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This hits home HARD. Every dog I’ve had was a rescue, and one dog of mine had some major abandonment issues to the point where he would cry if I was even out of sight for a second. He passed away a year ago from cancer, but I’m happy I made his life better, even for only a few years.
So to ask why are abandonment tricks a thing? Does it cost money to put a dog somewhere or not have family members or friends that can take them in? At the very least I want to understand the intention of abandonment and if maybe the owners can’t do something else if they can’t care for their dogs anymore.
@@vincenthawthorne9360 where i live at least, it does cost money to humanely dump your dog (speaking about shelters here), or any other pet for that matter. I can understand money issues might get in the way of that, BUT leaving a dog to literally die is never the answer. The money for gas to even drive that far would cover the cost for the shelter anyway! Selling your dog may also not always be an option, either because it feels wrong, or because your dog is chronically ill, or has severe behavioral issues. Again, abandoning is never the answer! Imo, people who dump their dog like that are vile human beings. I got my dog from the shelter as well, 9 years ago. Her former owners cut her ears off, and dumped her when she was about 8 months old. Tied her to a tree and left her to die. Shes had a few behavioral issues, as was to be expected, but by now most have phased out due to receiving lots of love and proper care! Adopt don't shop, people :)
I thought that the "Paradise" the dogs were heading for had a reason to be fenced off. For all we know it could have been an impact zone for Artillery training purposes... but no it was just an obstacle for the sake of having an obstacle.
With the fact that there is TWO fences it makes me think that it might be North Korea since this eerily looks like the double fence that makes most of the DMZ. It would explain why it’s so heavily guarded, no normal training zone would be guarded with soldiers armed with grenades. Which makes the movie even more tragic since the area surrounding the DMZ on the North Korean side is know to be a mine field….. yeah.
It might be the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, which suggests that these dogs are escaping from South Korea (which is more urbanized) into North Korea.
It's not mentioned in the review but in the end credits it shows that there are mine fields in the forest but the German Shepherd and main dog manage to sniff them out
I love how the movie started rather dark and then became cheerful and goofy. Honestly, it feels so rewarding to smile and laugh at the end's silliness when the starting feelings were so sad.
I totally agree as not all dog films need to just be super depressing and not be happy or have any positive parts. I’m glad this film didn’t stay dark and depressing like The Plague Dogs as The Plague Dogs broke me a lot that film was not only difficult to watch but painful to go through and the ending is a huge downer. I’m glad that Underdog while it did have some dark moments didn’t stay dark it got more happy and cheerful in some spots too especially the ending.
@@nunungshizumi5334 wow, how incredible that these two obviously real people wanted to spread their love of a site they enjoy in the same comment section on the same comment thread. What a coincence...
Your timing is impressive... I just adopted a german shepherd that has been abandoned by his owners a year ago, and I wasn't able to stop holding him close to me during the entire watchtime. Please people, be nice to your dogs.
German shepherds are great. I got my mom one as soon as I started working since she’d always wanted one. They bonded so closely that when he went missing my mom just broke down. He had puppies and after finding good homes for the rest she kept the smallest one with a belly button hernia in his honor. We still look for him (we believe someone stole him) but it’s been years.
Not in Korea, they actually eat dogs on both sides of the DMZ. In South Korea, for example, they only recently closed down the last slaughterhouse in the country back in November 2018.
Not gonna lie, I thought the German shepherd was wearing glasses at first. Also, gotta recommend Redwall. It's a good series and whilst toned down for kids it's still really good
I was salty they didn't bring Schnauzer bro back, he had the most personality out of all them and a nice design. It definitely wasn't as good as Leafie though, the way the shepherd's eyes looked and the way he fought bothered me a lot too. Totally broke the model when they could've just made him more badass than the other dogs.
Again, I recommend 'The King Of Pigs'. It's a korean animation movie about two childhood friends who meet one night to revisit the school they went to as kids where they faced severe bullying and experienced a traumatic event that still haunts them in their adulthood. Fair Warning: Bullying, Abuse, Depression, Violence, Death and animal violence Edit: apologies if I come across like a spam bot. I just heavily recommend this movie as not much reviews of it out there.
Oh no, I can tell your not. Your cool. actually, I find it kind of hilarious that you apologies for lookin like a bot, but then two bots start spamming everyone's comments.
I... don’t think that one dog went to a shelter. Considering that place looked a lot like a dog slaughterhouse, it isn’t out of the question to consider that the poor dog went to a puppy mill + slaughterhouse, where he was probably slaughtered and sold for meat. Also, I think a more bittersweet ending for the movie could have been Moongchi being adopted by one of the soldiers and having a new owner by the end of the film. It was clear he lived as a pet for a long time, up into adulthood, and wouldn’t have had the survival skills to do well as a stray dog in the wild. That being said, he would have been better off being adopted by a dog-loving soldier. It still probably wouldn’t have been the best life for a dog, living out on the frontier with a bunch of loud noises going off constantly, but he would have been fed and lived as comfortably as he could, just barely close to the wild where his friends left him, but just out of reach.
@@noexcuses5524 100% that dog would never be considered for dog fighting. Def Bosintang. During the time this movie was made, Korea was still consuming bosintang, gaejangguk, dangogiguk, gaejang, gujang, etc. Dog meat is still being consumed in South Korea even today but I believe they are looking to ban it (not because of cruelty reasons) as of a 9/27/2021 article (earliest I could find on the first page) but I also follow a lot of slaughterhouse rescue groups that go to countries that eats dogs and try to get them to places like America, UK, etc. to get them adopted so it's something I have been following for some time.
Man, got me crying. Just straight up abandoning your dogs is some messed up shit. It’s real cool they used the movie as a platform for the aid of animals. Love your reviews man, you bring forth so many films/movies/shows I’ve never heard of or were initially disinterested in. Thank you for sacrificing your sanity and joy to bring us these thoughtful and dark movies.
I'm not too surprised with how quickly the fire spread through the field, considering how fluffy the grass is. fluff catches INSANELY quickly. you can look up a video of a cotton factory catching on fire after some idiot was using a lighter to seal off seams or something.
