Teacher's Pet: The Movie

Teacher's Pet: The Movie is a 2004 animated musical film based on Teacher's Pet. The film was produced by DisneyToon Studios, and released theatrically on January 16, 2004. Despite being a box office bomb, the film did very well with critics. This is the 6th Disney movie based on a TV show. It is the third and last theatrical movie to be based off a TV show from Disney's One Saturday Morning, and the last theatrical movie based on any animated Disney television show. In this film, Shaun Fleming, Nathan Lane, Debra Jo Rupp, Jerry Stiller, and David Ogden Stiers, from the series reprise their roles as Leonard Helperman, Spot Helperman, Mary Helperman, Pretty Boy, and Mr. Jolly respectively.

Plot
The movie opens in the living room where Spot (Nathan Lane) is having a dream where he's watching Pinocchio and says that he'd give anything if he could change into a real human boy like him. Suddenly, The Blue Fairy jumps out of the TV and decides to grant Spot's wish. After several times of failing, she whacks him with her wand and Pretty Boy (Jerry Stiller) wakes him up from his dream. When Spot wakes up, Pretty Boy tells him that it's not likely that he'll become a real boy and that it's already enough that he dresses up as a boy and goes to school everyday. Leonard (Shaun Fleming) comes passing by and tells him to get up and be ready for the last day of the school year and Spot gets ready since he doesn't want to miss his perfect attendence record.

After a quick dress-up and an extended version of the theme song, Spot becomes his alter-ego, Scott Leadready II and he has won the perfect attendance medal and several others. Mary (Debra Jo Rupp) is in tears because Leonard, Scott, and the other 4th graders are gonna be 5th graders next time she sees them in school. All the students have different plans: Leslie's (Mae Whitman) going to visit her Granny Smith, Tyler, Trevor, and Taylor (Pamela Adlon) are skating 24/7, and Ian (Rob Paulsen) gets to visit his uncle (who we'll find out about more later) after he's grounded for hacking into buckingham palace, and Leonard wants to play with his dog however, Scott plans to be Scott Leadready II the whole summer (best friends forever). Then, Principal Strickler (Wallace Shawn) arrives and tells Mary that she become a finalist for the Teacher of the Year award (or N.E.A.T.O. for short) and all the students are congratulating her. Strickler also tells her that the school district has asked her to compete in the finals in Florida and Strickler also lends his RV to the Helperman's only, there is one small rule - "No Dogs Allowed".

While Leonard and his mom are loading their luggage into the RV and the other kids can be heard playing in the cul-de-sac, Spot is sad that he, Mr. Jolly, and Pretty Boy cant go on the trip even though it's for 2 weeks (but in dog times its 14 weeks). While Leonard sings a sweet song to his best buddy that Spot can't stand, Leonard's mom interrupts and takes him into the RV and they drive off. In the house, Pretty Boy, Mr. Jolly (David Ogden Stiers), and Ms. Boogin the Pet-Sitter (Estelle Harris) are watching soaps and Spot changes the channel and it turns to "The Barry Anger Show" and today, Barry Anger (Jay Thomas) is interviewing Dr. Ivan Krank (Kelsey Grammer) an evil scientist who can turn animals into human beings. Spot sees this as an oppurtunity to become a boy and it just so happens that he lives in Florida where Leonard and Mary are going as we speak. Spot deicdes to go and have the pets cover for him with Ms. Boogin (who is fortunately oblivious).

On the road, Leonard sees Spot outside the window and aks his mom to stop and they go to a gas station. While Mary is putting on her makeup, Leonard finds Spot filling up the tank and he tells him he wants to come to Florida with him but no dogs are allowed in the RV. Quick thinking, Spot becomes Scott Leadready II and convinces Mary to take him along for the trip after disguising himself as a bunch of family members and they get onto the road on their way to the Sunshine State and sing a song about the states. After a week on the road and several stops, Leonard, Mary, and Scott arrive in Florida and Mary has to go to the first round of the Teacher of the Year contest and she leaves the boys on the beach and tells them to meet them at the RV park at 6:00 for dinner. Leonard wants to play fetch but, Spot/Scott explains the real reason he came to Florida and Leonard reluctantly agrees to see Dr. Krank despite the warnings he gives Spot.

Back at home, Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly are watching soaps and turn it to The Barry Anger Show again. They have returned the spotlight to Krank because they have an animal control officer report that Krank doesn't turn animals into humans and turns them into mutants. Pretty Boy decides to go to Florida to warn Spot but Jolly doesn't wanna go because he's afraid of the outside but Pretty Boy encourages him to be brave and he feels confident and they run off to save Spot.

Back in Florida, after a long hot walk, the boys find Krank who is angered at another failure and orders his minions, Dennis the Mutant Crocodile and Adele the mutant Mosquito (the mutants that Pretty Boy and Jolly saw earlier on TV) to destroy the machine but Spot/Scott stops him and asks him to turn him into a boy because what he needs to turn an animal into a human is a mammal. Krank agrees to turn Spot into a boy and Spot is excited despite Leonard's protests.

Spot is turned into a human alright, but he's not turned into a boy he's turned into a MAN, which is his age in dog years. Just as Scott and Leonard are about to leave, Krank traps them in a cage to turn them into media freaks. While he leaves to make plans for his two year world tour, Ian shows up and wonders what's going on. Scott has no choice but to tell Ian about him being a dog and his secret identity as Scott Leadready II and Ian decides to free them and keep their secret at home in exchange for a slimy old chew toy and they escape. When Krank finds out Ian freed them, he orders Dennis and Adele to find Scott and grounds Ian until he leaves.

