Teacher's Pet

In early 2004, Disney’s original series Teacher’s Pet was given a full length film to close off the series. Released on January 16, the film of the same name starred Nathan Lane, Shaun Fleming, Debra Jo Rupp, Kelsey Grammer, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Stiller. It was a box office bomb, losing about $3.6 million.

Spot (Lane) finds out that a mad scientist (Grammer) can turn animals into humans. He sees this as a chance to become a real boy and joins Leonard (Fleming) and his mother (Rupp) on their way to Florida. However, when the transition doesn’t go as expected and Spot learns that what he wanted wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

I don’t think this series really needed a movie to end its main storyline, especially not a theatrical release, considering the series was only 39 episodes. But for what it’s worth, the film isn’t all that terrible.

Considering Spot’s always wanted to become a human being, him not only getting a chance to, but actually doing it makes for a good plot, especially since he learns that humanity isn’t as great as he thought it was. It also provide a humorous twist, when he finds out that even though he’s not that old in human years, as a dog, he’s practically middle aged. So he turns into a middle aged man. His flirting with Leonard’s mother makes for some funny moments.  

On the other hand, there’s some really weird moments in the film. For instance, after one of the songs, the entire chorus rips away, but they also rip away Leonard and his mothers’ clothes. It’s not for very long, but seeing his mother trying to cover herself in her underwear claiming the oddness of the situation is kind of disturbing for the age demographic for this film. It should have just been Leonard, which would have been some good physical humor.

Kelsey Grammer is also really good as a mad scientist.

Teacher’s Pet doesn’t really pass the Edge of Satisfaction, but it’s still pretty good, coming in at #57