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Isle of Dogs
Movie

Isle of Dogs

2018 • Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

An outbreak of dog flu has spread through the city of Megasaki, Japan, and Mayor Kobayashi has demanded all dogs to be sent to Trash Island. On the island, a young boy named Atari sets out to find his lost dog, Spots, with the help of five other dogs... with many obstacles along the way.

Overall Series Review

The film depicts a dystopian Japanese city where a corrupt political figure, Mayor Kobayashi, banishes all dogs to a trash heap. A young boy, Atari, flies to the island to find his dog, aided by a pack of alpha dogs. The story is a straightforward tale of loyalty, political conspiracy, and redemption. The moral core of the narrative centers on universal values: the bond between a boy and his dog, and the fight against injustice. The Japanese political establishment is portrayed as the enemy, driving the plot's conflict. A key human figure in the resistance is Tracy Walker, a white American exchange student, who mobilizes the local youth. The female characters are generally in supportive or romantic roles, and the narrative lacks any overt discussion of sexual or gender identity.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The film does not lecture on privilege or systemic oppression through an intersectional hierarchy. The primary human antagonist is a Japanese male, Mayor Kobayashi, whose corruption drives the plot. Whiteness is not vilified; instead, the most active and politically driven human figure of the resistance is a white American exchange student, Tracy Walker, a choice criticized by some observers as a 'white savior' trope. The protagonist pack of dogs, who speak English, are voiced predominantly by Western, non-Asian actors, while the Japanese human characters primarily speak unsubtitled Japanese, which effectively centers non-Japanese voices in the narrative.

Oikophobia8/10

The central conflict frames the Japanese home culture's political establishment as fundamentally corrupt, callous, and genocidal toward dogs. The antagonist, Mayor Kobayashi, and his family line are demonized for their history of anti-dog sentiments, representing a deconstruction of a cultural legacy. The Megasaki populace is largely portrayed as passive and compliant to the authoritarian regime's systemic oppression. The dogs, in contrast, represent a kind of unspoiled, anarchic 'Noble Savage' morality, being morally superior to the corrupt human society that exiled them.

Feminism2/10

The narrative features a handful of significant female characters who are largely relegated to traditional, non-dominant roles. Nutmeg, a key female dog, serves as a romantic interest for the main male dog, Chief. Tracy Walker, the female student leading the human opposition, is quickly drawn into a romantic pursuit of the young male protagonist, Atari. This structure avoids the 'Girl Boss' trope, and male characters like Atari and Chief drive the core action and redemption arc.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film adheres to a normative structure, featuring traditional male-female romantic pairings for the main human and canine characters. The narrative does not contain any explicit presence of alternative sexualities or gender ideology. The focus remains on the bond between a boy and his dog and the political conspiracy.

Anti-Theism1/10

The primary conflict is political and ethical, centering on loyalty, compassion, and government corruption, not religious dogma. The narrative maintains a fundamentally moral axis, where good and evil are objectively defined by actions (loyalty and love versus conspiracy and extermination). There is no hostility toward religion or religious figures, with the core themes—redemption and forgiveness—being interpreted as fitting a theological framework, though the film is not explicitly religious.