Teacher's Pet (2003)

76% of critics liked it
(74 reviews)
40% of users liked it
(1,080 ratings)

Disney's animated feature Teacher's Pet is based on the award-winning ABC cartoon show created by artist Gary Baseman. Spot (voice of Nathan Lane) is a dog who wishes he was a real boy, like his master Leonard Helperman (voice of Shaun Flemming). He gets his wish when Leonard and his mom… More Disney's animated feature Teacher's Pet is based on the award-winning ABC cartoon show created by artist Gary Baseman. Spot (voice of Nathan Lane) is a dog who wishes he was a real boy, like his master Leonard Helperman (voice of Shaun Flemming). He gets his wish when Leonard and his mom (voice of Debra Jo Rupp) decide to move to Florida. Spot seeks the help of Dr. Krank (voice of Kelsey Grammer), an evil scientist who experiments with turning animals into humans. Things inevitably go wrong with the procedure and Spot is turned into an old man. Leonard and his friends try to help Spot, who now goes by the name of Scott Leadready II. Teacher's Pet also features the voices of Jerry Stiller, David Ogden Stiers, and Wallace Shawn. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Directed By: Timothy Björklund, David Ogden Stiers
Written By: Bill Steinkellner, Cherie Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner
Genres: Television, Animation, Kids & Family, Musical & Performing Arts, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 16, 2004 Wide
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Gary Baseman's Emmy-winning cartoon series arrives on the big screen in a delightful blast of bold drawing, brainy humor, and hard-charging songs.
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
As CGI cartooning takes over the world Teacher's Pet finds a fresh and frisky approach to doing things the old, Walt way.
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice
This isn't your father's Disney cartoon.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's part sugar, part spice and all-around brilliant.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Has a non-sentimental appeal for that ... crowd that fancies itself too cool for kiddie stuff.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
Teacher's Pet is no Finding Nemo, nor even Lilo and Stitch, but it is an enjoyable family film.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Fast, fresh, funny and entertaining for all.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
May not be a Disney classic, but it's certainly unique enough to warrant at least a rental, if not a spot in the permanent library.
James Plath, Reel.com
Art director Gary Baseman does some pretty innovative things with multiple screens, visual puns, transitions, and animated Broadway-style production numbers.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
If nothing else inventive, at the very least perverse, and at moments transcendently bizarre.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
You saw Brother Bear and Home on the Range in theaters but skipped the truly subversive Teacher's Pet? Here's your chance to fix that.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Disney's Teacher's Pet is a zippy animated feature with some clever musical numbers about a dog who wants to be a boy.
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Delightful, giggle-inducing movie that will amuse kids with its quirky drawing style and outlandish action, while entertaining their parents with fast-paced, clever dialogue.
Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette
While an absurdity or two can be tolerated and cartoon physics is perfectly okay in this sort of thing, the simple fact is that the illogical plotholes generally hurt the movie.
Susan Granger, www.susangranger.com
It's splashy, bright, colorful fun for the whole family.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
What the film lacks in graphic sophistication it makes up for in visual imagination, especially in several exuberant musical numbers.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
A fine, smart, wickedly funny family film.
Collin Souter, eFilmCritic.com
Occasionally clever, but unworthy of being the swan song of Disney's hand-drawn animation department. Too loud, screeching and annoying.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
The standard I-gotta-be-me theme and Broadway-show packaging of Disney's animated output gets a snarky makeover...
Randy Shulman, Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)
Fast, fresh, frenetic...Teacher's Pet is a great way to spend seventy-odd minutes -- whether or not you've got kids in tow.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Michael E

Now seeing how this was a majorly overlooked animated film only earning 6.3 Million at the box office and seeing how it was based off a majorly overlooked animated show, does that mean that the whole film is worth it? First off the acting. Considering the show had a pretty big cast… More
Now seeing how this was a majorly overlooked animated film only earning 6.3 Million at the box office and seeing how it was based off a majorly overlooked animated show, does that mean that the whole film is worth it? First off the acting. Considering the show had a pretty big cast for a animated Disney show especially for such an obscure show, the film has this same cast plus several new actors playing main characters. All the actors from the show do there hilarious good job. Nathan Lane is great as he usually is in almost anything he is in and makes the character of Scott likable full of energy and charisma and very funny. Jerry Stiller and David Ogden Stiers are just perfect as Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly and the two work off each other and have a lot of the best comedic moments in the whole film. Shaun Flemming is good at making Leonard a well developed kid and Debra Jo Hupp does her usualy great comedic performance as Leonards mother. The new actors are also all fantastic. Kelsey Grammer does a great job at playing off the mad comedic scientist Ivan Krank and has a great voice to go with it. Paul Reubens and Megan Mullally are good as the two mutant creations of Krank and are both great at making them stupid and clueless but also hilarious. Now the music. This is something you're probably questioning right now. Why would an animated film based on a animated comedy series have its film be a musical comedy? To be honest, I don't know why either. But you know what, they did their DAMN best when writing the music in this film and it has a huge broadway style soundtrack to it and it is all fantastic music and they try a few range of styles for the music, they try a tango style, a military style song, a kind of roadtrip style of sing along song. But my absolute favorite songs in the movie is the theme song for the film which happens to be the theme for the show but the make it feel a lot bigger and the song halfway through the film when Scott is kicked out of his own family by his owner and they basically explain to you the whole story without you having to know the show which to me is what a musical should do Next the animation. Now if you guys are familiar with the Cranium board games and card games, you probably know this animation style since the show and movie were done by artist and animator Gary Baseman. The animation is very good for this kind of film and shows in the comedy very well with the film, sometimes the comedy just straight up comes from the visuals which is one of my favorite types of comedy with animation which is in things like Invader Zim and Camp Lazlo. The animation really shows in many of the songs in the film (which is sad because I can't find any footage of the film at all on the film except the trailer,) and the energy that this animation shows is just as good as some of the Nickelodeon and Disney shows that were airing at the time and it all looks just amazing. Overall, Teacher's pet is a criminally underrated film that I think more people should really see. The music is some of the best I've heard in a film ever, the animation is just fantastic from a great artist, the actors are all fantastically funny and all play their characters well, and the comedy is still just as funny as when I first saw the film when I was 7. If you can find this film I say definitely check it out and you may really like it. Lord knows it's one of my favorite animated films
Juan C

a wonderful nonstop hillarious funny comedy for kids and adults alike! clever, brilliant, laugh out loud hillarious comedy, also nathan lane is brilliantly funny. this is something familys will enjoy! A

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Cast

Nathan Lane
as Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II
Kelsey Grammer
as Dr. Krank
Shaun Flemming
as Leonard Helperman
Debra Jo Rupp
as Mrs. Helperman
David Ogden Stiers
as Mr. Jolly
Jerry Stiller
as Pretty Boy
Paul Reubens
as Dennis
Megan Mullally
as Adele
Rob Paulsen
as Ian Wazselewski
Wallace Shawn
as Principal Strickler
Estelle Harris
as Mrs. Boogin
Jay Thomas
as Barry Anger
Shaun Fleming
Genie Francis

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Teacher's Pet (2003)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Michael E

Juan C

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