Do Kyungsoo, the actor who voices the main character Moongchi, is also a singer and idol under t he stage name D.O., and is a member of the k-pop group EXO. He's a really strong vocalist, I recommend his solo tracks "It's Okay", "Rose" and "Si Fueras Mia" if anyone's interested in hearing. He was also in the 2018 film "Swing Kids" which is about a group of prisoners in a camp during the Korean war who put together a dance company, and he learned North Korean dialect and tap dancing for the role. He's a very talented person.
So are we not gonna mention that the fence that the dogs cross at the end is more than likely the DMZ aka the border between North and South Korea? No? Ok then….
@@nekosensei890 idk if it's propaganda per se, but it is ironically tragic that their so called paradise might actually be just as dangerous, if not more, and they don't even know. That is if my theory is right, but it would fit the tragic tone of the studio's previous work.
@@잘못된번호 Oh I'm not saying it is! But there are areas that are on the North's side for sure. Tho from my understanding, North Korea has a ban on pet dogs for being "a decadent pastime of the bourgeoisie" or something along these lines and the food shortages there makes dog meat one of the few meat options people have. So if my reading of that fence as the DMZ is right, it still makes for a subtly tragic ending. :(
South Korea: *"Want a sad animated movie about animals?"* Everyone: *"Nah not rea-"* South Korea: *"TOO BAD PREPARE YOUR TISSUES BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO CRY."*
Why would you cry more than humans being dying? It’s the same sh!t than any other movie but with dogs instead, your favorite animal you put in a st,upid hierarchy. I think south South Korea are smarter, they don’t seems to me so much unnecessarily sentimental for something absolutely stu,pid And don’t says “hoMAn bAD anIMa GuD” it’s not an argument it’s typically stu,pid
I just realized at the ending, the soldiers' uniforms had the South Korean flag on them. And they were guarding a fenced area with two fences... I think the dogs might have gotten into North Korea
No that was a water deer, which is also endangered, but is overpopulated in Korea due to the total extermination of all native apex land predators (save bears but they mostly eat plants)
Our family adopted a dog that was left in a home for the previous owners to "take care of" when they moved out. They left a bag of food behind but the new owners were not told of the dog being left behind, and took their time to get there as they weren't pressed for time. They showed up to a malnourished dog on the cusp of death. Thank God they were skilled dog handlers and nursed him up. We adopted him and fed him and treated him like royalty
When I was a kid, the scene of Tod being forcefully abandoned by the old lady broke my heart so bad. I watched it when I was 5 or 6 and then it took me my entire childhood to get over it. I could not accept the fact he never got to be reunited with her in the end and that he was "only a memory" to her from then on. I remember how I wrote in my diary how I was finally only able to get over it when I was 16. My young child heart could not go through the process of grief to acceptance. All for a cartoon character that didn't even exist in real life.
I remember subbing to you when you had less than ten thousand subscriptions, and you've delivered nothing but the most entertaining content since then. I have no doubt you'll reach a million subs Steve.
Don't get me wrong, I love your deep dives into unknown and dark films, but I'd love to see you review a film YOU love. Something that fills you with happiness and good times.
This kind of reminds me of a book series I read called Survivors (by Erin Hunter). The basic gist of it is a former per turned stray helps a bunch of pets who were abandoned during an earthquake learn to survive as pack in the wild. They meet an actual wild pack and the story is about them learning to get along and survive in this “new world” they all find themselves in. It’s a good series (not as good as it’s sister series, Warriors, but still). The only real difference is the “fierce dog pups” plot and the canine version of the apocalypse.
I recommend an anime "Ginga Nagareboshi Gin" from 1986. It's about dogs killing bears and it has some brutal scenes.. oh, and heart-warming friendship between a puppy and a boy. 21 episodes so not very long.
I'm going to keep recommending this (especially when you do canine based reviews) - it's not a movie, but an anime w/ 1 season : Wolf's Rain. I think it's right up your alley Steve & I hope someday you'll review it. Like GOT, no one is safe in Wolf's Rain.
Steve: "humans don't deserve dogs." Me, a rescue enthusiast who has seen what humans have done to all sorts of animals: "Humans don't deserve ANYTHING."
It’s true we don’t I’m a dog lover myself and vegetarian and it breaks my soul to see how these animals get abused and tortured for their own pleasure I want people who abuse animals to be abused themselves to see how they like it
Another thing I feel like you forgot to mention is that it kinda goes backwards in it's morals in that, it makes abandoning the dogs come across as bad for about the first half of the movie and then says oh no they wanna be wild which I personally think is teaching the wrong message. some may say I'm being over dramatic when I say what I'm about to but I see it happen time and time again with kids and even adults is that they think they can just abandon an animal and it will magically survive and that there are no repercussions for what they've done. I love your videos keep up the great work💜💙❤
You're right that it gives off mixed messages. Since the first half starts off with the grim reality but then it turns into a happy ending there the dogs find paradise in the wild making it seem like abandoning animals the best thing for them. If the message was supposed to about how this is cruel, they completely undermined it with the second half of the movie.
I think its less about wild being good and more about acceptance and adaption, the wild was cruel to everyone and humans let them down so often but they were determined to make their conditions the best if they were stuck as wild dogs which is why they went to find the paradise, nowhere else was safe and none of them trusted humans enough to be readopted, excluding Alex (the English dub name for the little grump that got shaved)
Dog's (not proper, what belongs to the dog?) Also video's (not proper either, what belongs to the video?) Please everyone... stop with the damned improper possessives... it should be dogs and videos.
To be fair about that fire, those plants look very similar to pampas grass, which is horrifically flammable in dry conditions and will absolutely spread into wildfires
Your critiques of the animation makes me think of Beastars. Studio Orange did a fantastic job blending 2d and 3d, human and animal musculature, the 3d models are just as expressive as 2d, etc. Maybe you can do a review for it? The final season should be coming out in a year or two.
