In cinemas now
This animated buddy comedy is set in New York’s Central Park where a deluded talking marionette called Don (voiced by Dakota West) has fled his puppet theatre to make his name as a swashbuckling leading man.
On the way, he teams up with adorable battery-operated toy pooch DJ Doggy Dog (Jordan Baird) who has been abandoned by his owner and desperately wants to join a “new crew”.
Don immediately signs him up for sidekick duties and insists on calling him Sancho.
When Don gets lost in his delusions, director Jeremie Degruson switches from slick computer animation to a hand-drawn comic book style.
So an attempt to save three racoon babies from floating down a drain during a rainstorm becomes a terrifying descent into the belly of a whale.
Don’s heroic fantasies are undercut wonderfully by the hangdog complaints of his compadre who lives in constant fear of getting water in his battery pack and losing his pre-recorded rap.
But, when Don’s puppet friends are stolen, the dog finds his bark and Don finds his inner hero as they try to free them before they’re sold to collectors.
The Inseparables is a simple tale about using your imagination and speaking up for yourself. It offers a decent message for smaller kids and surprisingly heartwarming comedy for accompanying adults.