Pedro is a dog. Tony is his rooster boyfriend. Welcome to “Pedro + Tony” from animator Don Thomas, a wonderfully different short animated film which celebrates the triumph of love in a most unexpected manner.
Both Pedro and Tony have anniversary surprises for each other: Pedro is cooking a special dinner and he purchased a lovely vase, while Tony has a big bouquet of roses. Unfortunately, disaster strikes: the vase accidentally gets broken, the roses have nasty thorns and the dinner gets burned. Pedro and Tony become angry at each other and soon the anniversary is a tirade of hostile remarks (perhaps a bit too shrill for any entertainment value). Tony stalks outside, leaving Pedro alone in their apartment.
Can this relationship be saved? Well, there isn’t much surprise on how that turns out. But what is a delight are the unique touches which come to the production: having Pedro as a Filipino (vocalized by actor Ian Michæl Enriquez, who also contributed dialogue to his character), providing warm support by a pair of neighboring lesbian bears, and brilliant stop-motion animation which took three years to shoot (most notably the artfully conceived reconciliation, which takes place in a shadow-thick bedroom).
However, the best touch is saved for last when Tony carefully attempts to speak romantically in the Filipino Tagalog language to Pedro and comes up with a truly Dadaist statement. For anyone who has ever stumbled trying to put love into words, Tony’s tongue-tied Tagalog wonderfully ices this scrumptious treat.
