Will Ferrell voices a cute dog in the trailer for the foul-mouthed animal comedy Strays. Ferrell leads a star-studded cast featuring Jamie Foxx, Will Forte, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park. The supporting cast is also rounded out by numerous comedic actors, including Josh Gad, Harvey Guillén, Rob Riggle, and Sofia Vergara. Josh Greenbaum, the director of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, is directing Strays from a script by American Vandal scribe Dan Perrault.
Universal Pictures shared the trailer for Strays, introducing the NSFW comedy set to subvert dog movie tropes.
Ferrell voices Reggie, a naive Border Terrier who finds himself abandoned by his cruel owner Doug (Forte). After realizing that his owner left him, Reggie teams up with Bug (Foxx), Maggie (Fisher), and Hunter (Park) on a revenge mission that sees them set out to bite off one of Doug’s most prized appendages, with the dogs bonding through humorous situations along the way.
What To Expect From Strays
When Strays was first announced, it was said to be an animated comedy that mixed live-action and CGI. Now that the trailer has debuted, it’s a live-action film with minimal animated elements. CGI was likely used to animate some aspects of the dogs, such as their mouths moving, and the trailer features a scene of them consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms that cause them to see things in a cartoonish animation. However, it is far from a traditionally animated film.
The cast and crew also inspire confidence from their background in comedy. Perrault subverted the true-crime documentary genre with the mockumentary series American Vandal, with Strays looking to similarly shake up the perceived tropes of dog movies. Films that feature talking animals tend to fall into the family-friendly genre, with Strays making the distinct choice to offer the polar opposite concept with the foul language and humorous driving force of their revenge mission.
While Strays offers a pedigree of comedic talent, it may find more success in its gimmick. R-rated comedies can often be a box office gamble, as the rating can limit the target audience – particularly younger viewers and families. However, Strays may produce something unique, with previous NSFW films like Sausage Party showing that ideas generally geared toward kids and families can find success when made for more mature audiences. With the first trailer out for the crude animal comedy, Strays is slated to hit theaters on June 9.
Source: Universal Pictures