Here's some information regarding the 2D / 3D mix for you! I was very excited about this movie when it was announced, so I was checking for updates daily, which led me to a lot of news on it at the time! Originally Underdog was supposed to be entirely 2D with only minor 3D shots (Like Leafie had in crowded scenes, scenes from a distance, etc) It was also originally a collaboration between China and Korea. China had agreed to fund another movie from this studio due to the success of Leafie there. Both movies were made with the same process - 3D models with 2D art rotoscoped over it. In late 2017 however, China pulled their funding after seeing the movie's progress (Stated on a Korean news report). So at this point, the studio was not quite sure what to do with Underdog. A successful cr*wd fund was implemented in Korea so that the movie could at least be finished to a presentable state - Refining the 3D reference models into a finished looking movie rather than let it go to waste. This is why you see some random 2D shots here and there - The easiest shots to complete were done before the funding drop. Shots of humans, the puppy scene, things animators are used to drawing without the reference of 3D models. The "Easy bits"... It's a huge shame. I do think that this movie would have been so much more gorgeous with completely finalized 2D. The funding being pulled was another likely factor of why the ending may have felt rushed. If you glance at my page you can see the state of the movie in 2017 - At that point it was very uncertain if the movie would be released at all. I'm grateful we have this movie in the world, but it was such a missed opportunity to be something amazing. They were really aiming for Pixar standards with this one before the production difficulties. :(
One thing that marked me about this movie is how it was heavily sold to kpop fans, as the voice of Moongchi is Do Kyungsoo, a kpop singer form the group EXO (and to kdrama fans too, as Bami voice actress is Park Sodam, btw she is in parasite, she is kijung/jessica!), I remember that as soon the movie came out a lot of Kyungsoo and EXO fans watched the movie, many of them watched more than 2 times too! They would share about how DO work in the movie was amazing and other fans would be interested on the movie too, so for this really short time Underdog was quite popular between kpop fans
for some reason when I heard dogs searching for paradise my brain just went "lmao they doing a wolf's rain?" but yeah this movie is fun and different from what I expected in many ways but it was enjoyable if a little confusing by the sudden end of they made it hurray. Now I recommend watching ginga nagareboshi gin aka silver fang the shooting star gin. It starts off as though it will be a dog and his boy series but flips the switch to focusing on just the dogs partway through as they attempt to kill a bear the size of a mountain. The series still has an active fanbase despite how old it is and the manga is crazy with how it just keeps going highly recommend if you don't mind crying streams of tears over dogs being brutally killed.
I'd like to imagine that the stray dog who got caught was just adopted/purchased instead of being used for breeding because he was neutered and a pretty popular breed.
"don't demotize me" shows an actual svastika but depressing as the beggining is, it is the every day reality for many abandoned dogs, at least the ending is happy, even though many dogs don't get that
Been waiting for someone to make a review from this movie. And you did it justice and I can 100% agree with your criticisms! Great video once again Steve! 👍🏻
Oh boy, another animated film from Korea with an innocent looking cover! And it's about dogs too. Maybe this will be a family friendly and wholesome film. (Padak)
oh, just from the thumbnail i know this will DESTROY me emotionally thank you for putting yourself through these for us, steve. you cover a lot of heavy content but a lot of it definitely has artistic merit too-- i'm still in awe over padak tbh
I googled that, and omg, it's the film i watched as a kid, and i couldn't find it anywhere, because only thing i remembered was a name "michelle". What a luck :D
i haven't watched the movie yet, (but i have a feeling i will very soon), but my personal take on the goofy ending is that THAT is what it would take for dogs in their situation to find happiness in today's age. The scenes are very real for sure, dogs get dumped, overbred, kept in horrible, disgusting places and often may never see a good life. Those things happen daily, in all parts of the world. For dogs in those situations to survive on their own... miracles would have to happen. I don't know if that was the intention with the ending, but that's just how i see it nice review Steve! Will definitely give it a watch sometime
I am definitely conflicted as well, while it is very nice to have the happy ending the means of getting there turned very cartoonist and goofy really taking away from their previous struggles. I honestly thought it was going to end badly for everyone involved, another ending I thought up while typing this was after the gate shut the stray dogs would stay inside the fence but moongchi would be forced to retreat and take up the role of a guide of sorts, finding other strays and bringing them through the dangers he had survived to this paradise making the English title even more fitting, but that's just me :p
The directors must've been real proud of Leafie to reference it multiple times into this film. I believe the final act should've been a fight with the dog catcher had the main character didn't Mary Sue the first time around. I think the character should've lost and barely escape with his life and realizing the dog catcher isn't going to be easy to take down. Only when he defeats him would the ending feel warranted. The movie is good, but it held back its potential. It had all the right materials to be an amazing movie just like Leafie, but didn't follow through and the result is above average decent film. It seems really disappointing that it's not Leafie levels of quality since they reference it a few times in this one.
Ive watched this movie before, literally just a week ago at a small Korean film festival in my city, and when i saw that notification that he uploaded this i knew he and everyone else watching was in for a super emotional trip.... Ngl this is one of the few animated movies that have legit made me cry.... I AM MAN ENOUGH TO ADMIT THAT!.... shut up...
I had recommended this DVD to our job as a person who does collection development for our art college. I had no ideal that this feature was connected to 'Daisy' aka 'Leafy', which was a DVD we got in as a request or it was a donation. I never knew they were done by the same director.
My brothers and I watched this for the first time a week ago, and as I noticed Leafie the hen the first thought aside from "Will my bros finally like animation?" "Is this appropriate?" and if it it'll be good or not, was "HAS STEVEN REVIEWED THIS??!" I do think this is a good film though the conclusion did fizzle out a little and story structure could've been a bit better, indeed.. Overall was impressed with the hard work put in, and it deserves any good recognitions or awards it may receive! Very nice review Steven. Thank you
Perfect timing, I've been reading a book series about dogs trying to survive out in the wild. The Survivors series, pretty entertaining so far. I'm on the 3rd book now!
