Netflix Acquires Animated 'Marmaduke' Feature For May Release

Originally set to release in 2020 but delayed by COVID-19 setbacks, the new animated Marmaduke film will hit Netflix in key territories on May 6.

Produced by Andrews McMeel Entertainment and Legacy Classics, the fully animated feature sees Marmaduke, voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson, training for the Westminster dog show. In the trailer, released today, we get a brief taste of the sleepy dog’s extensive training regimen and a quick look at how wrong things go for Marmaduke once he gets to the competition.

We’re also introduced to Marmaduke’s rival Zeus, voiced by J.K. Simmons, a classic show dog with no scruples about doing whatever it takes to win. Other voice actors appearing in the film include David Koechner (The Office, Anchorman), Jason Anthony, and Shelby Young.

“Messy and mischievous Marmaduke has a big heart but can’t stay out of trouble! Does he have what it takes to shine in the swanky dog show world?” reads a brief excerpt on the Netflix After School YouTube channel, where the trailer is posted.

Marmaduke is directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé (The Reef 2: High Tide, Spawn) and co-directed by Matt Philip Whelan (vfx supervisor on American Gods, The Turning) and Youngki Lee from a script by Byron Kavanagh (Pat the Dog). The animation was produced through Canada/China/Korea-based Storyberry Inc.

It was acquired by Netflix for the world excluding China, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Iceland, Poland, CIS, Former Yugoslavia, Baltics, Israel, and MENA. The film is based on the popular newspaper comic strip created by Brad Anderson in 1954, who drew the strip until his death in 2015.

The Marmaduke IP was also previously adapted in a live action-animation hybrid film in 2010, released by Twentieth Century Fox and starring Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, and George Lopez. That version used live-action animals with cg replacement faces.