It’s important for kids to be aware about politics and political systems. It helps them become more aware about the world around them and helps them learn things aren’t black and white and it seems some producer in Belgium was interested in educating kids about the British monarchy, leading to The Queen’s Corgi. Directed by Ben Stassen and animated by nWave Studios, best known for Fly Me to the Moon and A Turtle’s Tale, this animated film is a curious one. Kids do like talking dog movies, but does the inclusion of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip really get kids excited to check it out compared to other talking dog movies? In fact, Her Majesty just lost her last corgi about a year ago, so this whole venture had some of the worst release timing ever.
Regardless, when I first saw the initial teaser trailer, largely consisting of dogs running around and acting cute, I didn’t really think much of it. It looked like something that would appeal exclusively to five-year-olds but was still a harmless enough feature film that would be effective enough background noise. Then, I saw this image.
Right then and there, my curiosity was piqued. The fact that a movie that seemed designed for preschoolers featured U.S. president Donald Trump, and was voiced by Kirk Thornton, best known as the current voice of Shadow the Hedgehog, just meant that I had to see the film for myself and it’s easy to say that The Queen’s Corgi was quite an experience. Even taking Trump out of the equation, the film is one of the strangest kids’ movies to come out in a long time, with a slew of sexual innuendos, implied assault, and even pole dancing thrown in for good measure.
While the initial film starts out pleasant and sweet, Trump’s appearance is where everything starts to fall apart. Fitting, I know. Never mind the fact that he says “cheesesteak” while taking selfies, as if he somehow has the prestige to name such a tasty Philadelphian treat, the only reason he appears is because he wants his pet corgi Mitzi (who is not real by the way. Trump doesn’t even like dogs) to breed with one of Her Majesty’s corgis.
Already things start to get weird. As Mitzi starts to get the hots for Rex, the lead dog of the film, the film goes into a dramatic turn. Beforehand, Trump literally says to his dog “grab some puppy.” Ignoring for a couple seconds the fact that the filmmakers seriously thought that referencing the President’s past assault history in a kids film was a good idea, Mitzi actually ends up following in his owner’s footsteps. The American dog soon finds herself chasing Rex, wanting to hook up without consent while poor Rex is forced to run and hide. As much as I appreciate a film that brings up the serious issue of male harassment and rape victims, this isn’t really the film that needs this kind of messaging. If anything, it just makes the film more uncomfortable to sit through. Especially when you have such conversations in this sequence like this:
“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”
“The ‘N’ and the ‘O’!”
After that bizarre sequence, which ends with Trump getting bitten in the nether regions, the film continues with weird sexual humor. The Queen’s Corgi follows the simple template of “lost dog finds his way home”, but when he finds himself trapped in a dog pound, without his collar and nobody knowing who he is, things start to get very bizarre. Not only does the pound have a literal fight club, referencing the movie of the same name, despite no kid having ever seen it, it is where the audience is introduced to Rex’s love interest, Wanda. Not only does Wanda appear strutting onto the stage with her own musical number, but it literally ends with her dancing on a pole. Not making a word of that up and wouldn’t you know it, Wanda only starts to fall for Rex when she finds out he’s royalty. Great.
Included with those wholesome family jokes are a couple of transphobic jokes, and pop culture references. Not even spoofing or making fun of them, just a dog referencing The Hunger Games or Rocky. It really makes me question the target audience for The Queen’s Corgi. In spite of all the weird adult content thrown in, the story is too predictable and slow to grab the attention of anyone over the age of eight, and the film’s way too inappropriate for young kids. Even for people who like seeing Trump’s balls get busted, you already have cable news and late night TV to get your fix there.
But I guess I wouldn’t be talking about this movie if Trump or pole-dancing wasn’t featured, so I guess if the filmmakers wanted something for people to talk about, then job well done.