Yes! The book series by Erin Hunter. The plot of this movie and the first books are somewhat similar. Hope by now you've finished the books and liked them
@@RedMoon814 I've read up to book 4 but haven't been able to find the time to go to a library and read for fun for quite a bit now. I do absolutely love the series though
The schnauzer that helped Jake, or moonchi I guess, was just chased and caught in the English version, my dvd didn't include the beating part, and also, the "shelter" you see later is definitely not actually a shelter, that's a puppy mill, which is why the schnauzer stays missing
@@TryinaD Yeah, you are right. But any other animal besides humans see the world with anyting but borders, even if they just chill out, eventually they will find humans
The piano piece in the beginning is “Pavane for a dead princess” bit of an odd musical choice because of the pieces meaning but I recommend you listen to SPQ’s performance of it on the Rousseau UA-cam channel
hey have you ever seen the movie once upon a forest? it’s a movie i think you’d enjoy doing a video on as it has to do with man construction with forest animals, where they gas them, they have to cross roads, all sorts of scary danger. and yes there is death in it… i watched it as a kid and specifically remember how they would call the equipment “yellow dragons”
So, I got a *LONG* list of movies you should definitely review (and most of them are *DARK AND WEIRD!:* * Cat Soup * James and the Giant Peach * Peter and the Wolf (2006 version) * Once Upon a Forest * Alice (Jan Svankmajer) * Pingu's Dream (Banned Pingu Episode) * Wolfwalkers * The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic (From the creators of Ringing Bell) * Nausicca Valley of the Wind * Fire and Ice (Directed by Ralph Bakshi) * Fantastic Planet * Samson and Sally
I start tearing up a lot when ever the parents death scene and there kid crying pops up. Like I go from 0 to 70 in 3 seconds. It takes a lot to make me cry that much that quickly.😂😢
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What's good my man
Review JoJo Rabbit please
Can you make a review of Treasure planet from 1982?
On god?
Steve, there’s a fritz the cat sequel
"The good times don't last long, however; because of course they wouldn't." - Steve, spitting some harsh truth.
that does include the bad times as well
Indeed.
Hey, what can i say, Good times are subjective
Reminds me of what Deadpool said:
"Life is like a TV channel. The good times are the ad breaks."
Or something like that
Glad to see I live in the harsh truth as my goal is.
This hits home HARD. Every dog I’ve had was a rescue, and one dog of mine had some major abandonment issues to the point where he would cry if I was even out of sight for a second. He passed away a year ago from cancer, but I’m happy I made his life better, even for only a few years.
Shut up bot
So to ask why are abandonment tricks a thing? Does it cost money to put a dog somewhere or not have family members or friends that can take them in? At the very least I want to understand the intention of abandonment and if maybe the owners can’t do something else if they can’t care for their dogs anymore.
@@vincenthawthorne9360 where i live at least, it does cost money to humanely dump your dog (speaking about shelters here), or any other pet for that matter. I can understand money issues might get in the way of that, BUT leaving a dog to literally die is never the answer. The money for gas to even drive that far would cover the cost for the shelter anyway!
Selling your dog may also not always be an option, either because it feels wrong, or because your dog is chronically ill, or has severe behavioral issues. Again, abandoning is never the answer! Imo, people who dump their dog like that are vile human beings. I got my dog from the shelter as well, 9 years ago. Her former owners cut her ears off, and dumped her when she was about 8 months old. Tied her to a tree and left her to die.
Shes had a few behavioral issues, as was to be expected, but by now most have phased out due to receiving lots of love and proper care! Adopt don't shop, people :)
just wanted to thank you real quick for adopting your pets and giving them a great home
I’m sorry for your loss. I don’t think anything I can say can make you feel better, but I’m sure he loved his time with you ♡
I thought that the "Paradise" the dogs were heading for had a reason to be fenced off. For all we know it could have been an impact zone for Artillery training purposes... but no it was just an obstacle for the sake of having an obstacle.
With the fact that there is TWO fences it makes me think that it might be North Korea since this eerily looks like the double fence that makes most of the DMZ. It would explain why it’s so heavily guarded, no normal training zone would be guarded with soldiers armed with grenades. Which makes the movie even more tragic since the area surrounding the DMZ on the North Korean side is know to be a mine field….. yeah.
@@CherriWhitewing That was my first thought too, feels very "happy ending!!..... not"
It might be the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, which suggests that these dogs are escaping from South Korea (which is more urbanized) into North Korea.
It's not mentioned in the review but in the end credits it shows that there are mine fields in the forest but the German Shepherd and main dog manage to sniff them out
So Paradise is North Korea, um…. happy ending??
I love how the movie started rather dark and then became cheerful and goofy. Honestly, it feels so rewarding to smile and laugh at the end's silliness when the starting feelings were so sad.
I totally agree as not all dog films need to just be super depressing and not be happy or have any positive parts. I’m glad this film didn’t stay dark and depressing like The Plague Dogs as The Plague Dogs broke me a lot that film was not only difficult to watch but painful to go through and the ending is a huge downer. I’m glad that Underdog while it did have some dark moments didn’t stay dark it got more happy and cheerful in some spots too especially the ending.
😂❤😢
@nicholastangeman6155 OMG I LOVE PLAGUE DOGS
When I seen the title Underdog I immediately thought of Sweet Polly Purebred. And I always liked the song in the intro of that cartoon.
@@nunungshizumi5334 wow, how incredible that these two obviously real people wanted to spread their love of a site they enjoy in the same comment section on the same comment thread. What a coincence...
@@nunungshizumi5334 Actually delete your channel
There's no need to fear, CGI dogs are here!
Dude the best version of the Underdog theme is done by "The Blanks" it can be found here on YT
There’s no need to fear, underdog is here
Your timing is impressive... I just adopted a german shepherd that has been abandoned by his owners a year ago, and I wasn't able to stop holding him close to me during the entire watchtime.
Please people, be nice to your dogs.
I hope you and your doggo are doing well ♡
German shepherds are great. I got my mom one as soon as I started working since she’d always wanted one. They bonded so closely that when he went missing my mom just broke down. He had puppies and after finding good homes for the rest she kept the smallest one with a belly button hernia in his honor. We still look for him (we believe someone stole him) but it’s been years.
Not in Korea, they actually eat dogs on both sides of the DMZ. In South Korea, for example, they only recently closed down the last slaughterhouse in the country back in November 2018.
I wish people who abuse animals would be abused themselves to see how they like it
420 likes, you earned it
Not gonna lie, I thought the German shepherd was wearing glasses at first.
Also, gotta recommend Redwall. It's a good series and whilst toned down for kids it's still really good
Lol same
It not?
I really loved the books of that.
The season 2 finale crushed my young soul
What drawn on him then?
