The Plague Dogs (1982)

After Watership Down, Plague Dogs is my all-time second-favorite Richard Adams book. Watership Down is also one of my most favorite movies so I was pleased to finally catch Plague Dogs via streaming. While I wasn't expecting anything as elegantly animated as Watership Down, I found Plague Dogs to be not only faithful to the book but pleasingly animated and voiced. Top names were not necessary for Rowf the labrador and Todd the fox but it greatly helped the story to have John Hurt as the voice of Snitter (so named because snit is etymologically linked to snow, which the dog sees during hallucinations brought on by the exposed brain sutures he acquired in the secret animal laboratory from which the dogs escaped). Snitter is a "holy fool" character who, like Fiver in Watership Down, has visions and intuitions that help guide Rowlf and Todd, who are much more pragmatic, what-meets-the-nose characters. The Scottish brogue that Todd utters is a "feen" part of the book although the film rightly keeps it to a minimum for flavor (since providing subtitles or a glossary did not seem practical). The "plague dogs," as they become known during their treks across the craggy Lake District bordering Scotland, gradually feel the tightening noose of their notoriety until they approach an indeterminate ending that leaves room for the imagination of the reader and viewer. Rowf is stout and will resist to the end; Todd is shifty but will help if he can; Snitter is the psychologically complex character who longs to be reunited with a caring master and worries about the implications of his actions. Small children can watch Plague Dogs so long as they are prepared to handle off-camera scenes of a sheep falling to its death and a dog's foot accidentally firing a gun pointed at a man; simply put, our beloved dogs do not die (on camera or during the movie). Plague Dogs is good fare for adults who love animation, for family movie night, and for children (preferably with parents if under age 8-10). 4.5 stars. (5-11-11)