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The animated kiddie movie "Rock Dog" should be as frisky as a puppy, but it's as lethargic as an old St. Bernard after a big meal.

In a village in the Himalayas, a Tibetan mastiff named Khampa (voiced by J.K. Simmons) guards the woolmaking sheep of his village from the wolves outside. Khampa wants his son, Bodi (voiced by Luke Wilson), to follow in his footsteps — but Bodi's dreams are to make music on his three-stringed shamisen. The situation gets so bad that Khampa bans music in the village so Bodi will concentrate on protecting the flock.

One day, as Khampa is training some of the not-very-bright sheep to masquerade as a mastiff army, Bodi sees an airplane drop some cargo. One of the items he finds is a radio, which gives him his first taste of rock music. He becomes determined to leave the village for the big city to find a rock legend cat, Angus Scattergood (voiced by Eddie Izzard). Khampa, hoping Bodi will get his rebellious streak out of his system, lets him go.

In the city, Bodi discovers meeting one's musical idol isn't so easy, and he winds up in the park with the other musically inclined animals hoping to make it big. He also gets noticed by Linnux (voiced by Lewis Black), the gangsterlike leader of the wolves, who aims to kidnap Bodi to force Khampa to surrender the village.

Director Ash Brannon (who co-directed "Toy Story 2" for Pixar and "Surf's Up" for Sony) and co-writer Kurt Voelker, adapting a graphic novel by Chinese writer and rock singer Zheng Jun, doesn't do much to enliven the story. The familiar themes of the kid pursuing his dreams and the old rocker finding fresh inspiration play out in plodding, predictable fashion.

The jokes in "Rock Dog" are lame, and many of them — like naming the village's goat barber Floyd, an homage to "Mayberry R.F.D.," or dubbing the narrator (voiced by Sam Elliott) Fleetwood Yak — will sail over young viewers' heads. Most viewers, kids and adults, will see the movie's animalcentric world as a low-rent copy of "Zootopia" and quickly get bored.

Twitter: @moviecricket —

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'Rock Dog'

A Tibetan guard dog has dreams of being a guitar player in this tepid animated comedy.

Where • Theaters everywhere.

When • Opens Friday, Feb. 24.

Rating • PG for action and language.

Running time • 89 minutes.