Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie Review

No bark, no bite, no respect.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 17, 2024

Originally planned as a hard "R" romp similar to the work of Ralph Bakshi, Rover Dangerfield landed in theaters as an awkward G-rated adventure aimed at kids. Remnants of its brazen origins can still be seen in the finished product, but what we've got here is a baffling, muddled bellyflop whose poorly-written story is outpaced by memorable animation. That's not so say that some enjoyment can't be squeezed out of Rover Dangerfield, but most of the jokes fall flat and the closing credits mercifully roll after just 64 minutes. Simply put, you'll need nostalgia goggles for this one.

The story goes like this: our title character (voiced by Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote the film) is a popular song-and-dance pup who lives in Las Vegas with his best friend Max (Bert Kramer) and his owner, a kindly showgirl named Connie (Shawn Southwick). Her boyfriend Rocky (Sal Landi) is a tough customer and, during a nighttime meeting with gangsters, his deal goes south when Rover and Max break it up. Furious at the meddling mutt, Rocky naturally decides to murder Rover by throwing him off the Hoover dam in a sack... but the persistent pooch somehow survives and is rescued by a farmer, who keeps Rover until his owner is found. Mostly fueled by the cliché of "city boy in a small town", Rover becomes something of a leader and even helps defend the other farm animals from a pack of invading wolves. But he's thrown head over heels after meeting Daisy (Susan Boyd), the cute little collie next door.

A few jokes land, of course, many in the form of Dangerfield's famous one-liners, and even some of its sporadic, fully choreographed song-and-dance music numbers pull their weight. But most of Rover Dangerfield's minimal strengths come courtesy of Hyperion Animation, a studio whose other visual work included 1987's standout family film The Brave Little Toaster. Character designs and backgrounds are simple but attractively rendered with a distinct throwback charm, and the bug-eyed facial expressions given to our title character add a gllnt of much-needed charm to the proceedings. Does solid animation make Rover Dangerfield a passable effort overall? Not really. It played in theaters for 2-3 weeks tops and disappeared without a trace, earning so little in ticket sales that an exact number couldn't be found.

Regardless, Rover Dangerfield arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Archive, which physical media enthusiasts know to be a best-case scenario for catalog A/V presentations, animated or otherwise. Unsurprisingly, it's granted a terrific new 1080p transfer and lossless audio, both of which are very good, but the bonus features can't help but come up woefully short. It's typically not in the boutique label's wheelhouse to produce brand-new supplements for older titles, but a frank account of Rover Dangerfield's turbulent early development would've been well worth a watch.

Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The wide, wide majority of Rover Dangerfield looks pretty damn great on this new 1080p transfer from Warner Archive, which is advertised as being sourced from a new master; no resolution or elements are named, which might mean that an interpositive was used rather than the original negative. Regardless, as seen by these screenshots it's a solid effort indeed, one that sports an alternatingly vivid and subdued color palette with crisp detail and almost no artifacts; I was easily able to pick out some rather harsh banding in the opening desert sequence (screenshot #6), but that's over and done with soon enough and doesn't return. Select shots run much softer than others, but this may in fact be baked into the source material -- perhaps optical zooms? Overall, die-hard fans will certainly be pleased with this transfer, which runs circles around previous home video presentations including Warner Archive's own 2011 DVD.

Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio sounds great as well via this DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix, which faithfully represents the film's modest but certainly serviceable two-channel source. Dialogue is given top priority but music doesn't fall far behind, whether it's the lively music that accompanies many scenes in Vegas, the more subdued themes during its darker moments, or of course the song-and-dance numbers mostly performed by Dangerfield himself. It's a suitable mixture of straightforward comedy/drama dynamics dotted with the more wide-open sound stage of a full-blown musical, and this Blu-ray's audio keeps up with it every step of the way. Could a faithful 5.1 remix been created? Probably. But Warner Archive isn't in the habit of heavily polishing or remixing its source material, so consider this a purist's ideal scenario.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover art and no inserts. Bonus features are unfortunately minimal and limited to themed pre-show entertainment of the Looney Tunes variety.

• Dog Daze (7:01) - This 1937 Merrie Melodies short, directed by Friz Freleng, isn't top-tier entertainment; it's pretty much a parade of dad-grade puns about various dog breeds competing in a talent show.

• Dog Collared (6:54) - This much more enjoyable 1950 Merrie Melodies short, directed by Robert McKimson (who co-animated Dog Daze), follows Porky Pig during "Be Kind to Animals" week. He's not so friendly towards an annoying stray dog... that is, until Porky finds out there's a $5,000 reward for his safe return.

  NOTE: Two additional vintage Warner Bros. animated shorts, 1946's "Hollywood Canine Canteen" and 1951's Chuck Jones-directed "Chow Hound", were advertised on the press release but are not included.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:46) - This vintage promotional piece, complete with recognizable temp music from the almighty Pee Wee's Big Adventure, can also be seen here.

• Song Selections - Instant access to the film's main song-and-dance numbers.

Rover Dangerfield Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The fully mismanaged animated flop Rover Dangerfield garnered almost zero audience interest back in 1991 and hasn't exactly aged like fine wine, with only solid animation and a few well-timed gags to its name. Originally planned as an R-rated feature, it was whittled down to almost nothing by studio interference and weighed in at 74 minutes soaking wet. Needless to say, this one might only hold up for those who enjoyed it as kids, and they'll certainly appreciate Warner Archive's new Blu-ray edition, which offers solid A/V merits but no real extras. Everyone else? Probably not.