After just three brutal weeks of 2025, some of us may already feel like we could use a break. With its dazzling stop-motion animation and eclectic, engaging plot,Wes Anderson’sIsle of Dogsmakes a fantastic candidate for some much-needed escapism —and it’s headed to Hulu on February 1.
Tackling heavy-handed themes like nationalism, xenophobia, and systemic power,Isle of Dogsmay seem no different from the bleak landscape of everyday life. But only Anderson is capable of translating such grim and complex topics into a charming and heartfelt story that can only be described as “the chicken soup of movies.“Isle of Dogstakes place in the futuristic Japanese city of Megasaki, where all dogs have been banished to a place called Trash Island due to a cruel decree from the tyrant Mayor Kobayashi. But the mayor’s ward, Atari, sympathizes with the dogs' plight, and subsequently hijacks a plane and crash-lands on Trash Island, now nicknamed the Isle of Dogs, to search for his missing canine companion. While political turmoil begins to brew on the mainland of Megasaki as a result of the mayor’s controversial orders, Atari befriends the dogs and earns their trust, eventually vowing to return them all home safely.
Already a standout film due to the complexity of its story,Isle of Dogsdistinguishes itself further through beautiful stop-motion animation. Andersonutilized thousands of hand-crafted puppets and relied on real setsto create the movie’s distinct style — a true labor of love that required numerous sculptors working around the clock for months on end. CG effects were almost entirely absent throughout the film, appearing only to duplicate audience members or create green screens. And then, of course, there’s the process of stop-motion animation itself, which is notoriously arduous and time-consuming.
Isle of Dogsalsoboasts a star-studded castand an incredible soundtrack. Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Greta Gerwig, and Yoko Ono all lent their voices to the film, with Edward Norton playing the lead. The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who had previously collaborated with Anderson on his other stop-motion piece,Fantastic Mr. Fox, as well as onMoonrise KingdomandThe Grand Budapest Hotel. With so many incredible artists and creatives working together, it’s no wonderIsle of Dogsturned out to be a timeless masterpiece.
‘Isle of Dogs’Isn’t a Perfect Film, but It Is a Great One
The mark of a great film isn’t perfection, but rather the ability to spark nuanced and complex conversations even years after release. ThoughIsle of Dogspossesses a sort of universal charm that hasenraptured nearly every viewer,the film has also attracted some criticism. Many critics pointed outa lingering perpetuation of Orientalist stereotypes that characterizes much ofIsle of Dogs’ visual aesthetic and narrative elements, arguing that the movie blurred many popular hallmarks associated (whether accurately or not) with Japan — haikus, cherry blossoms, sumo wrestling, taiko drums, and even a mushroom cloud — into a blurry, homogenous whole. The issue with this depiction, of course, is reducing Japan and Eastern Asia to a visual aesthetic, an imagined background populated by certain identifying landmarks, rather than a living, breathing, and constantly shifting culture.
Fantastic Mr. Fox vs. Isle of Dogs: Which Wes Anderson Stop-Motion Movie is Better?
Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr. Fox are both great, but if we had to choose, which one is better? Let’s find out
Those who posited this criticism, however, did not disparage the entire film because of it, demonstrating how a piece of art is often much more interesting if it has flaws.Isle of Dogsstill holds an impressive 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has earned hundreds of glowing reviews. As composer Ryuichi Sakamoto sobrilliantly stated:
“I think it’s a well-crafted movie. Its aesthetic is so perfect, I think. But as a Japanese, you know, to me, it’s kind of the same thing again. Old Hollywood movies, they always used their mixed image of Japanese or Chinese or Korean or Vietnamese. It’s a wrong stereotypical image of Asian people.”
Isle of Dogs
