Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Stories featuring animals with the ability to speak have intrigued people since story telling began. The first account in the Bible that concerned humans included one such loquacious creature although the results were not beneficial for humanity. Just about every mythological system throughout history has contained animals able to speak assuming the most distinctive quality of our so called superior species. From fables intended to educate children to more involved lessons on social responsibilities talking animals have been kept well employed over the change of time. Now, talking animals are largely relegated to entertainment, particularly for children. This aspect of family entertainment has always been dominated by the Walt Disney Studios. As corny and trite this format may seem Disney has all but perfected it over decades of honing the presentation that even silly little flicks done with a cast of chatty critters can be fun for the entire family. One such example is ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2’. Yes, it is not only a talking animal flick it is a sequel of one. This film not only exhibits signs of sequel decline but that is compounded by the inherent nature of the staring dog, the Chihuahua. People tend to either love them as pint size pups that fit in designer handbags or yappy pesky things that get underfoot. How you perceive Chihuahuas in general will exert a large effect on how you feel about this movie. From a personal standpoint I prefer bigger dogs like Airedales and would rather have a cat than a Chihuahua but within the context of the flick I found them sufficiently amusing. The kids will love this but adults might want to zone out a bit to avoid any long term deleterious cerebral effects. Jesting aside the grown-up may appreciate the plot lines involving the difficulties inherent in parenting as applied to humans from the vantage point of a familiar pack of canines.

Dannah Feinglass and Danielle Schneider provided the screenplay. Feinglass has some experience in family oriented television series while Schneider moved from comic acting behind the scenes to write ‘The Very Funny Show’. Having never encountered any episodes I cannot personally attest to the veracity of the title. Their script here is based on something believed by small children that prior to producing offspring animals fall in love and get married. Of course that is infusing a not so subtle morality making the film automatically family friendly. This means that Chloe (voiced by Odette Yustman) was a good girl Chihuahua saving herself until her marriage to Popi (voiced by George Lopez) before settling down to give birth to her brood of adorable puppies. To help young and old alike get the point the situation involving the doggies reflects a similar set of circumstances with the lumbering humans. Naturally, it is eventually up to the dogs to intervene and save the day for both two and four legged characters. Directing a film like this does take a special set of skills, especially if you want to bring some appeal to the grown-ups. Alex Zamm has a resume that nicely fits the bill. He has sequel experience with ‘Inspector Gadget 2’, animal familiarity from helming ‘The Pooch and the Pauper’ and an understanding of more mature humor from directing episodes of ‘Upright Citizens Brigade’. At least with experience as varied as this Zamm was a realistic choice by the studio to give this movie a shot at reaching the broadest possible audience. This would also split up the family since it would necessitate his parents moving to Arizona to live with relatives.

The film sets off on a whimsical start as pet lover Aunt Viv (Susan Blakely) throws an over the top celebration of the doggy nuptials including a little tuxedo for Papi and a designer wedding gown for the bride, Chloe. Thankfully the line ‘you may now sniff the bride was mercifully left out of the proceedings. In a matter of four months, the proper gestation period to retain the reputation of the bride, Chloe presents her husband with a liter of five puppies; four girls, Rosa, Pep, Lala (voiced by Madison Pettis) and Ali. There was also one son in the brood, Papi Jr. (voiced by Zachary Gordon). Parenting does not come easy to Papi who just wants to play with the new additions to the family letting his bad habits rub off on them much to Chloe’s chagrin. The now grown human kids Sam (Marcus Coloma) and Rachel (Erin Cahill) are talking about marriage themselves but Sam is deep in debt with his parent’s house. If he doesn’t come up with $40,000 they will lose it. There is a consideration over asking very wealthy Aunt Viv but that is not feasible as a matter of pride. There is also family drama with the four legged set as the pups meet their relatives when Sam brings them along on his visit. The one glimmer of hope on the hope on the horizon is an extremely convenient dog show that will pay $50,000 to the winner. At least for once the bailout is not coincidentally the exact amount required to save the day.

Typical of a Disney family film, particularly one released in Blu-ray there are plenty of extras to keep the entertainment going. This includes a music video featuring the vocal talents of one of their upcoming starlet. In this instance the focus is given to Bridgit Mendle who has been moved up from a recurring role as a vampire girl friend on ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ to a starring role in the Disney sit-com ‘Good Luck Chuck. The film is a good popcorn flick perfect to brighten a rainy day inside,

* Music Video: "This is My Paradise" By Bridgit Mendler – (2:37) The star of "Good Luck Charlie" and "Wizards of Waverly Place", Bridgit Mendler sings "This is My Paradise".

* Blooper Faux Paws – (3:22) Bloopers from "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2″.

* Beverly Hills Chihuahua Challenge – interactive game show led by Papi. A Q&A multiple choice game in which you use your Blu-ray remote (or keyboard) to select the right answer.

* Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure Sneak Peak – (1:57) a sneak peak of Ashley Tisdale’s "High School Musical" spinoff film.

Posted 11/22/11