The Plague Dogs (film)
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- This article is about the 1982 animated film. For the novel, see The Plague Dogs.
| The Plague Dogs | |
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| Directed by | Martin Rosen |
| Produced by | Martin Rosen |
| Written by | Martin Rosen (screenplay) Richard Adams (novel) |
| Starring | John Hurt Christopher Benjamin James Bolam Nigel Hawthorne Warren Mitchell Bernard Hepton Brian Sterner Penelope Lee Geoffrey Mathews Barbera Leigh-Hunt John Bennett John Franklyn-Robbins Bill Maynard Malcolm Terris Judy Geeson |
| Music by | Patrick Gleeson |
| Distributed by | Nepenthe Productions |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 1982 (West Germany) December 17, 1983 (USA) |
| Running time | 99 min (82 for cut version) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Plague Dogs is a 1982 animated film based on the 1977 novel by Richard Adams. The film was written for screen, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who also directed Watership Down, the film version of another novel by Adams.
The film's story is centered on two dogs named Rowf and Snitter, who escape from a research laboratory in Great Britain. In the process of telling the story, the film highlights the cruelty of performing vivisection and animal research for its own sake (though Martin Rosen said that this was not an anti-vivisection film, but an adventure), an idea that was only recently coming to public attention during the 1960s and 1970s.
The gospel-esque theme song, Time and Tide, was composed and sung by Alan Price.
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[edit] Plot
Based on a true story, Rowf (a labrador-mix) and Snitter (a smooth fox terrier) are two of many dogs used for experimental purposes at an animal research facility in the Lake District of north-western England. Eager to escape the tortures of life inside the facility, an escape is managed. Initially relieved and eager to experience their new freedom the dogs are soon faced, not only with the realities of life in the wild, but with another more terrifying realization — they are being hunted by their former captors. Although using hand-drawn animation, the story is unfurled with an atypically unapologetic eye on the violence and cruelty which the dogs find both within and without the labs.
[edit] Edited versions
There are two versions of the film, an 82 minute version and a 103 minute version. The only country currently offering the full length film on DVD is Australia.[1]
Many missing scenes are completely harmless and were only removed to reduce running time, however, one scene from the full length film was removed because of its shocking content. After a scene of a man falling from a crag whilst trying to shoot the dogs we see that he is clearly killed by the fall. We then see one dog move towards the body. In the full length film this scene is followed by a shot in which a helicopter flies over the snow-covered crags and valleys, cutting to a disturbing close-up shot of the man's body, ripped to shreds. It is clear that the dogs have eaten the corpse.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- The song "Testure" by Industrial music band Skinny Puppy uses multiple samples from the film and the lyrics are also inspired by it.
[edit] References
- ^ 07/06/2005 Archives: "Martin Rosen's Plague Dogs comes to DVD - UNCUT!". 07/06/2005 Archives: "Martin Rosen's Plague Dogs comes to DVD - UNCUT!". Retrieved on 9 November 2006.
- ^ The Plague Dogs - The Deleted Material. The Plague Dogs - The Deleted Material. Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
[edit] External links
