‘AJ Goes to the Dog Park’ Review: Straight-up Cartoonish, Gleeful Lunacy
Upon arriving at my first Fantastic Fest and getting acquainted with the lineup, one movie spoke to me: AJ Goes to the Dog Park by Toby Jones. Given the fact that this outlet is an animation stan site first and a film criticism outlet second, I recognized Toby Jones from the credits of OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. I loved that series. It's about to be removed from Hulu as time of this writing, and it won't have any streaming accessibility. God, I hate how this industry treats animation.
I'm pretty sure that animators are the truest comedians out there. AJ Goes to the Dog Park is straight-up cartoonish, gleeful lunacy. I had a blast.
Courtesy of Fantastic Fest
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 19 Minutes
Production Companies: N/A
Distributor: N/A
Director: Toby Jones
Writer: Toby Jones
Cast: AJ Thompson, Crystal Cossette Knight, Morgan Davy, Danny Davy, Jason Ehlert, Jacob Hartje, Zachary Lutz, Whitney McClain, Greg Carlson, Ethan Saari
In Fargo, North Dakota, happy-go-lucky AJ (AJ Thompson) leads an ideal routine. His rhythm is completely thrown off when the dog park he takes his dogs to is replaced by a blog park. Yes, a park for bloggers to be on their computers. AJ goes to the mayor (Crystal Cossette Knight) of the town to file a complaint, but she doesn't budge. The only way for him to get his beloved dog park back is for him to challenge her mayoral position. To do so, he must learn to box, fish, scrap, scrape, and sap.
AJ Goes to the Dog Park is sheer absurdism at its finest and with the lowest of budgets. Seriously, AJ has the value of a RocketJump or Rooster Teeth (RIP) production. And, like those channels, Toby Jones uses the budget to go ham on silliness. AJ operates on a buffet of irreverence, with gags thrown at every scene. You can tell Jones came from the animation realm with how goofy and cartoonish the film's spirit is. Jones does an excellent job of balancing the variety of visual gags and quirky dialogue, while making every aspect of AJ's quest feel grand (as grand as something can be in Fargo).
Since Jones was associated with OK K.O., I pictured AJ Goes to the Dog Park as an extended episode of it, particularly regarding AJ Thompson himself. K.O. was a plucky, optimistic kid, and AJ's character is fairly similar but in an older package. His man-child demeanor is delivered with such earnestness, you can't help but be wrapped up in its childlike nature. The same also goes for the overall tone of this Fargo backdrop, as every side character that assists AJ on his quest bears a signature, hilarious quirk. Sometimes they come equipped with an artistically-crafted 2D-animated backstory. The film also includes an epic anime-style original song from Rebecca Sugar during the end credits.
As the narrative nears its conclusion, AJ takes a late and ambitious existential turn regarding his daily routine and the ability to accept a change in life that, despite being unevenly executed, I cannot help but admire for its boldness.
Not every joke is a winner. There’s a good dose of duds, but never one that made me wince. However, the movie lost me halfway through, and I can pinpoint where it began. After the introduction of the mayor's two charming and romantic Suit Aide accomplices (Zachary Lutz and Whitney McClain), the film embarks on a lengthy excursion into their background. By that point, when we're two supporting character backstories deep, the repetitiveness starts to rear its head. Even though AJ has an incredibly short runtime, one can feel the length.
AJ has three separate endings and man, I don't know how I feel about it. Not to give anything away, but Demon Lord and stop-motion skeletons enter the fray at the weirdest moment. On one hand, it's impressive from a stylistic standpoint. Also, Owen Dennis of Infinity Train fame animated the sequence, and no negative words shall be ever used against him. Yet, it makes so little sense. Nonsense, even. This is such a silly movie for me to parse between admiring the illogical and being directly critical. I think I might [Far]go to bed and think it through.
AJ Goes to the Dog Park is cinematic proof that Cartoon Network animators are some of the funniest, silliest people – more so than actual comedians. Give Toby Jones and Co. all the money in the world to make more stuff.
