Extraordinary.  This decidedly unsentimental story has 10 times the charm of some phony Hollywoodized crap like Marley & Me.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/my-dog-tulip-one-man-one-dog-two-anal-glands/Content?oid=5395734

By Paul Constant

Anyone who shares his or her life with a dog, or has done so in the past, go see “My Dog Tulip.”

Adapted with painstaking care – and inspiration – by animators Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, “My Dog Tulip” is the sublime and amusing tale of a cranky English intellectual who finds his “ideal friend” in the form of an Alsatian. Rescued from the clutches of an unseemly clan when she was just out of puppyhood, Tulip spent the rest of her canine years in the company of Joe Ackerley, a man who was never far from his typewriter, his notebook, his diary.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/dog-272329-tulip-ackerley.html

Film Review

October 22, 2010

‘My Dog Tulip’

Words of wisdom keep popping up in “My Dog Tulip” with gratifying regularity. They’re more likely to gratify dog lovers than anyone else, but that’s a large group to which I belong, and I made a point of watching this beguiling animated feature with my dog Skeezix on my lap. (I watched it at home on a DVD, rather than in a theater, only because it’s in limited distribution and a theatrical screening wasn’t available.) As an American, I can’t vouch for the wisdom of the first words on screen, though they seem authoritative: “Unable to love each other, the English turn naturally to dogs.” But any observant dog owner will agree that “dogs read the world through their noses and write their history in urine.”

“My Dog Tulip,” based on the 1956 memoir by J.R. Ackerly, was written and directed by Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger. The film reads the world through what dogs care about most—food, sex and love, not necessarily in that order—and writes Tulip’s history in animated images that all seem part of the same lovely plan, even though some are radiantly stylish and others are childlike, silly or satirical. Christopher Plummer voices the narrator, Tulip’s owner, with a disarming combination of literary hauteur and tenderness; the late Lynn Redgrave is his sister Nancy. Isabella Rossellini plays a wise veterinarian who cuts to the bone of behavioral issues that baffle the dog’s owner: “Tulip’s a good girl. I saw that at once. You are the problem.”

In a movie that celebrates dogness, the heroine, an ardent Alsatian bitch, has no human voice, only her own. A word of warning is in order, though. Several passages of “My Dog Tulip” are sexually explicit. I wouldn’t watch it with any dog under six months.

-Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304023804575566082520076638.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

October 17, 2010

‘My Dog Tulip’ explores a canine-human connection

Based on the memoir of the same title, the animated film by dog lovers Paul and Sandra Fierlinger uses a special software to create a painterly look for a story about a British fortysomething bachelor who learns through trial and error how to befriend a dog.

Dogged Truths by Stuart Klawans at The Nation

“Perhaps one of the reasons Paul Fierlinger captures all this so well is because he is in his 70s and knows something about rueful mirth… The other main reason, of course, is Fierlinger’s twitchy virtuosity.

A sourball candy of a movie worth savoring to its last melting away, My Dog Tulip is now in its premiere theatrical run, playing at Film Forum in New York through September 14.”

This is a very nicely done video review of My Dog Tulip from Jim Gisriel. Besides being a good My Dog Tulip review, Jim has done some interesting things with the images, trailer and other clips from the site.  Nice job Jim and THANKS!

FosterDogsNYC.com reports on the film My Dog Tulip joining with Rational Animal and animal Haven to spread the word about adopting dogs.  During screenings at Film Forum in NY on September 11th from 12:30 – 4pm, Rational Animal will host adoptable dogs from Animal Haven and will offer moviegoers free copies of Rational Animal’s Trails to Tails animal shelter location maps.

JR Ackerley’s My Dog Tulip tells the story of his 16 year relationship with his adopted Alsatian bitch, Tulip.  Narrated by Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini, My Dog Tulip is playing at Film Forum From September 1 – September 14th.  For tickets, please go to My Dog Tulip at Film Forum.

After the opening night and September 2 evening shows of My Dog Tulip, the co-directors and animators Paul and Sandra Fierlinger took a Q&A session with the audience.  It was an interesting and moving Q&A and an exciting moment in the life of My Dog Tulip.  The Fierlingers also did a Q&A and Borders Books.   Herewith are some photographs from these events:

My Dog Tulip Opens at NY’s Film Forum to critical acclaim. Featuring Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini and directed by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, the film has generated positive reviews by NY Times, NY Magazine, Vanity Fair, NY Post to name a few. Check out some of the reviews on the Press Page.

My Dog Tulip was featured in Sunday’s Arts and Leisure section of the NY Times. In a large article with numerous drawings from the film and photographs of the animators Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger, the piece highlighted the beautiful film and the manner in which the creators work.

The article is about the creation of the film and tierlingers, who have won a Peabody for “Still Life With Animated Dogs” and an Oscar nomination for “Its S Nice To Have A Wolf Around The House”, have been creating for audiences of all ages for a long time.  My Dog Tulip is for mature audiences and definitely for dog lovers.  In fact many Sesame Street fans from the early days will be familiar with the segment “Teeny Little Super Guy” segments.

My Dog Tulip has its theatrical release at NY’s Film Forum on September 1, 2010. Check In Theaters for the updated My Dog Tulip schedule. To buy “Still Life With Animated Dogs”, please email fala@comcast.net.