Family fun in Marmaduke

MANILA, Philippines - In the tradition of its family-oriented live-CGI blockbuster Alvin and the Chipmunk and Garfield movies, 20th Century Fox unleashes Marmaduke, a 1954 comic strip on the world’s most gregarious Great Dane starring Academy Award nominee William H. Macy, Judy Greer and Lee Pace with a voice cast that includes Owen Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Black Eyed Peas’ Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson.

Tom Dey, who gave us the hilarious Shanghai Noon and romantic comedy Failure to Launch once again lends his comedic paw prints in Marmaduke where the story embarks on the wacky misadventures of the Winslow family with their beloved Great Dane Marmaduke (voiced by Owen).

In the movie, Phil (Lee) and Debbie (Judy) queasily move into a new neighborhood, their hyper-driven canine Marmaduke sees the move as a whole new leash for more exploration. As Marmaduke explores his vast new surrounding, he finds himself in the middle of an ongoing battle of fitting in and wooing his newfound purebred love.

“We’ve approached the movie like a John Hughes movie with dogs,” Tom says in an interview from USA Today. “The dog park is like high school for dogs. To make this kind of movie, you really have to understand that it is the dog’s world and we just live in it.” The story in Marmaduke will be told from the viewpoint of the dog — like Scooby Doo, but hopefully not as bad. “Marmaduke is a teenager, and he’s trying to find his way in the world,” Tom further explains. “It’s a boy-meets-girl story, a coming-of-age and cautionary tale.”

Marmaduke opens June 4 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.