StarDog and TurboCat 2019

In 1969, a Golden retriever named Buddy is launched into space with a backpack in a space capsule by his owner, David. But soon after leaving Earth, the capsule malfunctions and shakes Buddy, mutating his DNA and granting him extraordinary powers just as he drifts away from the planet, leaving him frozen and adrift in the cold silence of space.

Fifty years later, the capsule reenters Earth’s atmosphere and crash-lands in the fictional town of Glenfield, where Buddy wakes up in a dumpster, dazed and trying to talk to a world that doesn’t yet understand him. To his surprise, the capsule has vanished, and the town around him seems ill-equipped to handle a superpowered dog-visitor. He spots a police presence nearby and ends up chasing a police truck for blocks until it stops at the local station, where the story begins to widen in unexpected directions.

Inside the truck’s cargo, a caged dog named Victor appeals to Buddy for help, tugging at a shared fate and asking him to free him from confinement. As this unfolds, Officer Peck Peck steps out of the vehicle and takes Victor into the station, which is linked to the town’s animal pound—an institution that looms large in Buddy’s early observations of Glenfield’s darker undercurrent toward its animal residents.

In a shadowy alley, Buddy meets Felix, a tuxedo cat who calls himself Tur(b)oCat, and who quickly mistakes Buddy for a stray. The encounter spirals into a wild chase that drags Buddy into a Batmobile-like vehicle and into Tur(b)oCat’s gadget-filled secret hideout located inside the Glenfield Museum, where his robot butler, Sinclair, awaits. There, Tur(b)oCat bluntly explains a grim truth: humans hate animals in Glenfield, and the pound often makes animals disappear. Buddy, though earnest, struggles to be believed, insisting he only wants to find the space capsule so that David might find him again, a hope Tur(b)oCat isn’t sure will ever come to pass.

To gain Tur(b)oCat’s help, Buddy offers a practical barter—milk. He finds a bottle of milk in David’s lunch and presents it, but the answer is a chilly no. In the process, Buddy also hands Felix the carrot he found, a token revealing Cassidy’s recent carrot theft—revealing that the carrot once belonged to Cassidy, a former magician’s rabbit who Felix clearly adores.

With Felix determined to reconnect with Cassidy, the cat heads off, but not without trouble: Officer Peck spots him, and a tense pursuit ensues. The escape leads Buddy to rally his newfound speed and strength as the pair narrowly outrun the pursuing officer, hopping into action to reach the source of Cassidy’s carrot—the Mega Store. Inside this big shopping hub, Buddy’s interest in everyday goods competes with his urgent mission, and he finds himself distracted by a montage of curious odds and ends that shimmer with the possibility of a normal life he hasn’t known for decades.

The duo’s arrival at the Mega Store marks a crucial turning point: the quest to locate the missing capsule becomes intertwined with Cassidy’s past and the town’s fear of animal inhabitants. Buddy’s bold decisions and Tur(b)oCat’s cunning gadgets come into play as they navigate the aisles, trying to stay one step ahead of those who would keep them apart. An old trick Buddy once used on Felix—the famous “eye trick”—is revisited, a small moment that hints at the friendship and trust growing between them, even as the world around them remains wary and suspicious of something as improbable as a space-capable dog.

As the story unfolds in Glenfield, Buddy and his unlikely allies realize that the key to their future lies not just in recovering the capsule, but in proving that animals can be valued members of a community that has long treated them as dispensable. The tender threads—Buddy’s longing to reconnect with David, Felix’s loyalty to Cassidy, and Sinclair’s quiet, protective presence—begin to weave a larger tapestry about acceptance, friendship, and the power of courage in the face of fear. The adventure in Glenfield is only just beginning, and the path ahead promises more surprises, more bonds, and a chance to redefine the town’s relationship with the animals who call it home.