An adult canine cartoon that barks up the right tree.
“Fixed” may have been the raunchy canine comedy “Strays” wanted to be and wasn’t. Yes, it follows some of the same tropes of that missed opportunity, but through the animation of Gennedy Tartakovsky (the creator of “Dexter’s Laboratory,” “Samurai Jack,” and “Hotel Transylvania”), they’re handled in a bouncier and livelier fashion. The movie is supposed to be crude, but it doesn’t overdose on the F bombs like “Strays” did. It uses the cursing in an honest fashion, something I think is how it usually works in comedies.
Consider how “The Secret Life of Pets” was targeted for kids and was looking to somehow appease adults with comedians like Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart in the mix. Now, consider how “Fixed” is only aimed at adults and animation lovers, and imagine if “Lady and the Tramp” came across “Fritz the Cat,” but transcended in the 2020s and adds a transgender Dobermann in the mix. Who says “Dogs can’t be gay, too?”
We start in an innocent cartoon world with the humans’ faces not being shown like the humans on “Tom & Jerry,” as we’re more interested in the animals (Think about Tom being punished by Mammy Two Shoes). And then, we continue with some vulgarity and gross-out humor. If you grew up on Tartakovsky’s cartoons, then you’d better pay attention to the R-rated box. And if you do have Netflix, you might want to have it on the children’s setting. But if you’re an adult or a teen trying to broaden their horizons with animation, coming on the heels of “The Simpsons” and “South Park,” you might be howling about “Fixed.”
The dog about to be fixed is Bull (voiced by Adam Devine), who loves humping the grandma in the family, if only he can do the same to his next door neighbor and potential girlfriend-the show dog Honey (voiced by Kathryn Hahn). In fact, she’s poised to breed with the other show dog Sterling (voiced by Beck Bennett), but despite her choice of words, she’s actually nicer than judgmental.
So, basically in the tradition of “Superbad” and “Booksmart,” Bull must hit the town and lose his virginity before it’s too late with his friends. They consist of the British boxer Rocco (voiced by Idris Elba), the social media dachshund Fetch (voiced by Fred Armisen), and the gay Lucky (voiced by Bobby Moynihan). The last dog is the one who falls for the transgender dog Frankie (voiced by River Gallo).
The animation for this movie is going for that “Lady and the Tramp,” Chuck Jones, and Tex Avery quality. Grounds aren’t broken and it can be a little low key when it comes the pacing, but even in the adult world, the animation is fun. You have to enjoy the color palette and the characters that are drawn and voiced with exuberance and attitude. I enjoyed it as a nice mixture of delightfulness and vulgarity.
It also cheats a little by having some echos from “Strays” and “The Secret Life of Pets,” but it actually has a better attitude towards its own genre and where it wants to go. It’s actually not self-congratulatory about it, which is relaxing. And it seems that Tartakovsky wants to channel on Seth Rogen’s success on “Sausage Party,” and he does a wiser job than how Brain Henson did on “The Happytime Murders.” I wouldn’t have dreamed that neither he nor co-writer Jon Vitti (“The Simpsons”) would have Rocco saying: “F*** Lassie and F*** Beethoven.” I probably should have.
Forget “Strays.” “Fixed” is the one the Twilight Bark should spread the word about.
Streaming on Netflix This Wednesday
