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| “ | How am I going to write a song in three days? Yesterday I had four days, before that I had five days. Now I've got three days'? | „ |
| ~ Angus |
Angus Scattergood is the deutragonist of the 2017 animated comedy Rock Dog. He is voiced by Eddie Izzard.
Background
Bio
- Angus Scattergood is a rock legend with platinum records to prove it - but now suffers from a serious case of songwriter's block. With enormous pressure from his record label to release a new hit single, he hides away in his grandiose mansion with Ozzie, his robot butler as his only companion.
Personality
Angus is known for his short temper and be prone to fooling and lying. His title of Rock Legend has turned him into a bitter and pompous man which thinks too high of himself. He doesn't want to deal with people at all and sees fans as mere consumers rather than something dear to him.
He's more kind to Ozzie, but still acts in a violent way towards it. And different from Bodi, doesn't take it as something alive, but rather a butler. However, there are times he does takes it as a living partner.
However, Angus can have a soft side for those who get on his good side. After Bodi's arc is over, he's seen rather happy being around him and even excited to play with him.
Physical appearance
Angus is a Persian cat with a very slender build, white fur, pink nose, red manicured claws, and it's revealed that he has heterochromia as his eyes are different colors - his right eye is blue and his left eye is brown.
Angus' outfit consists of a black long-sleeved shirt, dark grey jeans, and black sunglasses.
Rock Dog
Not much is known about Angus prior to the movie's event. According to what he tells Ian on the phone, he grew in a dumpster, which could mean that he comes from a low income family. Also, that he got his first 6-string guitar when he was a kid and got into music since then, met a band in need of a guitarist at Rock 'n' Roll Park and his career started from there. However, the veracity of this might be doubtful as Angus tends to exaggerate or make up stories.
At some point, he began composing and quickly reach global stardom and the title of Rock Legend among rock fans. Because of this popularity, he decided to seal himself in his house and live a life of luxury without the burdens of the outside world, which in return, made him grow bitter, narcissistic and pompous and Ian seems to be his only communication to the music label, while Ozzie, his robot butler, keeps him company.
At the moment that Bodi appears in his life, he's suffering from writer's block and can't come up with a new song for the single that has already been promised to be released on Friday, which hasn't been developed. Desperate, Angus tries to fit onto his Rock Legend persona and perform a new song, which doesn't sound good for him nor Ozzie.
Bodi begins ringing the door bell, and since Angus is used to deal with tricky fans who manage to cross the electrified fence and the grass labyrinth, he decides to fool him into stepping onto the welcome mat and launch him onto the streets. He stares at Bodi a final time before telling Ozzie that that's how an insane person looks like.
The next day, he wakes up from a dream with a new track in his head, but before he could write down or record, Bodi begins singing derailing his train of thought and angering him, so much that he doesn't notice that the gates are closing and he's left stunned on the asphalt. Sadly, a tourist truck was passing at the exact moment and begins chasing him; Bodi is quick to catch up to him and try to get on his good side so he can become his music teacher, which Angus refuses. He tries to trick him into running the opposite direction but it fails to work, and desperate he runs in other direction and hides in a dumpster thanks to a tackle led by Bodi. This event shocks him as he doesn't want to return into a dumpster.
Bodi opens up and tells him that he's the reason he's here and that he changed his life, which Angus reacts grumpy telling him that he has quite ruined his and just wants to go home. Bodi carries no money however, but is more than willing to help him get enough.
At Rock 'n' Roll Park, Bodi isn't gathering enough money to pay for a cab, which angers Angus and rather decides to play instead of him. Unfortunately, the wolf party that is trying to kidnap Bodi, unknowingly kidnaps him instead and he's taking onto the Fight Palace where Linnux is eager to encounter Bodi. Angry for this rude treatment, Angus confronts Linnux until he's knocked out by a light baseball bat hit. He's later dumped onto his house by agents Riff and Skozz, and discovered by Ozzie.
Still being under the writer's block, he receives a call by Ian and is threaten to finish the song until 6:00 PM. or else he'll be cut off from the label. At this moment of despair, he hears Bodi playing outside the gates a song he finds rather catchy, and decides to trick him into believing he'll teach him music lessons in order to steal his song. Bodi falls for this trap, and Angus quickly broadcasts that the song is finished without giving any credit to Bodi.
This matter leaves a shadow on him and is easily guilt tripped by Ozzie, by just staring at him motionlessly as if in judgement because it ran out of battery, into doing something about this betrayal. Rather than apologizing, he decides to gift him the guitar he played with at the music lesson and signing it in the back, an action he believes will make it even more valuable. He goes to Rock 'n' Roll Park and meets Darma and Germur, friends of Bodi, who are startrucked. He's disheartened to notice that the wolf party have taken Bodi. Not long after, he receives a call from the label that the car is outside his house and he's not responding. Not letting Ian finish, he decides to do the right thing and takes matters into his hands and save Bodi with the help of Darma and Germur.
They later find Bodi running away from the Fight Palace and heading to Snow Mountain, but Angus decides to take him to it and he gives the guitar to Bodi in order to mend ways.
At Snow Mountain, he tries to help Bodi but Germur takes the wheel and leaves the car unable to run. Later, the three are caught in Bodi's magic wave attack to the wolves and are left in a soothing phase. Bodi now being more relieved, runs to Angus and hugs him tight, mending ways.
Somewhere in the future, their relationship grows and are now friends, and Angus gives credit to Bodi for the song they wrote together called "Glorious" and play together at a live concert and telling Ian to look into Bodi's band as well.
Relations
Bodi
| “ | I heard you on the magic box and you changed my life! | „ |
| ~ Bodi |
Bodi's relation with Angus is the main driving point on the movie, he's his idol and aspiring role model to become. However, at first, Angus despises Bodi for how snoopy and unaware he can be of things. But also takes advantage of how gullible and naïve he is. However, by the end of the movie, their relationship grows a lot, and he's seen rather happy when around Bodi to the point of giving him credit for the song "Glorious", and playing a solo with him at the concert. And is more comfortable with Bodi hugging him.
Ozzie
| “ | Will you stop?! You are like a stone, you are! Staring at me with your big tin eyes! | „ |
| ~ Angus Scattergood |
Ozzie is Angus' only companion at his house and often his voice of reason, despite not being to talk, but rather dialogues with himself through it. Since Ozzie is a robot butler, it can't express emotions but it does express concern. It knows Angus' routine and is quick to serve but has been shown to not always being as serviceable as Angus would like, like watching cartoons when Angus was stunned or guilt tripping him after betraying Bodi. But, prior to meeting Bodi, it was the only "person" he treated in a nice way.
Ian
| “ | Agh, will you quit making lame excuses and just get the song to us?! | „ |
| ~ Ian |
Ian works for the label that Angus works for. Because of this, and thanks to the writer's block he was currently in, their relationship was heavily strained and stressful. Ian is probably the only person Angus answers to and is afraid of, since he signs his checks. Because of this, their relationship depends of how good Angus performs - if he's being difficult, the relationship turns difficult, if not, then Ian can be quite happy and eager to celebrate. By the end of the movie, Angus gives him the task to look into Bodi's band since he considers them quite good.
Darma
| “ | You've been hanging with rock legend Angus Scattergood? | „ |
| ~ Darma |
Angus and Darma barely have exchanged words, ergo, their relationship is bare bones. He knows Darma thanks to being Bodi's friend and band member, while Darma's view of Angus is more of a fan, admiring his work and seeing him as somehow unreachable, like any famous person. When Bodi tells her he's hanging out with Angus, she immediately believes that he's lying in order to impress her.
Germur
| “ | Right on! Hanging with Angus. | „ |
| ~ Germur |
Same as Darma, their relationship is bare bones and knows about Germur's existence thanks to him being Bodi's friend and band member. As well as Darma, he views Angus as someone worth admiring and somehow unreachable. When they exchange words for the first time, he's severely starstrucked, to the point of forgetting for a second that Bodi has been kidnapped.
Design
Angus is heavily based as an Englishman with a heavy accent and attire. He wears sunglasses, even when sleeping, a black long-sleeved shirt and dark gray jeans. His fur is white and his nails are a strong red color. According to the art director, Angus was difficult to animate due to the sunglasses and being unable to tell the way he's staring at, so his emotions are vastly more expressed through his eyebrows and mouth. However, without the shades, he has a constant tired half-closed look. Seen in the concept art, and throughout the movie, his eyes are only seen once.
His guitar, the one that he plays with Bodi, have a Union Jack design, further enhancing his English roots.
Trivia
- A poster of Angus says a new hit single will be released on Friday. The film's release dates in China and the United States were respectively July 8 and February 24.
- His last name means spendthrift.
- Angus could possibly reference Polly Scattergood, a British singer-songwriter who shares the last name with him.
- Originally, Angus was going to be far more emphatic, and Bodi would've been the stubborn one.
- He's always depicted with a sad or tired look on the storyboard.
- He sleeps with the sunglasses on top, and seems to sleep with his clothes on.
- He's the only character in the movie who has, or has been revealed to have, a last name.
- He's always depicted with the Union Jack guitar on promotional art, despite being the Scattercaster his actual guitar up until the end of the movie.
- In comparison with Bodi, he's small and very slender, while Bodi is taller and with a bigger build.
- On the Extras of Rock Dog, there's a drawing which depicts Angus talking to Trey, which never happens in the movie.
- Also, he's wearing Bodi's hat instead of the paper hat he does with the newspaper, which, could've been a chance to see Bodi without it.
- He's the only citizen from The City who is barefoot. Bodi, Khampa and the sheep herd are the others, but they are villagers from Snow Mountain.
- He wears a turtleneck sweater on the storyboard and sketches.
- He had green eyes on the storyboard and sketches.
- On scratched storyboards, it seems that he and Bodi had a much larger story arc originally. Ranging from him opening up to Bodi and receiving him at his house to personally take him to Snow Mountain and fight the wolves, almost sacrificing his life through rifts and avalanches.