I was salty they didn't bring Schnauzer bro back, he had the most personality out of all them and a nice design. It definitely wasn't as good as Leafie though, the way the shepherd's eyes looked and the way he fought bothered me a lot too. Totally broke the model when they could've just made him more badass than the other dogs.
I also agree it’s you. The way he moves is just very uncanny…
I was also super salty about the Schnauzer... You end up asuming he died even tho they never confirmed it
@@nunungshizumi5334 shut up
I agree
"That's the buddhist symbol, youtube please don't demonetize"
*Proceeds to show the actual swastika.
*video gets demonetized
Surprised Steve Face
Ugh these bots are insane
@@Brittany_1992I know! Literally on every comment! Help our boy Steve by reporting if you haven't already!
The swastika IS buddhist
@@Brittany_1992 just report 'em. Maybe they'll go away
Report the bots!
Hi Steve!
Movie review suggestion: Wolfwalkers.
It's basically about the Ireland version of werewolves and has very beautiful animation.
I second that recommendation.
Oh yes I love that movie
Wolfwalkers is a fantastic film
IVE SEEN THAT!!
It's a beautiful animated film but its super underwhelming. The characters weren't that put well together either.
Again, I recommend 'The King Of Pigs'. It's a korean animation movie about two childhood friends who meet one night to revisit the school they went to as kids where they faced severe bullying and experienced a traumatic event that still haunts them in their adulthood.
Fair Warning: Bullying, Abuse, Depression, Violence, Death and animal violence
Edit: apologies if I come across like a spam bot. I just heavily recommend this movie as not much reviews of it out there.
Don’t worry, we can tell who the actual spam bots are ^
Oh no, I can tell your not. Your cool.
actually, I find it kind of hilarious that you apologies for lookin like a bot, but then two bots start spamming everyone's comments.
@@BeartifulAri Ikr?
Didn’t Steve already review *King of Pigs?*
@@TheRealNormanBates yeah I thought so too?
I... don’t think that one dog went to a shelter. Considering that place looked a lot like a dog slaughterhouse, it isn’t out of the question to consider that the poor dog went to a puppy mill + slaughterhouse, where he was probably slaughtered and sold for meat.
Also, I think a more bittersweet ending for the movie could have been Moongchi being adopted by one of the soldiers and having a new owner by the end of the film. It was clear he lived as a pet for a long time, up into adulthood, and wouldn’t have had the survival skills to do well as a stray dog in the wild. That being said, he would have been better off being adopted by a dog-loving soldier. It still probably wouldn’t have been the best life for a dog, living out on the frontier with a bunch of loud noises going off constantly, but he would have been fed and lived as comfortably as he could, just barely close to the wild where his friends left him, but just out of reach.
He didn’t went to a shelter but sold the dog for a dog fighting where people buys dog to make them fight into one another for gambling purposes
@@noexcuses5524 100% that dog would never be considered for dog fighting. Def Bosintang. During the time this movie was made, Korea was still consuming bosintang, gaejangguk, dangogiguk, gaejang, gujang, etc. Dog meat is still being consumed in South Korea even today but I believe they are looking to ban it (not because of cruelty reasons) as of a 9/27/2021 article (earliest I could find on the first page) but I also follow a lot of slaughterhouse rescue groups that go to countries that eats dogs and try to get them to places like America, UK, etc. to get them adopted so it's something I have been following for some time.
The ending feels very shoe horned in, like they wanted something for the kids
Man, got me crying. Just straight up abandoning your dogs is some messed up shit. It’s real cool they used the movie as a platform for the aid of animals. Love your reviews man, you bring forth so many films/movies/shows I’ve never heard of or were initially disinterested in. Thank you for sacrificing your sanity and joy to bring us these thoughtful and dark movies.
F in the chat for Steve Reviews for watching all these heart-wrenching dog films!
F
I'm not too surprised with how quickly the fire spread through the field, considering how fluffy the grass is. fluff catches INSANELY quickly. you can look up a video of a cotton factory catching on fire after some idiot was using a lighter to seal off seams or something.
Do Kyungsoo, the actor who voices the main character Moongchi, is also a singer and idol under t he stage name D.O., and is a member of the k-pop group EXO. He's a really strong vocalist, I recommend his solo tracks "It's Okay", "Rose" and "Si Fueras Mia" if anyone's interested in hearing. He was also in the 2018 film "Swing Kids" which is about a group of prisoners in a camp during the Korean war who put together a dance company, and he learned North Korean dialect and tap dancing for the role. He's a very talented person.
So are we not gonna mention that the fence that the dogs cross at the end is more than likely the DMZ aka the border between North and South Korea? No? Ok then….
@@잘못된번호 If they are from the north they might be patrolling for their next meal.
So the dogs will be mostly dead if hungry north Korean find them
I was thinking the same thing! Heart warming dog film that has some unintentional? Propaganda
@@nekosensei890 idk if it's propaganda per se, but it is ironically tragic that their so called paradise might actually be just as dangerous, if not more, and they don't even know. That is if my theory is right, but it would fit the tragic tone of the studio's previous work.
@@잘못된번호 Oh I'm not saying it is! But there are areas that are on the North's side for sure. Tho from my understanding, North Korea has a ban on pet dogs for being "a decadent pastime of the bourgeoisie" or something along these lines and the food shortages there makes dog meat one of the few meat options people have. So if my reading of that fence as the DMZ is right, it still makes for a subtly tragic ending. :(
South Korea: *"Want a sad animated movie about animals?"*
Everyone: *"Nah not rea-"*
South Korea: *"TOO BAD PREPARE YOUR TISSUES BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO CRY."*
Why would you cry more than humans being dying? It’s the same sh!t than any other movie but with dogs instead, your favorite animal you put in a st,upid hierarchy.
I think south South Korea are smarter, they don’t seems to me so much unnecessarily sentimental for something absolutely stu,pid
And don’t says “hoMAn bAD anIMa GuD” it’s not an argument it’s typically stu,pid
@@laitdejabot9890
1: This was a joke.
2: I also feel sad when human characters die in movies, games and shows.
@@zvenafnazbalji7539
Very nice have a nice day then.
padak and leafie: 👀
"This is a film about animals..."
