In a city on the brink of collapse, a hustler, a has been, and a hard boiled PI fight for salvation on the streets of a nightmarish underworld.
Dog Breath is a traditionally structured animated TV drama with a full season arc. Songs by the show’s fictional band are featured throughout and make up the official soundtrack.
To promote the series, in-universe content—like TikToks, Reels, and comic-style posts—will expand the world without affecting the main storyline.
PLOT BRIEF - (FULL SCRIPT AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST):
In Scarlet Town—a lawless European seaport that feels like a dreamlike collision of Odessa and Berlin, if such a place could exist - a couple of misfits band together to defeat their common enemy … starvation.
The story’s time period is deliberately vague, shaped more by the mix of crumbling societal norms and scattered cultural references than by historical fact. It’s generally understood to be a mashup of all things 20th century, placing it in the hazy aftermath of a major war, where order has long since broken down. There are no cellphones but there are key-tars, and a Lamborghini might whizz past a breadline.
Within the strange world of Scarlet Town we follow 3 major storylines…
STORYLINE 1: THE BAND…
Klaus was a musician before the war shut down the labels and all the records turned free. Now he doesn’t care about anything but old guitars and vintage American cars. He understands that music is 90 percent hair, of which he’s still got a full head, and if he wanted he could start a band like Brian Jonestown Massacre (if they were good). Anyway, he usually listens to jazz. He drives fast for a living, crazy fast. Cause nothing matters anyway, right? But when he wrecks his precious 1968 Dodge Dart in a drag race, his opium habit politely suggests otherwise. He needs new wheels right away. Problem is, he’s broke, and American cars can only be found on the black market where they sure don’t lease.
Lotte’s an orphan who sings like Moe Tucker when she’s not selling infant formula and other scarcities for underworld boss Baby Swanson. She’s a master of all things black market, but when she gets short changed on a major score, Swanson has an idea for a solution… Execution. Realizing that her mute little brother won’t survive a day in this corrupt world without her, she comes up with an idea of her own.
There's never been a shortage of fans of her looks, maybe she can work in Swanson’s nightclub until her debts are paid. Problem is, there’s only one gig available , and she doesn't play any instruments…
When Klaus and Lotte meet at one of the city's many after-hours leather clubs, it doesn’t take long for her to enlist him in her scheme. Before he knows what’s happened, they are performing at Swanson’s nightclub. Their sound and lyrics of life on the street instantly touch a nerve with the crowd.
As their residency builds momentum and word of mouth spreads, our two heroes find themselves at the center of an avant-garde world of degenerates and socialites hoping to party one last night before a war breaks out and the whole world goes belly up. Despite their 20-year age difference, they quickly form a sibling bond that provides each with a safe haven in a city spiraling toward all out destruction.
STORYLINE 2: THE PRIVATE DETECTIVE…
Howard Grant’s got PTSD from the war, but who really believes in all that head shrinker crap? He’s looking for a missing girl who stands to inherit a lot of bread, if she would just turn up to collect. His disdain for psychiatry is only aggravated by his client, Hildegard Von Frozen, daughter of a renowned analyst and unfit mother to Misty, the missing girl.
In his search for the hard partying heiress, he’s quickly drawn into the world of shady characters that comprise the scene at Club Swanson. When he discovers that Misty might have been blackmailing her own mother, he begins to wonder if he has been hired for an entirely different purpose?
STORYLINE 3: THE KILLER…
“Blabber Mouth” is what the press call him because he leaves long screeds literally attached to his victims by grotesque means. The entire city’s on alert, but no one has a clue who he is. Is he a maniac killer with unknowable motives, or an extension of unseen political forces attempting to push the city’s angst level to a breaking point?
ALL TOGETHER NOW:
Before long a robot who looks like Peter Lorre joins the band, Private Eye Howard Grant is at the bar - asking questions about a missing girl, and Baby Swanson is offering a cash reward for anyone with information leading to the capture of Blabbermouth. After all, night stalkers are bad for business. Problem is, there’s about to be a new Chancellor in town, and he don’t party…
It’s Threepenny Opera meets Two Lane Black Top… with an indie soundtrack…
Viva las Vegas!
EXAMPLE OF ANIMATION STYLE (IN TIKTOK FORMAT)
EXAMPLE OF COMIC-BOOK STYLE CAROUSEL FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PROMO
EXAMPLE OF LIVE HOLOGRAM PERFORMANCE (ACTUAL TEST FOR THIS PROJECT)
WHY ANIMATION?
Animation allow’s the explosive, hyper violent, and period specific world of DOG BREATH to come to life affordably - but more importantly, the show aims to revive an all but abandoned style of mature cartooning, in a mission to expand the current cultural palette beyond anime and quirky comedy.
WHY NOW?
Combining a classic narrative structure with storylines that address contemporary themes in politics, art, and general existential dread, the show will offer an experience unique among popular animations.
FOR WHOM?
While obviously holding a major appeal for adolescent males, DOG BREATH intends to speak to a broad audience as well as animation fans… Combining a perverse historical mashup of the history channel on acid, a fetishism relating to retro music gear and indie rock, and a celebration of the many global exploitation cinemas of the 1970’s.