This animated short film tells the story of a dog called Dug. He is given a series of special missions on his birthday by dogs with an ulterior motive. He takes the missions seriously, and they lead to unexpected results."Dug's Special Mission" is a funny and sweet animation. The series of missions are funny, and they lead to even more funnier scenes. It is an entertaining short film.

I found this short whilst browsing the bonus features of the 'Up' DVD that I rented and it was cleverly written.When the short began, it had me thinking, "Does this take place during the film or is it something completely separate?" It was hard to determine to begin with but I laughed at the '"Squirrel!" gag and I enjoyed watching Alpha, Beta and Gamma's failed attempts at following the instructions of Dug's mission. I did sympathise with Dug as well due to him having a terrible birthday until he sees a rock that resembles a man and another that resembles a turtle. It wasn't until this point that I realised this short tied in with the main film since Dug was looking at interestingly-shaped rocks at the same time as Carl and Russell. One thing that puzzled me was that Alpha's voice was already squeaky in this short whereas it is a complete surprise to Beta and Gamma in the main film.Overall, this is an entertaining short that ties in with the main film very well. 8/10.

Featuring the most memorable of the canines from the feature, 'Dug's Special Mission' marks a refreshing approach for Pixar companion short films, where the events of Dug's birthday lead right into a pivotal moment from the main feature that we had only previously seen from Carl and Russell's perspective.Exploiting the sympathy and adoration many of us expressed towards Dug during the film, this short is primarily a showcase of humour up until its ending, which leaves us to take away some considerably heavy implications regarding Dug's role in the journey of a determined old man and an eager wilderness explorer. When you sit down to 'Up' again in the future you may feel the tug on your heartstrings pulling a little harder knowing what Dug's birthday wish was, or at least you'll have had a few more minutes of fun with this lovable dog.9/10

Being a Pixar fan, I was looking forward to this short film ever since it was announced. Heck, I was eager for it even BEFORE it was announced, because Pixar always includes a second short film on their DVDs. While I can see by the ratings here on IMDb that some people didn't enjoy it as much as I did (I can see why, if they're comparing it to "Up"), I still think that this short film had a number of elements that made it very enjoyable to watch.All the humor that comes with Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Dug is here, as well as Alpha's "broken collar" joke. However, this film did have a few discrepancies with the feature film it was based on that bothered me slightly. They're mostly anachronisms or continuity errors, but I can forgive them considering that this film is supposedly a representation of how Dug remembers these events, just like the "Married Life" sequence in "Up" was supposed to be how Carl Fredricksen remembered his marriage with Ellie.This film isn't all physical humor, though. Before I go on, please note that you shouldn't watch this until you've seen the feature film it's based on. Anyway, after Alpha gets fed up with Dug, Dug is (to be brief) very sad and alienated. Pixar does their thing with the emotions, and Dug runs away into some fog-filled rocks. The first time I saw that, I felt sorry for Dug. However, as per his birthday wish (it is his birthday, after all), he finds "a new master": Carl and Russell. What a nice alternate location story!