Me: "Oh that's ni-"
"... from South Korea."
Me: "Well, they're all dead."
*Leafie and Padak intensifies*
"The Koreans eat Dogs" - Jeremy Clarkson.
Yeah.
I was gonna laugh but it just got quickly dark
I just realized at the ending, the soldiers' uniforms had the South Korean flag on them. And they were guarding a fenced area with two fences... I think the dogs might have gotten into North Korea
that is a nice theory
no way!
Or the D.M.Z. and Noth Koreans shot theme for food.
North Korea 🤨
I just noticed that the deer the dogs hunted is a Tuft deer. You know. The endangered deer's with tusks? Anyone? No?
There's a family of deer called "Musk Deer" that have tusks. I think the dogs were hunting a Water Deer which is related to the Musk Deer.
I didn't until you mentioned it, there was also one at the campfire song part.
@@melissalawson7803 Yes even says in the subtitles they are after Water Deer.
No that was a water deer, which is also endangered, but is overpopulated in Korea due to the total extermination of all native apex land predators (save bears but they mostly eat plants)
It’s always the best thing when Steve uploads and ruins our childhood
Facts
New chain everyone say (e)
e
@@syrian-countryballs7380 e
Especially when it involves Dogs
Our family adopted a dog that was left in a home for the previous owners to "take care of" when they moved out. They left a bag of food behind but the new owners were not told of the dog being left behind, and took their time to get there as they weren't pressed for time. They showed up to a malnourished dog on the cusp of death. Thank God they were skilled dog handlers and nursed him up. We adopted him and fed him and treated him like royalty
I really didn't want to deal with any emotional trauma today yet here I am.
When I was a kid, the scene of Tod being forcefully abandoned by the old lady broke my heart so bad. I watched it when I was 5 or 6 and then it took me my entire childhood to get over it. I could not accept the fact he never got to be reunited with her in the end and that he was "only a memory" to her from then on. I remember how I wrote in my diary how I was finally only able to get over it when I was 16. My young child heart could not go through the process of grief to acceptance. All for a cartoon character that didn't even exist in real life.
I remember subbing to you when you had less than ten thousand subscriptions, and you've delivered nothing but the most entertaining content since then. I have no doubt you'll reach a million subs Steve.
Who else thinks Tao Tao: Story Of Panda would be perfect for Steve to review?
The uncut version and the ending still haunts me to this day. D:
Yup. That film would be perfect for his channel.
Don't get me wrong, I love your deep dives into unknown and dark films, but I'd love to see you review a film YOU love. Something that fills you with happiness and good times.
This kind of reminds me of a book series I read called Survivors (by Erin Hunter). The basic gist of it is a former per turned stray helps a bunch of pets who were abandoned during an earthquake learn to survive as pack in the wild. They meet an actual wild pack and the story is about them learning to get along and survive in this “new world” they all find themselves in. It’s a good series (not as good as it’s sister series, Warriors, but still). The only real difference is the “fierce dog pups” plot and the canine version of the apocalypse.
I used to love those books as a kid.
Ahhh Saturday afternoon Steve’s Review! Love it! Been a fan for quite a while! Keep it up!
I recommend an anime "Ginga Nagareboshi Gin" from 1986. It's about dogs killing bears and it has some brutal scenes.. oh, and heart-warming friendship between a puppy and a boy. 21 episodes so not very long.
Was about to comment that it's mostly popular and known in Finland until I read your name haha. Also nice to see a fellow Lackadaisy fan.
I'm going to keep recommending this (especially when you do canine based reviews) - it's not a movie, but an anime w/ 1 season : Wolf's Rain. I think it's right up your alley Steve & I hope someday you'll review it. Like GOT, no one is safe in Wolf's Rain.
I also recommend you find a dog anime with the word "weed" in the title.
@@mzcyberbat And Gin
Oh geez I’d almost forgotten about that thing, ending was low key crushing for me as a 12 year old lmao
Ginga Densetsu WEED-OO
Steve: "humans don't deserve dogs."
Me, a rescue enthusiast who has seen what humans have done to all sorts of animals: "Humans don't deserve ANYTHING."
It's not that they don't deserve anything. It's that they need to do better. Because a dog is a living being like the rest of them
It’s true we don’t I’m a dog lover myself and vegetarian and it breaks my soul to see how these animals get abused and tortured for their own pleasure I want people who abuse animals to be abused themselves to see how they like it
Movies like these always makes me cry
Another thing I feel like you forgot to mention is that it kinda goes backwards in it's morals in that, it makes abandoning the dogs come across as bad for about the first half of the movie and then says oh no they wanna be wild which I personally think is teaching the wrong message. some may say I'm being over dramatic when I say what I'm about to but I see it happen time and time again with kids and even adults is that they think they can just abandon an animal and it will magically survive and that there are no repercussions for what they've done. I love your videos keep up the great work💜💙❤
You're right that it gives off mixed messages. Since the first half starts off with the grim reality but then it turns into a happy ending there the dogs find paradise in the wild making it seem like abandoning animals the best thing for them. If the message was supposed to about how this is cruel, they completely undermined it with the second half of the movie.
I think its less about wild being good and more about acceptance and adaption, the wild was cruel to everyone and humans let them down so often but they were determined to make their conditions the best if they were stuck as wild dogs which is why they went to find the paradise, nowhere else was safe and none of them trusted humans enough to be readopted, excluding Alex (the English dub name for the little grump that got shaved)
To be fair, this is a Korean film and they are still learning how to be empathetic to animals.
Same, feral and stray dogs deserve to have a better life, that think they are like wolves or something
Dog's (not proper, what belongs to the dog?) Also video's (not proper either, what belongs to the video?) Please everyone... stop with the damned improper possessives... it should be dogs and videos.
If you want to watch a longer series, I recommend Silver Fang! It's an older anime about dogs going to war against bears who are terrorizing people.
I honestly never seen this movie and didn’t know the people behind Leafy did another movie.
I might give it a shot! 🤔
Holy....what? Saberspark and Steve uploading just within an hour of each other? Christmas is quite early this year. Time for beer and some chips.
