| Hotel for Dogs | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Thor Freudenthal |
| Produced by | Lauren Shuler Donner Ivan Reitman |
| Written by | Novel Lois Duncan Screenplay Jeff Lowell Bob Schooley Mark McCorkle |
| Starring | Emma Roberts Jake T. Austin Troy Gentile Kyla Pratt Johnny Simmons Lisa Kudrow Kevin Dillon Don Cheadle |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | Michael Grady |
| Editing by | Sheldon Kahn |
| Studio | Nickelodeon Movies |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks |
| Release date(s) | January 16, 2009 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Gross revenue | $116,982,512 (Worldwide) |
Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American feature film adaptation of the Lois Duncan novel of the same name about two orphans who take in stray dogs at an empty hotel named the Duke Francis.. The film, which began shooting November 2007, is directed by Thor Freudenthal and stars Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon, Kyla Pratt, and Don Cheadle. The book was adapted by Jeff Lowell and Kim Possible creators Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. It was released on January 16, 2009.
The film is the Nickelodeon cable television network's first film to be produced by DreamWorks Pictures rather than Paramount Pictures,[1] except for the Paramount/DreamWorks co-production Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Though not officially released by the company, Paramount Pictures did help to release the film. The film was a DreamWorks SKG/Nickelodeon Movies presentation of a Donners' Company and Donner/Shuler-Donner production.
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[edit] Plot
Orphaned siblings Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin), have been forced to hide their ownership of their beloved dog, Friday, as they move from one foster home to another in Central City. They deceive a pawn shop to get money for hamburgers for themselves and the dog, but are caught. Their social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) reprimands them, but helps them to minimize the damage.
They secretly turn a closed hotel into a home for Friday and any other strays they can find. They are joined by a guy named Dave (Johnny Simmons) and a girl named Heather (Kyla Pratt), both of whom work at a pet store; Dave and Andi soon develop crushes on one another. They are later joined by a kid who lives nearby named Mark (Troy Gentile), who likes Heather, although she does not return the feelings.
The kids rescue many dogs, and Bruce invents and constructs many ingenious machines, using parts he steals from his foster parents, to help feed the dogs and provide sanitary facilities, exercise and entertainment to them. The dogs are quick in learning how to use the machines.
Bernie is pleased to tell them they can move from the foster home they hate to a new one that is a few hours away. Even though this may be their last chance to be placed in a foster home together, they decline as they care too much about the dogs to abandon them, but they cannot tell Bernie this reason because they might be forbidden to continue their care for the dogs.
One night while Andi and Dave are at a party (which turns into a disaster when Andi explains about what her parents were and ends up getting punch on her dress, causing her to leave the party in tears), the machines fail and the dogs go wild and cause so much noise that the cops are called. The dogs are taken to a pound and Bruce and Andi's foster parents kick them out for stealing, and as predicted, they are sent to separate foster homes. The pound prepares to put the dogs down, but Friday escapes and gets to Dave. The two reunite all of the kids and they decide to save the dogs despite the fact that they are going to get in big trouble. They break the dogs out of the pound and try to lead them over the county line to an animal shelter there that has a no kill policy, but as the dogs get close to the hotel, they turn and run there as that is their home. The kids and a massive crowd of people follow. At first, Animal Control tries to take them back, but Bernie, having seen what the kids did, makes a speech in favor of the dogs as the kids rescued so many strays and gave them a home, something he had been trying to do with the kids he dealt with. Also, when he introduces the two twin dogs, Viola and Sebastian, this makes reference to the play, "Twelfth Night". The characters Viola and Sebastian are also twins in "Twelfth Night".
With donations from the people of the city, the hotel ends up fixed up and turned into an actual hotel for dogs named The Hotel For Dogs. The kids all work there, Andi and Dave kiss, and Mark starts to win Heather over. Bernie and his wife end up adopting Andi, Bruce, and Friday
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