Underdog

Underdog

Made by the creators of the massive animated hit Leafie, a Hen into the Wild (2011), this sumptuous cartoon feature is about Moong-chi, a Border Collie dog abandoned in the country by his owners. As he encounters groups of wild dogs and the many perils they face, Moong-chi realises he has no master now but himself.

It’s an upbeat adventure, full of terrific action scenes and cute canine humour. The animation mixes 3D characters and 2D backgrounds, evoking the hand-drawn cartoons of the last century. However, parents of small children should know Underdog also involves tragedy and bereavement, much more than most American animated films.

The dogs’ final destination is a massive and bold surprise, while the film has interesting parallels with the 1978 British cartoon Watership Down, an epic about rabbits. The heroic Moong-chi is voiced by Doh Kyung-soo, who K-Pop aficionados may also know as the singer D.O. from Exo.

Cast: Doh Kyung-soo, Park So-dam, Park Chul-min

Director: Oh Sung-yoon, Lee Choon-baek

Writer: Oh Sung-yoon

Producer: Choi Youn-kyoung