Isle of Dogs (film)

Isle of Dogs
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wes Anderson
Screenplay by	Wes Anderson
Story by	Wes Anderson Roman Coppola Jason Schwartzman Kunichi Nomura
Produced by	Wes Anderson Scott Rudin Steven Rales Jeremy Dawson
Starring	Bryan Cranston Koyu Rankin Edward Norton Liev Schreiber Bill Murray Bob Balaban Jeff Goldblum Scarlett Johansson Kunichi Nomura Tilda Swinton Ken Watanabe Akira Ito Greta Gerwig Akira Takayama Frances McDormand F. Murray Abraham Yojiro Noda Fisher Stevens Mari Natsuki Nijiro Murakami Yoko Ono Harvey Keitel Frank Wood
Narrated by	Courtney B. Vance
Cinematography	Tristan Oliver
Edited by	Ralph Foster Edward Bursch
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Production companies	Studio Babelsberg Indian Paintbrush American Empirical Pictures
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	February 15, 2018 (2018-02-15) (Berlinale) March 23, 2018 (2018-03-23) (United States) May 10, 2018 (2018-05-10) (Germany)
Running time	101 minutes[1]
Countries	United States Germany[2][3][4][5]
Languages	English[1] Japanese (Only spoken by humans)
Box office	$64 million[6]

Isle of Dogs (犬ヶ島, Inu ga Shima) is a 2018 adult stop-motion animated science fiction comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson, narrated by Courtney B. Vance, and starring an ensemble cast that consists of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Kunichi Nomura, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Akira Ito, Greta Gerwig, Akira Takayama, Frances McDormand, F. Murray Abraham, Yojiro Noda, Fisher Stevens, Mari Natsuki, Nijiro Murakami, Yoko Ono, Harvey Keitel, and Frank Wood. A U.S.–German co-production, Isle of Dogs was produced by Indian Paintbrush and Anderson's own American Empirical Pictures, in association with Studio Babelsberg. The film is set in the fictional Japanese city of Megasaki where Mayor Kenji Kobayashi has banished all dogs to Trash Island due to a canine influenza pandemic. Kobayashi's nephew Atari sets out to find his missing dog Spots with the help of a group of dogs led by stray dog Chief.

Anderson started developing the film in October 2015 using stop-motion animation, with a voice cast of Norton, Cranston, and Balaban. It draws inspiration from films by Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki, as well as the stop-motion animated holiday specials made by Rankin/Bass Productions, the 1982 animated film The Plague Dogs, and Disney's 101 Dalmatians. Production began in October 2016 at the 3 Mills Studios in East London. By December 2016, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film, scheduling it for a 2018 release. It is the second animated film to be released by Fox Searchlight, 17 years after the previous one, Waking Life, was released in 2001.

Isle of Dogs opened the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, where Anderson was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director. It was given a limited release in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Fox Searchlight, and went on wide release on April 13. It grossed over $64 million worldwide, and received acclaim from critics, who praised its animation, story, musical score, and deadpan humor but criticism for its portrayal of Japanese people and culture. The film received two nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature and Best Score.

In the film, none of the Japanese dialogue spoken by human characters is translated except through an interpreter or occasional subtitles.