Hotel For Dogs parents guide

Hotel For Dogs Parent Guide

"Hotel for Dogs" might be just the kind of puppy love families can enjoy.

Overall B

When Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) aren't allowed to keep a stray dog they've found, the siblings decide to put the pooch in an abandoned hotel. With the help of some of their friends, the kids are soon extending their hospitality to even more homeless canines -- but how can they keep such a big secret from being hounded out?

Release date December 31, 1969

Violence B-
Sexual Content A-
Profanity B
Substance Use A

Why is Hotel For Dogs rated PG? The MPAA rated Hotel For Dogs PG for brief mild thematic elements, language and some crude humor.

Run Time: 100 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Check your sense of reality along with your luggage when you register at the Hotel for Dogs. This is pure popcorn fluff, filled with idealistic intentions and a pack of well-trained canine actors.

After losing their parents, Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) know all about the importance of sticking together. Bernie (Don Cheadle), their social worker, is doing his best to find a good home for his two wards. But when police nab the pair for defrauding a pawnshop, Bernie’s options for keeping the siblings together narrow considerably. Andi, however, is determined to take care of her little brother and their dog Friday, who they keep hidden from their foster parents, Lois and Carl Scudder (Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon).

Still, the job of keeping Friday under wraps is getting harder. Then the two adolescents discover an old, condemned hotel already inhabited by a couple of stray pooches. After deciding it is a perfect place to park Friday, Andi hounds around for supplies for the abandoned animals. Meanwhile Bruce uses his engineering talents to create all kinds of pet-friendly gadgets to entertain the mutts and keep them quiet during the day.

Yet, like so many well-intentioned plans, their desire to watch out for the underdog soon balloons out of control. With the help of three new pals, Dave (Johnny Simmons), Heather (Kyla Pratt) and Mark (Troy Gentile), the two kids are soon rounding up strays from off the streets, springing captives from the dog catcher’s truck and rescuing mutts on death row.

However, when Andi is caught lying to her new friends about her past and Bruce is cornered with items he has stolen from Mr. and Mrs. Scrudder, the whole rescue mission comes crashing down and Andi’s hopes for a new family vanish.

Unfortunately the film won’t do anything to dispel the negative stereotypes of foster parents or dogcatchers. Lois and Carl are depicted as rock star wannabes who lock up the food and serve slop to their charges. Animal Control Officers Jake (Ajay Naidu) and Max (Eric Edelstein) are equally incompetent and nasty. Luckily, Bernie’s efforts as a hardworking child advocate are applauded even as Andi and Bruce cause plenty of headaches for the agency.

In the end, the siblings’ efforts to establish a family where no one is turned away creates the expected feel-happy ending, with only a few concerns for parents. These include infrequent moments of peril, a handful of profanities and brief crude humor.

So if you can suspend the need for sound business strategies, excuse these troublesome teens and buy into this fantasy “tail”, Hotel for Dogs might be just the kind of puppy love families can enjoy.

Directed by Thor Freudenthal. Starring Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin. Running time: 100 minutes. Theatrical release December 31, 1969. Updated

Hotel For Dogs
Rating & Content Info

Why is Hotel For Dogs rated PG? Hotel For Dogs is rated PG by the MPAA for brief mild thematic elements, language and some crude humor.

Two foster children lie, defraud and steal on several occasions. Later they try to avoid the police and other bylaw officers by hiding in a condemned building. Trespassing on the property, they set up a residence for abandoned dogs that they have freed from the dog pound or rescued off the street. Some moments of peril for dogs and children are shown. The script contains brief excrement jokes, a handful of profanities and some scatological slang along with other infrequent crude humor. A man is assaulted by a teen and kicked in a groin.

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Hotel For Dogs Parents' Guide

Why are Andi and Bruce so intent on keeping Friday? How do they define family?

Although some of their actions are illegal or dangerous, what are the intentions behind Andi and Bruce’s activities? Does that excuse their behaviors?

While Lois and Carl are portrayed in a negative light, there are thousands of good foster and adoptive parents who provide homes for children in need. Check with your local agencies for more information on adopting or fostering.

 

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Hotel For Dogs movie is April 28, 2009. Here are some details…

Check into the Hotel for Dogs when it releases to DVD and Blu-ray on April 28, 2009. Both presentations offer the following bonus materials: deleted scenes, featurettes (A Home For Everyone: The Making Of Hotel For Dogs, That’s The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!, K-9 Casting, Bark On Cue! and The Pedigree® Adoption Drive), an audio commentary (by Thor Freudenthal, Ewan "Jack" Leslie, Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin) and Text/Photo Galleries.

Hotel For Dogs on DVD comes in either full frame or wide screen and offers audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Hotel For Dogs on Blu-ray comes in widescreen with audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.0 (English, French and Spanish), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French and Spanish) and Dolby True HD 5.1 (English, French and Spanish). Subtitles are offered in English, French and Portuguese.

Related home video titles:

After losing their parents, another set of equally ingenious siblings are determined to remain together as they are moved from one foster family to another in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Emma Roberts portrays a young super sleuth who uses her talent to solve mysteries in Nancy Drew. Jake Austin lends his voice to an aspiring baseball player in Everyone’s Hero.