AllMovie

Aimed at children, this live-action Australian adventure follows an adorable golden retriever puppy on a cross-country search for the dingoes who comprise his doggy roots. Though the cocky young puppy's real name is Muffin, he prefers to think of himself as Napoleon. His quest begins at a children's birthday party where he frolics gaily with the children until he lands in a basket that has several helium balloons tied to it and is suddenly carried away. Eventually he lands on the rocky shore of distant Sydney Harbor. There he is befriended by a parrot-like galah named Birdo Lucci (other sly in-jokes for film buffs abound in the story). Together, the two buddies head into the bush in search of Napoleon's forebears. Along the way, they encounter a variety of native Australian critters including a koala, a kindly mother kangaroo, a hissy frill-necked lizard, a mean snake and a terrifying black cat who mistakes Napoleon for a giant mouse. Eventually, Napoleon meets his distant relatives too. Like the animals in Babe, this film's closest relative, the animals in this outing are endowed with human voices and qualities.