To be fair about that fire, those plants look very similar to pampas grass, which is horrifically flammable in dry conditions and will absolutely spread into wildfires
Your critiques of the animation makes me think of Beastars. Studio Orange did a fantastic job blending 2d and 3d, human and animal musculature, the 3d models are just as expressive as 2d, etc.
Maybe you can do a review for it? The final season should be coming out in a year or two.
The first death scene made me cry😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
The scenes where the main character is fighting genuinely feel like references to Ginga Densetsu Weed to me…
As a dog person myself, I really like Steve's dog related content.
Please review an anime movie titled Enchanted Journey. It's like Watership Down, but with chipmunks.
Oh my gosh!!! I remember that one! Would love to watch it again.
as a dog owner , god darn it - i cant cry because of a movie review
Here's some information regarding the 2D / 3D mix for you!
I was very excited about this movie when it was announced, so I was checking for updates daily, which led me to a lot of news on it at the time!
Originally Underdog was supposed to be entirely 2D with only minor 3D shots (Like Leafie had in crowded scenes, scenes from a distance, etc) It was also originally a collaboration between China and Korea. China had agreed to fund another movie from this studio due to the success of Leafie there. Both movies were made with the same process - 3D models with 2D art rotoscoped over it. In late 2017 however, China pulled their funding after seeing the movie's progress (Stated on a Korean news report). So at this point, the studio was not quite sure what to do with Underdog.
A successful cr*wd fund was implemented in Korea so that the movie could at least be finished to a presentable state - Refining the 3D reference models into a finished looking movie rather than let it go to waste. This is why you see some random 2D shots here and there - The easiest shots to complete were done before the funding drop. Shots of humans, the puppy scene, things animators are used to drawing without the reference of 3D models. The "Easy bits"...
It's a huge shame. I do think that this movie would have been so much more gorgeous with completely finalized 2D. The funding being pulled was another likely factor of why the ending may have felt rushed. If you glance at my page you can see the state of the movie in 2017 - At that point it was very uncertain if the movie would be released at all. I'm grateful we have this movie in the world, but it was such a missed opportunity to be something amazing. They were really aiming for Pixar standards with this one before the production difficulties. :(
If Chinese were financing this movie I am actually not surprised at all seeing such a strong DMZ reference at the end of the film.
One thing that marked me about this movie is how it was heavily sold to kpop fans, as the voice of Moongchi is Do Kyungsoo, a kpop singer form the group EXO (and to kdrama fans too, as Bami voice actress is Park Sodam, btw she is in parasite, she is kijung/jessica!), I remember that as soon the movie came out a lot of Kyungsoo and EXO fans watched the movie, many of them watched more than 2 times too! They would share about how DO work in the movie was amazing and other fans would be interested on the movie too, so for this really short time Underdog was quite popular between kpop fans
for some reason when I heard dogs searching for paradise my brain just went "lmao they doing a wolf's rain?" but yeah this movie is fun and different from what I expected in many ways but it was enjoyable if a little confusing by the sudden end of they made it hurray.
Now I recommend watching ginga nagareboshi gin aka silver fang the shooting star gin. It starts off as though it will be a dog and his boy series but flips the switch to focusing on just the dogs partway through as they attempt to kill a bear the size of a mountain. The series still has an active fanbase despite how old it is and the manga is crazy with how it just keeps going highly recommend if you don't mind crying streams of tears over dogs being brutally killed.
The backgrounds of this movie are so beautiful! And they know that too, they show off their backgrounds every second they get.
3:10 favorite movie of all time...
would ask my Nana to put it on EVERY time we went over to her house...
I'd like to imagine that the stray dog who got caught was just adopted/purchased instead of being used for breeding because he was neutered and a pretty popular breed.
Watching this made me instantly remember an old manga about a puppy I read called Deep Love Pao. I was crying before the second chapter
I read that a while back, that story was pretty fucked, I don't even remember if the dog got a happy ending. I don't think he did though
"don't demotize me" shows an actual svastika
but depressing as the beggining is, it is the every day reality for many abandoned dogs, at least the ending is happy, even though many dogs don't get that
I thought it was going to be something as heartbreaking as Plague Dogs. I don't know if I'm glad or disappointed...
0:48 Lol. My headcanon is her ghost now randomly plays fetch with other dogs.
Dogs looking for paradise? Reminds me of Wolf's Rain
Been waiting for someone to make a review from this movie. And you did it justice and I can 100% agree with your criticisms! Great video once again Steve! 👍🏻
does anyone around here think steve should cover over the garden wall? :o
Yesss
OH HECK YEAH!!!!!!!
Oh boy, another animated film from Korea with an innocent looking cover! And it's about dogs too. Maybe this will be a family friendly and wholesome film. (Padak)
Awesome review as always Steve! This seems like a more light version of Plague Dogs, since most of the cast actually survived here.
oh, just from the thumbnail i know this will DESTROY me emotionally
thank you for putting yourself through these for us, steve. you cover a lot of heavy content but a lot of it definitely has artistic merit too-- i'm still in awe over padak tbh
I recommend checking out Once Upon a Forest, it gets pretty dark at times
I googled that, and omg, it's the film i watched as a kid, and i couldn't find it anywhere, because only thing i remembered was a name "michelle". What a luck :D
I agree I love that movie
My favourite part about the film are the songs
I used to watch that movie all the time when I was little! Such an emotional film.
That movie lives rent free in my head. Genuinely upsetting
i haven't watched the movie yet, (but i have a feeling i will very soon), but my personal take on the goofy ending is that THAT is what it would take for dogs in their situation to find happiness in today's age. The scenes are very real for sure, dogs get dumped, overbred, kept in horrible, disgusting places and often may never see a good life. Those things happen daily, in all parts of the world. For dogs in those situations to survive on their own... miracles would have to happen.
I don't know if that was the intention with the ending, but that's just how i see it
nice review Steve! Will definitely give it a watch sometime
10:02 That's actually very realistic, bushfires can spread very quickly if left unattended.
I mistakenly left this on for my dog to watch while I was gone and I’m traumatized. I could never leave my buddy. I wanted to cry for Jacob
Steve: *confused how Moong-chi used a grenade to propel himself*
TF2 players: "he knows the sacred technique!"
I really want a plush of the two adorable chihuahuas. I can't get over how cute they are.
