Horst in Translation ([email protected]) The first 15 minutes from "Up" are among the best what Pixar has ever put on screen. Afterwards, it goes considerably down in quality and this five-minute short film is unfortunately not much better. Basically, it tells us about Dug right before he meets the old man and the boy. Dug keeps getting in the way of the other dogs in their attempts to catch the wonder-bird, so they try to keep him busy with pointless tasks, but keep failing (and occasionally getting hurt) as he always gets in their way. The one thing special about this short film compared to other Pixar short films is that it neither plays before or after the feature film it's linked to, but exactly at the same time, just focuses on a character we did not see at this point of time in the movie. That's why it could easily be included in the film.However, I'd only really recommend it to children, for whom Dug is probably the highlight of the movie, or those who really enjoyed Up and the alpha dog's high-pitched voice, which I personally found more distracting than funny in the long run. It's an okay add-on to a decent film, but you're really not missing much.

TheLittleSongbird I saw Dug's Special Mission as I love Pixar and Up is my second favourite of Pixar's films. Plus I wanted to see what this short film was going to be like from Dug's perspective. It was very well done, with a lot of what I loved about Up shown here. As with all of Pixar's work, it is beautifully animated, with character designs that have life and backgrounds and colours that have such a bright and breezy look to them. The music has a uplifting and nostalgic feel to it, the story is cute with a lot of heart to it and while the physical humour is genuinely amusing there is always room for some poignancy as well particularly at the end. The characters do engage, I personally like Dug and I liked what was done with him here, and the other dogs, Carl and Russell are great in support. The voice work is as solid as can be. Overall, very well done, I liked it very much. 9/10 Bethany Cox

jhunt709 Featuring the most memorable of the canines from the feature, 'Dug's Special Mission' marks a refreshing approach for Pixar companion short films, where the events of Dug's birthday lead right into a pivotal moment from the main feature that we had only previously seen from Carl and Russell's perspective.Exploiting the sympathy and adoration many of us expressed towards Dug during the film, this short is primarily a showcase of humour up until its ending, which leaves us to take away some considerably heavy implications regarding Dug's role in the journey of a determined old man and an eager wilderness explorer. When you sit down to 'Up' again in the future you may feel the tug on your heartstrings pulling a little harder knowing what Dug's birthday wish was, or at least you'll have had a few more minutes of fun with this lovable dog.9/10

dogman15 Being a Pixar fan, I was looking forward to this short film ever since it was announced. Heck, I was eager for it even BEFORE it was announced, because Pixar always includes a second short film on their DVDs. While I can see by the ratings here on IMDb that some people didn't enjoy it as much as I did (I can see why, if they're comparing it to "Up"), I still think that this short film had a number of elements that made it very enjoyable to watch.All the humor that comes with Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Dug is here, as well as Alpha's "broken collar" joke. However, this film did have a few discrepancies with the feature film it was based on that bothered me slightly. They're mostly anachronisms or continuity errors, but I can forgive them considering that this film is supposedly a representation of how Dug remembers these events, just like the "Married Life" sequence in "Up" was supposed to be how Carl Fredricksen remembered his marriage with Ellie.This film isn't all physical humor, though. Before I go on, please note that you shouldn't watch this until you've seen the feature film it's based on. Anyway, after Alpha gets fed up with Dug, Dug is (to be brief) very sad and alienated. Pixar does their thing with the emotions, and Dug runs away into some fog-filled rocks. The first time I saw that, I felt sorry for Dug. However, as per his birthday wish (it is his birthday, after all), he finds "a new master": Carl and Russell. What a nice alternate location story!