Horror Thoughts ‘14—Steadfast Stanley (2014) ***

NR, 5 min.

Director/Writer: John Kim

“Steadfast Stanley” tells the story of the as yet untold during the inevitable zombie apocalypse—the story of the family dog, the ever-devoted bastion to the family dynamic. We’ve seen families broken up by zombie apocalypses before, but how often have we followed the travails of the tiniest members of the family. I say tiny, because in this zombie flick our hero is the family dog, in this case a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

I’m a Corgi owner myself, and I have to say if you want to keep your zombie flick somewhat lighthearted, there’s no better choice than making your hero a Corgi. There is something eternally funny about the looks of a Corgi, and the animation in “Steadfast Stanley” captures the Corgi look and personality perfectly. They’re really such silly looking creatures. It tells the audience that nothing really bad will befall Stanley.

It’s only a four-minute short, so we get no explanation about what is going on. We’re going to have to just employ our zombie knowledge and catch up. Of course, poor Stanley doesn’t know what’s going on either. He just knows that his Mom person and his little boy leave so suddenly that they leave the little boy’s shoe behind. That can’t be right. Stanley takes it upon himself to bring the shoe to his boy.

The animation is as fun and funny as a Corgi looks. Stanley battles the zombie hordes in the only ways his little legs will allow, through stealth and perseverance. However, will his little boy be changed when he finds him? True to a dog’s nature, the thought never crosses Stanley’s little pea brain. I’m sure our Hoagie would do the same for his favorite person too.

Watch "Steadfast Stanley" below.