Commentary by Thor Freudenthal, Ewan "Jack" Leslie, Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin, A Home For Everyone: The Making Of Hotel For Dogs, That's The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen!, K-9 Casting, Bark On Cue!, Deleted Scenes, Photo Galleries, Pedigree Adoption Drive

Hotel For Dogs is directed by Thor Freudenthal, and stars Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon. ***

Hotel For Dogs is the story of two orphans who are placed in a foster home. Their best friend is their dog, but their most recent foster home has a strict “no pets” policy. So they fix up an abandoned building into a dog hotel, where their dog can stay and they can care for other strays that they find. But will they be able to keep the hotel a secret forever? ***

Hotel For Dogs is exactly what it looks like, and it makes no apologies for what it is. It’s a comedy for children. There really isn’t a whole lot to say, one way or the other, except that it’s kids who are going to like it best of all. Adults may find a few intriguing moments, but as a whole the adventure is plodding, predictable, laden with physical/toilet/slapstick humor, and is nothing we haven’t seen before. ***

The young actors who appear in the film are very talented, and I have a feeling at least one or two of them will go on to become big-name stars eventually. Of course, the true stars of the film are the dogs, and the best part about watching this movie is seeing them in20action. I can’t recommend this movie on a large scale, but if you’ve got kids, this will make a great weekend rental. ---

Image and Sound:

This is a very good DVD presentation of the film. There are no major flaws in the picture to speak of, and the level of detail is strong. Audio is exactly what you’d expect for a film such as this – it gets the job done, but it’s not the earth-shaking experience you’d get from an action movie. There’s not much else to say. It’s a good presentation.

A commentary track featuring members of the cast and crew is included. I’m surprised they included one, since the average viewer of this movie is going to be too young to know what a commentary track is anyway. Deleted scenes and photo galleries are included as well. The majority of the special features, though, are comprised of the featurettes. These featurettes cover many aspects of the making of the film, including the canine co-stars, casting, and the experiences the cast and crew had on the film. There’s even a featurette on an adoption drive being held by Pedigree, though this felt more like a commercial than anything else. All in all, this is a good supplement collection. Better than I expected, considering this is a children’s film first.

Final Words: