Hundhotellet (2000)

characters from the movie Hundhotellet, directed by Per Åhlin

It's a rainy day. A large dog lays rolled up on his regular dog bed. Suddenly, a painting rattles on the wall, and out step two equally large dogs, as if the painting was a portal to the depicted gloomy landscape. They are clad in suits, of the evening variety, and seem to be frantically searching for something. As they find what they are looking for, a small paperweight in the shape of a sphinx (though with the face of a dog), they abscond back through the painting. The framed picture falls off the wall, waking the sleeping dog. He tells us about his master, before being interrupted by his artist friend. At least Picasso fancies himself an artist. In reality he is a womanizing wienerdog with a beret, carrying a large sketch book. As Sture, our main dog, gets dressed in a shirt and tie, Picasso convinces him to travel with him to Paris. They take off in Sture's owner's car.[1]

This is what you see when you start the movie Hundhotellet, a Swedish movie from the year 2000, directed by Per Åhlin, and written by Åhlin and Hans Åke Gabrielsson. The title in English, directly translated from Swedish, is "the Dog Hotel". Åhlin had previously animated several successful movies, including "Karl-Berti Jonssons Julafton" (1975) [2], which follows a young boy as he learns about the joy of taking from those who have too much, and giving to those who have none. It is aired every christmas eve on one of Sweden's public service channels.[3]

Alas, Sture never makes it to Paris. After Picasso throws out the map (he can practially sense his way to Paris anyway), our protagonist takes a wrong turn. The duo (well, trio. Picasso has managed to pick up a young dog-lady along their journey) eventually end up at "hotell Rosenknoppen", Rosebud Hotel, a hotel run by dogs, for dogs. This is where the movie takes its title from. Here, Sture meets miss Mops, an older pug lady who spends her time writing crime fiction. Almost accidentally, miss Mops and Sture stave off a plan to sell the paperweight enlarged with magic, which leads to the kidnapping of Picasso, and the following attempt to sell him as a living mummy. When everything is said and done, Sture can go back home and continue his life as a normal dog.[1]

Sture and Miss Mops have a picnic

When Hundhotellet was released, it received mostly positive responses from the public and critics alike. Per Åhlin said in an interview with Max Almgren that the movie was meant to attract a more adult audience. Something that played a part in reaching this demographic was the hiring of many famous Swedish actors to do voices for the characters. Åhlin partially blames Disney for making animated media something seen as only for children, and Hundhotellet shows some critique against the media giant. In his article, Almgren theorises that maybe the American businessman Mr Big, with his American accent and Mickey Mouse ears, is a caricature of American consumerism and the monopoly Disney had on animated media for a long time. In the movie, Mr Big wants to buy the magically enlarged paperweight, which he has been told is a legitimate mummy. He offers to pay double, implying that he is not only eager to spend, but not very bright either. The fact that he is trying to lay his gloved little mouse hands on a historical artifact presumed to be from Egypt isn’t exactly subtle either, when looking at it through adult eyes. It paints the picture of a U.S American thinking that as long as he offers enough money, any culturally relevant artefact can be bought and owned, only for the sake of owning. [2]

Mr Big bears a striking resemblance to a certain famous mouse

I cannot help but love this movie. I don’t know how, maybe he just recorded it when it ran on tv in the early 2000’s, but my dad had a pirated copy of Hundhotellet on our old home computer when I was little. I would watch it often and remember sitting in the small and dark computer room with Hundhotellet playing when the weather was too cold and wet to play outside. To me, the important part of Hundhotellet was never the main story. It was the landscape around the characters. It was Sture’s car being turned into the hotel greenhouse to stop him finding out the evil guys’ plan and Picasso having a fling with one of the dog ladies working at the hotel and courting her in said greenhouse. It was Miss Mops hiding a large sum of money by padding her dog bra with it. Today, I see it largely as something that has fuelled my love for Agatha Christie-esque literature, and very much a product of it’s time. It is an cell-by-cell animated movie made in a time when 3D animation was on the rise, for an older demographic in a media landscape that was mostly focused on children. I would say it was well before its time, while also lagging far behind other films made at the time.

In the end, I cannot decide whether or not the excursion to hotel Rosebud actually happens, or if it's just the product of a bored dog's daydreams.

Sture's car, after being turned into a greenhouse

i guess the question still stands: do you know what your dog is doing when you are not around?

references:

1. Hundhotellet, 2000.
2. Almgren, Max, "Självbiografi & amerikaförakt: En studie av Per Åhlin och Hundhotellet", Språk och Litteraturcentrum, Lunds Universitet, 2012-06-04
3. Wikipedia, "Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons Julafton". viewed:2023-08-29