Isle of Dogs (film)

Isle of Dogs (Japanese: 犬ヶ島 Hepburn: Inugashima) is a 2018 stop-motion animated film written, produced and directed by Wes Anderson. Set in a dystopian near-future Japan, the story follows a young boy searching for his dog after the species is banished to an island following the outbreak of a canine flu. The film's ensemble voice cast includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Courtney B. Vance, Fisher Stevens, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Frank Wood, Kunichi Nomura and Yoko Ono.
A US–German co-production, Isle of Dogs was produced by Indian Paintbrush and Anderson's own production company, American Empirical Pictures, in association with Studio Babelsberg. The film opened the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, where Anderson was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director. It was given a limited release in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and went on wide release on April 13. It has grossed $63 million worldwide, and received praise for its animation, story, and deadpan humor. A manga adaptation of the film by Minetarō Mochizuki was published in 2018, beginning with the May 24 issue of Weekly Morning.

## Plot

In a dystopian near-future Japan, an influenza virus spreads throughout the canine population, with a risk of crossing to humans. The new, authoritarian mayor of Megasaki City, Kobayashi, signs a decree banishing all dogs to Trash Island, despite a scientist named Professor Watanabe insisting he is close to finding a cure for the dog flu. The first to be exiled is Spots, who belonged to Atari Kobayashi, the orphaned nephew and ward of the mayor.
Six months later, Atari steals a plane and flies to Trash Island to search for Spots. After crash-landing, Atari is rescued by a pack of dogs led by a black dog named Chief. The pack decides to help Atari locate Spots, although Chief, a former stray, is reluctant to fraternize with humans. Together, they fend off a rescue team Kobayashi sends to retrieve Atari. At the insistence of a female purebreed named Nutmeg, Chief reluctantly decides to accompany the group on their search. They seek advice from two sage dogs, Jupiter and Oracle, who warn them of the existence of an isolated tribe of cannibal dogs. Professor Watanabe finds a cure and shows the results to Kobayashi, who still refuses to lift the dog ban. The professor is put on house arrest for criticizing Kobayashi and is then killed by poisoned wasabi in sushi. An American exchange student, Tracy Walker, suspects a conspiracy and begins to investigate. Kobayashi claims Atari was kidnapped by the dogs and vows to kill the dogs as punishment.
During the journey, Atari and Chief are separated from the others. Atari gives Chief a bath, which reveals that his coat is actually white. Noticing the similarity between Chief and Spots, Atari realizes they must be of the same extremely rare breed. Chief remembers being part of a litter of which all but one died. He bonds with Atari as they continue their journey. They rejoin the group and locate the cannibal tribe, but are ambushed by Kobayashi's men. Spots arrives with an army of dogs, and they fend off the assailants together. He reveals that he was rescued by the tribe, which is revealed to not be cannibals, became their leader, and mated with a female dog, Peppermint. Spots confirms that Chief is his brother, and asks to transfer his protection duties for Atari to Chief, which is granted. Meanwhile the people of Megasaki believe that Atari has perished.
An owl brings word that Kobayashi plans to order the extermination of all dogs on Trash Island. Atari and the dogs prepare their journey to the mainland. Tracy confronts Watanabe's former colleague Yoko Ono, who confirms Tracy's suspicions and gives her the last remaining vial of the cure. At his re-election ceremony, Kobayashi prepares to give the order, but Tracy presents her evidence of his corruption. However, Kobayashi dismisses Tracy's evidence and orders her expulsion from Japan and deportation back to the United States. Atari and the dogs soon arrive, and confirm the cure works. Atari then presents a haiku, dedicated to Kobayashi. Kobayashi has a change of heart and revokes the decree, but his right-hand man, Major Domo, insists on triggering the extermination. A fight ensues with Kobayashi and Domo in which the "execute" button is pressed, but the poison backfires on the captors thanks to help from a hacker friend of Tracy's.
During the fight, Atari and Spots are gravely injured by the metal dogs. Atari's remaining kidney fails, but Kobayashi, admitting his mistakes, donates one of his own to save him. By law, mayorship of the city falls to Atari, and he decrees that dogs are allowed to reintegrate into society. Kobayashi along with Major Domo and their political allies are jailed for their corruption. Tracy and Atari become a couple, and Chief reunites with Nutmeg and takes up the role of bodyguard for Atari. Spots, who had been presumed dead, recovers and secretly raises his litter with Peppermint under the Kobayashi manor.