What Is Dog Man? The Movie, Character & Story Explained
Everything to know about the lore and story behind the second entry in the zany Captain Underpants film franchise.
Who wants to take a big, canine bite out of crime? Off the leash and heading soon to theaters nationwide, DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man is bringing to the big screen an animated escapade that’s inspired by the beloved kids’ graphic novel series from Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey.
As a Captain Underpants spinoff, Dog Man has won his own place in the family-friendly spotlight, sniffing out new law enforcement adventures for its titular half-canine, half-man hero through the pages of 13 Dog Man graphic novels so far. Keep scrolling below as we fetch all the info you need to learn more about Dog Man and its zany, big-hearted animated story-verse... including how he came to be, well, a half-dog/half-man.
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What is Dog Man the book series?
Dav Pilkey created the Dog Man comics as a spinoff from his enormously popular Captain Underpants series. The inside lore gives fictional Captain Underpants pals George Beard and Harold Hutchins — both said to be based on Pilkey himself — all the credit with coming up with the idea for the Dog Man comic strip, launching from within the Captain Underpants universe to the eventual spinoff success that the real-life Dog Man graphic novels have since become.
The first Dog Man graphic novel arrived in 2021, timed just ahead of the final 2022 book installment in Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series. Since then, there’ve been 13 Dog Man graphic novels published to date — with a 14th new one — titled Dog Man: Big Jim Believes — set to be published by Scholastic in the fall of 2025.
What is Dog Man the movie?
Dog Man the movie is a new DreamWorks Animation film written and directed by Peter Hastings, the same creative mind who co-developed and executive produced The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants for television. Framed as a story-within-a-story spinoff set inside the lore of DreamWorks’ Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), it’s a fun (and funny!) animated story of a police officer and his faithful canine companion who end up being fused together (thanks, science!) after they’re injured in the field.
With the body of a human and the head of a dog, Dog Man tries to stand out in his new hybrid police role by sniffing out the no-good deeds of Petey the Cat, who only doubles the trouble by forging an equally-villainous clone of himself named L’il Petey. But after L’il Petey turns up missing, both Dog Man and Petey form an unexpected alliance to get to the bottom of the dastardly cat-napping.
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Who stars in Dog Man the Movie?
Pilkey’s crazy creations make the perfect animated landing spot for Dog Man the movie’s cast of A-list voice actors. Writer-director Hastings stars as Dog Man himself, while Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson brings the villainous laughs as the voice of Petey the Cat.
From there, the cast only gets more eclectic: Lil Rey Howery (Get Out) does the dutiful voice acting honors as Dog Man’s police Chief; newcomer Lucas Hopkins Calderon voices the role of Li'l Petey; Isla Fischer (Wolf Like Me) stars as intrepid reporter Sarah Hatoff; Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) stars as Seamus, Sarah's always-consistent cameraman; and Poppy Liu (Hacks) gives voice to Butler, Petey's assistant. Also starring are Stephen Root (Office Space) as Grampa, Petey's elderly, grumpy cat daddy; Luenell (Block Party) as fellow Dog Man police officer Milly; and comedy icon Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying) as Flippy — “a psychokinetic fish with a villainous past.”
What is Dog Man — is he literally half-dog and half-man?
Though we’re not sure it’s exactly a true half-and-half split, yes — Dog Man is indeed literally part-dog and part-man. “When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born,” explains the helpful official synopsis from DreamWorks and Universal Pictures. “Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve — and fetch, sit and roll over.”
Pilkey first conceived the idea for his Dog Man character way back when he was still a kid — though the character itself has evolved considerably over time. “I made my first Dog Man comic book when I was in the second grade,” he explained in a 2019 Barnes & Noble interview. “Dog Man was a lot different back then. He was a regular dog who got super powers when he was struck by lightning!”
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What is Dog Man rated?
Dog Man is rated PG “for some action and rude humor” according to FilmRatings.com, though the movie’s silly brand of family-friendly animated humor shouldn’t be too intense for all but the most sensitive of younger viewers.
“The movie is incredibly funny, with plenty of silly and wacky moments, but, like all great stories, it has heart,” Hastings teases, adding that Dog Man the movie aims to capture the whimsical spirit of Pilkey’s original graphic novels. “These moments of humor and heartfelt emotion coexist naturally in the story. Dav’s books introduce these emotional layers subtly, and our challenge was to bring them to the forefront while staying true to the characters and their journeys. We’ve explored themes of friendship, redemption, and the idea that everyone has the potential to be a hero. These emotional threads are what elevate the story to something truly special.”
When is Dog Man in Theaters?
Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures as the second entry in the Captain Underpants film franchise, Dog Man the movie is set to arrive exclusively in theaters beginning Friday, January 31. Grab your tickets here!