planet of Sirius. With Kevin Nealon and Molly Shannon as Owen's parents, Good Boy! also features the voice talents of Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner, Megan Mullally, and Donald Faison. Matthew Tobey

Product Details

• UPC: 027616902825
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Presentation: Pan & Scan
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français, Español
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español, Cantonese
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 11,044

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Doggie Tales Collection

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