Red Dog: True Blue

Red Dog: True Blue is a 2016 Australian family comedy film directed by Kriv Stenders, written by Daniel Taplitz and starring Jason Isaacs, Levi Miller and Bryan Brown. It serves as a prequel to the 2011 film Red Dog, detailing the early days of the Red Dog, the Pilbara Wanderer.

Red Dog: True Blue
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Kriv Stenders
Written by	Daniel Taplitz
Produced by	Nelson Woss Bryce Menzies
Starring	Jason Isaacs Levi Miller Bryan Brown
Cinematography	Geoffrey Hall
Edited by	Rodrigo Balart Jill Bilcock
Music by	Cezary Skubiszewski
Production company	Good Dog Enterprises
Distributed by	Roadshow Film Distributors
Release date	26 December 2016 (2016-12-26)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English

Premise

The film tells the story of the friendship between a young boy and a dog that would grow up to become an Australian legend.

Cast

• Phoenix as Red Dog
• Jason Isaacs as Michael "Mick" Carter
  • Levi Miller as Young Mick
• Bryan Brown as Grandpa
• Calen Tassone as Taylor Pete
• Hanna Mangan-Lawrence as Betty Marble
• Thomas Cocquerel as Bill Stemple
• Kee Chan as Jimmy Umbrella
• Steve Le Marquand as Little John
• Justine Clarke as Diane Carter
• Zen McGrath as Theo Carter

Production

It serves as a prequel to the 2011 film Red Dog, detailing the early days of the Red Dog, the Pilbara Wanderer.^[1] Red Dog was played in the first film by Koko, but after Koko's death he was replaced with Phoenix.^[2] and was dedicated to his memory. A documentary about the life of Koko titled Koko: A Red Dog Story was released in 2019.

Daniel Taplitz wrote the screenplay, Kriv Stenders directed the film, while Nelson Ross and Bryce Menzies served as producers.^[3][4]

Filming took place on Karratha Station^[3] in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and in Perth in 2015.^[5]

Cinematography was by Geoffrey Hall; Cezary Skubiszewski composed the score, and production design was by Sam Hobbs.^[4]

The production studio was Good Dog Enterprises Pty Ltd.^[4]

Release

Red Dog: True Blue was released on 25 or 26 December 2016.^[5][3]

Reception

Red Dog: True Blue has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 13 critics.^[6]

The film grossed $5,218,716 at the Australian box office, a quarter of the original film's takings.^[7]

Accolades

Geoffrey Hall was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 7th AACTA Awards.^{[citation needed]}

Spin-off

A spin-off documentary, titled Koko: A Red Dog Story was released in 2019.^[8] The film explores the life of Koko, who was cast as Red Dog in the original film.