Claim: Lisa Kudrow starred in something.

Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American family comedy film based on Lois Duncan 's 1971 novel of the same name . The movie , directed by Thor Freudenthal , was adapted by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle -LRB- both of Kim Possible fame -RRB- along with Jeff Lowell . The picture stars Jake T. Austin , Emma Roberts , Troy Gentile , Kyla Pratt , Johnny Simmons , Lisa Kudrow , Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle . It tells the story of two orphans , Andi and Bruce -LRB- played by Roberts and Austin -RRB- , who attempt to hide their dog at an abandoned hotel after their strict new guardians tell them that pets are forbidden at their home . They also take in other dogs to avoid the dogs being taken away by two cold hearted animal pound workers and police officers .   The film is Nickelodeon 's second film to be produced by DreamWorks Pictures after Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events and the first Nickelodeon film ever to be produced outside of Paramount Pictures , which still distributed the film for DreamWorks . Shooting began in November 2007 and filming took place entirely in the cities of Los Angeles and Universal City , California . The dogs in the film were trained for several months before shooting . Nearly 80 boys auditioned for the role of Bruce before Austin was ultimately selected . The film was released in the United States on January 16 , 2009 , and grossed approximately $ 17 million in its opening weekend in 3,271 theaters .