The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

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Animation films have been trying to create a balance to entertain both children and adults; however, that balance can be very tricky. The Queen’s Corgi takes that balance to a whole new level, but can it pull it off?

It follows Rex (Jack Whitehall), the spoiled corgi living in Buckingham Palace as Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite dog, and his troubles in avoiding the relentless approaches of President Donald Trump’s dog, Mitzi. However, Rex unexpectedly finds himself out of the palace and in a dog shelter with rescued dogs that do not give him the same royal treatment. Can Rex survive and get back to the palace to reclaim his role as the Queen’s favourite?

The film’s plot borrows themes from several animation classics, such as Lion King, and combines them with rare bits of supposedly innovative content. Unfortunately, that goes terribly wrong. The segment where President Donald Trump appears is particularly troubling as it has multiple innuendos about his sexual harassment accusations, including an almost direct reference as the character says, “grab them by the puppy”. If this film was mainly for adults, this could have made sense, but why in the world would children need to be exposed to that?

The film takes it even further, with Mitzi chasing Rex around wanting to mate, even though he has constantly said no, and the film handles the bit regarding consent with humour as if that is okay.

The Queen’s Corgi also tackles social classes, with Rex always mentioning how he is better than those in the shelter because he is supposedly of a higher class, and the film condones that.

Other than the inappropriate messages for children, the film didn’t always make sense, such as having a character being portrayed as a gold digger and a possible threat, then turning to the complete opposite without showing the audience where the change happened and how.

The animation is appealing, with cute dogs that are distinguishable from each other and colourfully playful, but that was not able to save the film.

For the voice acting, Jack Whiteball was very much able to show the posh, spoiled side of his character and stirred it into the performance. Playing Donald Trump, Jon Culshaw had perfect impressions that seemed so spot on that you expected a mention of fake news or building a wall. Playing the jealous corgi Charlie, Matt Lucus was able to convey the ominous nature of his character, and even reminded audiences of previous classic villains.

The Queen’s Corgi has cute dogs that will be pleasant for children, but other than that, the feature is not suitable for children and will leave adults not entertained.