The beauty of love...expressed through a dog...

Once the Literary Editor of BBC magazine, The Listener, J.R. Ackerley went on to publish My Dog Tulip in 1956. His charming memoirs reflect upon his relationship with his dog, Tulip, from start to finish and make for both thoughtful and entertaining viewing. Husband and wife team, Paul and Sandra Fierlinger bring Tulip to life in the first ever animated feature to be entirely hand-drawn and directly painted onto computer technology.

Beginning with confirmed bachelor Ackerley's accidental acquisition of Alsatian bitch, Tulip, and running through her early history, first home and unsociable conduct, the film covers key points in Tulip's life, including her first trip to the vet, repeated failed attempts at mating and her final pregnancy. Ackerley's desperate attempts to mate Tulip are key to the film's humour - there's talk of "arranged marriage", "genealogy", finding a dog of a similar "class" and even a romantic scene as Ackerley watches the two dogs making out in the moonlight. While his comments on Tulip's quest are undoubtedly amusing, they also reflect the British stiff-upper-lip prevalent in post-war England, and poignantly mirror Ackerley's own life as a homosexual, unsuccessfully searching for his ideal mate: "unable to love each other, the English turn naturally to dogs".

Aside from Ackerley and Tulip, other memorable characters pop up, such as  Captain Pugh and Nancy. Pugh is a larger-than-life character with sofas in every room and the unusual habit of barking military orders at his cows. Nancy is Ackerley’s rather prim and proper sister, played by the late Lyn Redgrave.

Both comical in their eccentricities, Pugh and Nancy are by no means Tulip's only form of humour. The "you smell my arse, I'll smell yours" choir song is particularly inspired and there are plenty of outlined comical interludes and imaginings, besides interesting quirky doggy-related facts like the two functions of canine urine (social and necessity) and perceptive personal observations: "dogs read the world through their noses and write their history in urine".

Paul Fierlinger brings Ackerley's lively narrative to life, honestly and endearingly describing both the funny and frustrating side of these "stupidly loved, stupidly hated" animals. Voicing Ackerley, a perfectly cast Christopher Plummer tells us in a deadpan voice that "people seem to take exception to being insulted every time they cross their legs" and later describes Tulip's first successful sexual encounter with fascination: "[it was] as though she'd been freed from a dire situation of peril rather than the embraces of a lover".

Structured as a story in a story, depicting Ackerley typing the beginnings of Tulip at the start and reading from the completed recently republished book at the end, My Dog Tulip is a bittersweet animation, grounded in reality by the black and white photos of Tulip and Ackerley that punctuate the end credits. Lacking any sentiment, My Dog Tulip is realistic rather than cutesy and less family friendly than your average dog flick. As an unusual love story and indirect meditation on life, Tulip manages to widen its appeal beyond the dog-mad.

Special Features:

•    The Making of My Dog Tulip Documentary
•    Exclusive Collector's Booklet Featuring an Essay by Ackerely Biographer Peter Parker
•    Stills Gallery
•    Theatrical Trailer

The “Making of My Dog Tulip” documentary packs everything you need to know about the film in a manageable 30 minutes, introducing us to the independent husband and wife illustrator team who split outlining and inking roles to bring this post WW2 book to life. Paul Fierlinger gives some interesting insight into his background and what attracted him to the book, drawing attention to its commentary on the English class system and Ackerely’s amusing ability to describe dog shit without ever actually using the word. Although collected stills highlight team Fierlinger’s extraordinary illustrations, the “Making of” is by far the most interesting extra, showing how music was put together, computer animation technology was used and initial  test audience responses to the film.

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