I am definitely conflicted as well, while it is very nice to have the happy ending the means of getting there turned very cartoonist and goofy really taking away from their previous struggles.
I honestly thought it was going to end badly for everyone involved, another ending I thought up while typing this was after the gate shut the stray dogs would stay inside the fence but moongchi would be forced to retreat and take up the role of a guide of sorts, finding other strays and bringing them through the dangers he had survived to this paradise making the English title even more fitting, but that's just me :p
We need a sequel called Updog for yesterday
"Is that a JOJO reference?" - I sleep
"Is that a LEAFY reference?" - REAL SHIT
The directors must've been real proud of Leafie to reference it multiple times into this film.
I believe the final act should've been a fight with the dog catcher had the main character didn't Mary Sue the first time around. I think the character should've lost and barely escape with his life and realizing the dog catcher isn't going to be easy to take down. Only when he defeats him would the ending feel warranted.
The movie is good, but it held back its potential. It had all the right materials to be an amazing movie just like Leafie, but didn't follow through and the result is above average decent film. It seems really disappointing that it's not Leafie levels of quality since they reference it a few times in this one.
This is one of my most favorite movies! I’m so glad you covered it!
I thought the clapping bear was a cut away from some other movie until I saw him still clapping 😂
Ive watched this movie before, literally just a week ago at a small Korean film festival in my city, and when i saw that notification that he uploaded this i knew he and everyone else watching was in for a super emotional trip.... Ngl this is one of the few animated movies that have legit made me cry.... I AM MAN ENOUGH TO ADMIT THAT!.... shut up...
Having the goofy ending was probably because the director got in trouble for his sad ending in Leafie.
For me it was sad because I noticed they went into the D.M.Z. they are in a cold war zone.
@@gasmaskman1354 The DMZ is basically a wildlife preserve as no humans are allowed inside so it's actually good
4:07
Absolutely loved your delivery, almost sounded like you weren't talking about the movie for a sec there 🤣
Know what? I don't care about the bullshit ways they managed it. The fact that it's a happy ending is very much worth it!
No it's not there in the D.M.Z. and the Noth Koreans got to theme so no.
I had recommended this DVD to our job as a person who does collection development for our art college. I had no ideal that this feature was connected to 'Daisy' aka 'Leafy', which was a DVD we got in as a request or it was a donation. I never knew they were done by the same director.
"The dogs find a home and everything is good and happy." Only half way through the video
My brothers and I watched this for the first time a week ago, and as I noticed Leafie the hen the first thought aside from "Will my bros finally like animation?" "Is this appropriate?" and if it it'll be good or not, was "HAS STEVEN REVIEWED THIS??!"
I do think this is a good film though the conclusion did fizzle out a little and story structure could've been a bit better, indeed.. Overall was impressed with the hard work put in, and it deserves any good recognitions or awards it may receive!
Very nice review Steven. Thank you
Perfect timing, I've been reading a book series about dogs trying to survive out in the wild. The Survivors series, pretty entertaining so far. I'm on the 3rd book now!
Yes! The book series by Erin Hunter. The plot of this movie and the first books are somewhat similar.
Hope by now you've finished the books and liked them
@@RedMoon814 I've read up to book 4 but haven't been able to find the time to go to a library and read for fun for quite a bit now. I do absolutely love the series though
You know it’s a good day when Steve uploads!
I feel bad for the schnauzer dog, he died in a brutal way. The dog catcher is literally committing murder on that dog 😭😣🥺
The schnauzer that helped Jake, or moonchi I guess, was just chased and caught in the English version, my dvd didn't include the beating part, and also, the "shelter" you see later is definitely not actually a shelter, that's a puppy mill, which is why the schnauzer stays missing
At first I thought the dog eating deer poop scene was poisoned dog food where I was kind of expecting another death.
That quake rocket jump cracked me up.
And the dogs lived happily ever after in North Korea, until a starving peasant catches them.
Lol
@Mullerornis As long as they don't touch mines, don't get near norcorean patrols and don't find a wild cat
It’s the DMZ, not North Korea proper.
@@TryinaD Yeah, you are right. But any other animal besides humans see the world with anyting but borders, even if they just chill out, eventually they will find humans
@@TryinaD but still it is a cold war zone with both sides being super super suspicious of the other one soo just saying snipers
Fox and the Hound. 😭 You reopened wounds that are over 25 years old. That opening scene! Right in the feels. 😭😭🥺
The piano piece in the beginning is “Pavane for a dead princess” bit of an odd musical choice because of the pieces meaning but I recommend you listen to SPQ’s performance of it on the Rousseau UA-cam channel
10:13 the counting for their deaths was the best 👌
hey have you ever seen the movie once upon a forest? it’s a movie i think you’d enjoy doing a video on as it has to do with man construction with forest animals, where they gas them, they have to cross roads, all sorts of scary danger. and yes there is death in it… i watched it as a kid and specifically remember how they would call the equipment “yellow dragons”
having watched this now i can tell you one thing... the German Shepard isn't wearing glasses... he's just got fabulous eyebrows
So, I got a *LONG* list of movies you should definitely review (and most of them are *DARK AND WEIRD!:*
* Cat Soup
* James and the Giant Peach
* Peter and the Wolf (2006 version)
* Once Upon a Forest
* Alice (Jan Svankmajer)
* Pingu's Dream (Banned Pingu Episode)
* Wolfwalkers
* The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic (From the creators of Ringing Bell)
* Nausicca Valley of the Wind
* Fire and Ice (Directed by Ralph Bakshi)
* Fantastic Planet
* Samson and Sally
Whenever "Paradise" is mentioned in a movie involving dogs/wolves, my mind goes back to Wolf's Rain (which I highly recommend, btw).
This feels like the Asian version of Plague dogs (dogs out in the wilderness trying to get a better life)
I remember staying up late, being in my grandmas house in Oregon and watching the movie. It's honestly a pretty nice memory
The actual ending: that was the border of North Korea. The dogs were eventually caught and eaten by a rowing band of starving North Korean children.
I start tearing up a lot when ever the parents death scene and there kid crying pops up. Like I go from 0 to 70 in 3 seconds. It takes a lot to make me cry that much that quickly.😂😢