Far more accomplished and enjoyable is canine caper 12 Dogs of Christmas (2005). In a depression-era Pennsylvania town where the evil mayor (Richard Riehle) has banned all dogs, plucky 12 year old town newcomer Emma (Jordan-Claire Green) joins forces with Cathy (Susan Wood), the owner of a dog sanctuary, to try and have this horrible law overturned. 

 This has excellent production values for a direct-to-video effort, with a beautiful snowy small town setting, full of nice 1920s period detail, complemented by a grand, sweeping orchestral score. I honestly wasn’t expecting the film to look and feel this good. It’s clever too, feeling like a thinly veiled allegory for modern racial persecution – grumpy, fascist leaders chasing out ‘mutts’ they don’t like, with the native townsfolk deciding to look the other way during a recession. Smart stuff for a ‘kid’s’ film.

 Don’t worry, though, it’s not too heavy. They strike a neat balance between enjoyable kiddie romp and examination of a dark period in American history, where people were desperate and would think nothing of forcing a pre-teen girl to get a job, or using dogs in underground fight clubs. Though the mayor’s eccentric dog-catcher brother (John Billingsley) is a creepy, motor-cycle goggle-wearing, Child Catcher-like villain, the film is mostly full of cute cuddly puppy fun. There are some exciting set-pieces too, including a stirring chase between the catcher’s motorbike and our heroine’s sleigh pulled by adorable dogs through a snowy forest. It’s very cinematic for a moderately low-budgeted film and I’m impressed.

It's a top notch children’s film and the acting is mostly of a great level, especially in one upsetting, emotional scene where a little boy believes his pet dog has been savagely murdered. This kid acts his ass off, giving a gut-wrenching, tears-and-snot performance. Bravo - I damn near sob myself. The dog turns out to be fine, though, phew.

 The film squeezes in some interesting conversations about faith and miracles, while also setting its sights on figureheads who use ‘tradition’ as an excuse to pull some really shady stuff. The mayor irrationally clings to an old, unearthed town law to justify being mean to dogs, much like modern gun nuts and their ‘right to bear arms.’ Just because people in the past decided something was a good idea doesn’t mean we can’t amend those rules now for the greater good.

 It’s a bloody lovely film, perfect for wee ones, that reminds us that, yes, a dog is for life and not just for Christmas.