Top 5 Isle of Dogs Facts You Didn't Know

Though you won’t see their faces, you’re bound to hear more than a few familiar voices in this animated feature. The cast features many of Anderson’s regular players, including Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Frances McDormand, and Bill Murray. Speaking of which, this is Murray’s eighth collaboration with the director. The film also stars first time Anderson collaborators Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Greta Gerwig, and several others who’ve never had the privilege of working with Anderson before. Given the movie’s setting of Japan, Anderson additionally enlisted several performers of Asian descent, such as Ken Watanabe, Yoko Ono, and newcomer Koyu Rankin as young Atari Kobayashi.

If you live and breathe movies, chances are you’ve always dreamed of meeting Wes Anderson. The director offered his fans the opportunity of a lifetime through a campaign on Crowdrise, which Edward Norton co-founded. By donating $10 or more to Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, a non-profit group devoted to film preservation, a lucky winner would get to visit the movie’s sets in London and even voice one of the dogs; “Barking, howling & whimpering may be required.” Additional prizes included a Criterion collection DVD signed by Wes, as well as a signed copy of “The Wes Anderson Collection” book. In the end, the campaign reportedly raised over $250,000, helping to keep film history alive.

Wes Anderson possesses one of the most unique visual styles of any director working today. He has incorporated stop-motion animation and miniatures into many of his projects, including “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Anderson went all out in 2009 with the Oscar-nominated “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Based on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel, this was not only Anderson’s first film adaption, but also his first full-length stop-motion animated feature. Anderson returns to the realm of stop-motion in “Isle of Dogs.” While Anderson has acknowledged that CG animated films tend to be more successful at the box office, the handmade charm and texture of stop-motion has always been “magical” to him.

There seems to be a running gag in Anderson’s movies that if you’re an animal, specifically a dog, you won’t live to see the end credits. In “The Royal Tenenbaums,” Buckley gets run over by a car. In “Moonrise Kingdom,” Snoopy meets his end via an arrow to the neck. Even in “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” man’s best friend wasn’t safe. Gee, good thing all dogs go to heaven. “Isle of Dogs,” which is notably the first film Anderson solely directed and wrote, could be seen as his apology to canine lovers everywhere. Perhaps that’s why the film’s title can also be read as, “I Love Dogs.” Now isn’t that clever?

When most people think of films like “Seven Samurai” and “Ran,” stop-motion Christmas specials aren’t the next thing that come to mind. But Wes Anderson isn’t like most people. Anderson’s cited legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa as a key inspiration for “Isle of Dogs.” This is not only evident from the film’s Japanese setting, but also the poster, which simply screams Kurosawa’s signature touch. Anderson additionally acknowledged stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen and especially the works of Rankin/Bass Productions. The titular Isle of Dogs could actually be seen as a modern Island of Misfit Toys. The film’s unusual premise feels like something that could’ve come from the minds behind “Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.”