Meanwhile, Pretty Boy and Mr. Jolly are on a train to Florida that is going pretty fast. Scott and Leonard finally escape and they start to get hungry and Scott needs some new clothes when they find a poster of a lost dog, they find her using the Twilight Bark (ala 101 Dalmatians) and earn $500 and Scott gets a fancy suit and a new necktie and they rent a Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Ian is calling his parents telling them how horrible Krank's house is but he likes it anyway. Krank then tells Ian to stay of the phone and his minions come back but without Scott and Leonard and angrily tells them to go and don't come back without them. When Leonard and Soctt meet Leonard's mom back at the RV, Spot lies to her and tells her that Scott's family came and he went home and he's a friend of the Leadreadys and he's a teacher of the year finalists. After drinking coffee and going hyper Leonard throws him out of the motor home and Mary grounds him for the rest of the night. She also invites human Spot out on a date and he agrees.

Mary starts to fall in love with human Spot and things go from bad to worse with Spot and Leonard, Spot tells Leonard that he's gonna become his new stepdad and this angers Leonard and things get ugly: Leonard doesn't want his dog as his stepdad, Scott starts to act like he's the boss of Leonard, they start to hate each other even more than at school, and Leonard wishes Spot wasn't his dog and Scott wishes Leonard wasn't his master and decides to leave. Leonard has now not only lost his arch-nemesis but he's also lost his dog, Mary is heartbroken, and Krank is in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, Pretty Boy and Jolly end up in Cuba. Later, Mary is going to the awards ceremony while Leonard is in bed crying at that same time, Pretty Boy and Jolly arrive and Leonard tells them everything. Spot is also staying in a motel and misses being a dog and human life isn't what he thought after all so, he decides to go back to Leonard and be a dog again. But unfortunately, Leonard thinks the only way to be with his best friend again is have Krank turn him into a dog despite Pretty Boy and Jolly's protests. After Leonard leaves, Spot arrives and finds out everything and he, Pretty Boy, and Jolly go to save Leonard.

When they get ot the lab, Spot apologizes to Leonard for not listening to him, and a showdown begins when Krank is about to turn Leonard into a dog to use him as bait to lure Spot. When the machine runs outta power, Spot installs the nickel Krank gave him earlier and it turns Krank into a mouse. When the machine is about to explode, Spot stands right in front of the zapper to change back to a dog and it zaps him. After the explosion, Leonard, Ian, and the pets find that Spot has turned to a pile of blue dust. Angry and crying, Leonard kicks the machine and it zaps Spot again and he changes back to a dog.

Later, Mrs. Helperman has won the contest and Spot, Jolly, and Pretty Boy are cheering for her outside. But Pretty Boy is wondering how they are gonna get home. Spot dresses up as Scott Leadready again and convinces Mary Lou to drive home with them and Jolly and Pretty Boy are holding onto the RV's ladder as part of Spot's plan.

Afterwards, Spot decides to give up his dream of literally transforming into a human, but still maintains his identity as Scott Leadready II.

Various clips are shown during the closing and the film ends with a painting of Spot/Scot, Leonard, Mr. Jolly, Pretty Boy and company. This is a parody on Michelangelo's painting of what is seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Cast

 * Nathan Lane as Spot/Scott Leadready II
 * Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Ivan Krank
 * Shaun Fleming as Leonard Helperman
 * Debra Jo Rupp as Mary Helperman
 * David Ogden Stiers as Mr. Jolly
 * Jerry Stiller as Pretty Boy
 * Paul Reubens as Dennis
 * Megan Mullally as Adele
 * Wallace Shawn as Principal Strickler
 * Rob Paulsen as Ian Wazselewski
 * Estelle Harris as Mrs. Boogin
 * Jay Thomas as Barry Anger

Soundtrack

 * 1) MI0000405923.jpger's Pet- Christy Carlson Romano
 * 2) I Wanna Be a Boy- Nathan Lane, Mae Whitman, Cree Summer, Lauren Tom, Pamela Adlon, Shaun Fleming and Rob Paulsen
 * 3) A Boy Needs a Dog- Shaun Fleming and Nathan Lane
 * 4) A Whole Bunch of World- Debra Jo Rupp, Shaun Fleming, Nathan Lane
 * 5) Small But Mighty- Jerry Stiller and David Odgen Stiers
 * I, Ivan Krank- Kelsey Grammer
 * 1) Take the Money and Run - Jack Sheldon
 * 2) Im Moving On- David Ogden Stiers; Debra Jo Rupp; Jerry Stiller; Kelsey Grammer; Megan Mullay; Nathan Lane; Paul Reubens and Shaun Fleming
 * 3) A Boy Needs a Dog (Reprise)- Nathan Lane and Shaun Fleming
 * 4) Proud to Be a Dog- Nathan Lane, Shaun Fleming, Rob Paulsen, Megan Mullaly and Paul Reubens
 * 5) Hot Diggety Dog - The Disney Chorus
 * 6) Mambo Del Perro- The Disney Chorus
 * 7) Wacko (The Barry Anger Theme) - The Disney Chorus
 * 8) Top of the World Blues - Carmen Twillie
 * 1) Top of the World Blues - Carmen Twillie

Reception
Critical reception was fairly positive, with a 75% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "Despite its short running time, Teacher's Pet is a witty and irreverent family film." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 74/100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
Over its 4-day opening weekend, Teacher's Pet took $3,602,245 in 2,027 theaters, a mere $1,777 per theater, making it one of the lowest openings in history. By the end of its run, the film had only made $6,491,969.