Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds

image for Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds

Short takes

Parental guidance to 4 (themes and animated violence). May lack interest over 7.

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
  • a review of Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 23 September 2021.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Parental guidance is recommended for children 5 and under due to themes and animated violence.
Children aged 5–7 Ok for this age group.
Children over the age of 8 May lack interest.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: General Audiences
Length: 88 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

In 1625 Dogtanian (voice of Tomas Ayuso) leaves his country home in France and sets off for Paris determined to join the Muskehounds and restore honour to his family name. Once in Paris he has an unfortunate run in with the man who framed his father and instead of being welcomed by The Muskehounds finds himself agreeing to three separate duels with the most famous Muskehounds of all: Athos (voice of Stephen Hughes), Porthos (voice of Stephen Hughes) and Aremis (voice of Julio Perillan). When the group is set upon by the cardinal’s guards they work as a team to defeat them. Dogtanian helps rescue Juliette (voice of Karina Piper) the trusted lady in waiting of Queen Anne (voice of Karina Piper).  He soon finds himself caught up in a plan to save the Queen’s diamond necklace and a fake letter from falling into the wrong hands and starting a war with England. The cardinal (voice of Stephen Hughes), trusted advisor of the King, bribes Pip (voice of Robbie K Jones) Dogtanian’s servant to inform him of every move the Muskehounds make while the evil cat Milady (voice of Elisabeth Gray) steals the necklace and ties, with help from the Cardinal and his guard, to stay one step ahead of them of the Muskehounds. When it looks like all is lost Dogtanian uses his skill with the sword in a final effort to bring back the necklace, save the royal marriage, thwart the cardinal’s sinister plans for war and save the kingdom of France.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Sexism; good versus evil; revenge; political corruption.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • There are frequent sword fights and duels throughout the film.
  • Dogtanian crashes through a tree and lands on a Muskehound.
  • The Cardinal threatens Pip saying that if he fails, he (the Cardinal) will make it difficult for Pip to breathe. Later he bluntly threatens to kill him.
  • Milady shoves Dogtanian out of a high window where he crashes to the ground.
  • Juliette throws objects at Milady and Milady retaliates with knives, pinning Juliette to the ground.
  • Milady and Dogtanian fight with swords on roof tops, gangplanks, ship decks, and tall masts high above stormy seas.
  • Milady causes a chimney to collapse on Dogtanian as she flees from a rooftop.
  • One of the Muskehounds cuts the pants of his adversaries during a sword fight, leaving his opponents to run off in their underwear.
  • Logs are sent rolling towards the Muskehounds as they attempt to retrieve the stolen necklace.
  • Flaming wagons are sent down a cliff side after Dogtanian.
  • Dogtanian throws food at a bunch of soldiers and then collapses a fruit stand on top of them.
  • Dogtanian fights his father’s accuser in the palace hallway, defeating him and carving the Omega symbol onto his forehead.
  • A guard points a pistol at Dogtanian and shoots him, Pip flies in front of the bullet and his gold coin saves his life.
  • Juliette punches Milady in the face.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The Cardinal is shown in an evil light and there are a couple of scenes that zoom in on his face while he is looking particularly sinister and menacing. The image may upset some younger viewers.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • It is unlikely that children between the ages of 5 to 8 would be frightened by any scenes in this film.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • There is nothing noted in the film that is likely to frighten children over the age of 8.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • There is nothing noted in the film that is likely to frighten children over the age of 13.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some mild romantic activity in this movie, including:

  • Juliette kisses Dogtanian on the cheek and sporadic daydreams show Dogtanian in love with Juliette.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Some characters frequent taverns though alcohol is not noticeably consumed.

Coarse language

There are some mild insults in this movie, including:

  • Idiot
  • Shut up.

In a nutshell

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds is an animated adventure based on a traditional retelling of The Three Musketeers. It features simple cinematography, a predictable plot and a dialogue that some adults may find painful to sit through. Younger children, the target audience, will likely enjoy it for the cute characters and sense of adventure it brings.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself, to work together for the greater good and that, no matter the challenge, good will ultimately prevail.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Honour
  • Loyalty
  • Teamwork
  • Persistence
  • Courage

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The notion that powerful females are bad (Milady) and that good females (Juliet and Queen Anne) are helpless or in need of being rescued.
  • Violence as a means to solve conflict.
  • Being trusting of those that would do you harm.
  • The dangers of political corruption.