Is there anyone who could transition from live-action filmmaking to stop-motion animation as gloriously as the wonderful Wes Anderson?

No. Unsurprisingly, the attention that Anderson gives to the tiniest of aesthetic details, as seen in now-modern classics such as The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom, makes his natural tinkerer sensibilities only logical for the stop-motion medium. In his latest feature film, Isle of Dogs (in theaters today), we see the director at his best – crafting a storybook adventure that distills the essence of delight into a small-scale canine and kiddie-friendly epic.

Set in a fictional near-future Japan, Isle of Dogs (say it fast for an added treat) tells the story of a Japanese nation under siege by a dog epidemic known as “snout fever.” This brings about the rise of fear-mongering Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura) who sets out to banish all dogs, forcing them to live out the rest of their numbered days in exile on Trash Island. Of course, this premise is a not-so-veiled political commentary about demagoguery, but with Anderson’s trademark wry and winking humor at play, the whole thing is hilariously satirized and maintains a sentimental heart.

Against this backdrop, the young Akira (Koyu Rankin) sets out to find his lost dog on Trash Island. This leads him to rest of the heroes in the story: the famished and sickly Rex (Edward Norton), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), Boss (Bill Murray) and King (Bob Balaban) who all agree to help the young boy find his dog, Spots (Liev Schreiber). However, it’s the pack’s leader and single stray of the group, Chief (Bryan Cranston), who is hesitant to help Akira because of his “obey no man” attitude. Ultimately outvoted (the dogs always put group decisions up to a democratic vote), Chief reluctantly accompanies the fool-hearty dogs – and human – on their odyssey.

It’s a magical thing to watch these animated dogs come to life on the big screen. Anderson’s skilled animators and voice cast breathe magical humor and humanness all their own into these dogs, making you remember that every movement was made with the faintest of touches. Through a long journey that sees Akira and the dogs evade military forces in the form of robotic dog hunters, it all leads to a climactic end in which, with the help of pro-dog resistance fighters – including an outspoken American foreign exchange student (voiced by Greta Gerwig) – the dogs must fight for survival, lest man’s best friend be eradicated from civilization.

Anderson’s youthfully defiant films speak to our innermost selves.

The story and staging are all very refined and tight, which makes sense, as this isn’t Anderson’s first foray into stop-motion animation. His 2009 outing, Fantastic Mr. Fox, saw the auteur first explore the stop-motion medium by bringing the seminal children’s book to the big screen. While it was acclaimed for all of the right reasons, it also felt like a director doing a one-off homage to a beloved source material (P.T. Anderson’s under-appreciated Inherent Vice feels like a similarly executed auteurist exercise). But with Isle of Dogs, we get an original story from Anderson and collaborators Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura, and feels like an even tighter, more coherent story that paces fantastically all it’s own.

And while Anderson has literally shrunken down the size of the production for Isle of Dogs, it should be noted that he expands in his exploration of a new cultural landscape and continent, bringing every bit of Japanese culture and detail to life in his storybook world. And no matter the size, whether as grand as The Grand Budapest Hotel or as intimate as Isle of Dogs, one thing always remains the same: Anderson’s films are about a spirit of adolescence that stands out, or up, to a larger, more absurd, adult world. Anderson’s youthfully defiant films speak to our innermost selves.

So, where does Isle of Dogs rank next to the rest of Anderson’s other brilliant works? To put the finest point on it, Isle of Dogs is his most delightful work. I loved every minute and moment of this film, and it’s not hard to do exactly that. How Anderson and company are able to make a movie so funny with the most minute gestures, glances, and moments is something that will have audiences wagging their tails over in pure joy.

101 min. ‘Isle of Dogs’ is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some violent images. In theaters this Friday.

101 min. ‘Isle of Dogs’ is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some violent images. In theaters this Friday.