''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' is a 2008 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

, the first in the ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' series. It is directed by

Raja Gosnell Raja Raymond Gosnell (born December 9, 1958) is an American filmmaker and film editing, editor. He is best known for directing comedies including ''Never Been Kissed'', ''Big Momma's House'', and ''Scooby-Doo (film), Scooby-Doo''. As well as fam ...

and was released on October 3, 2008. The films stars

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo () (born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''The Prestige'' (2006), ''Angel Has Fallen'' (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walke ...

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

and

Manolo Cardona Manuel "Manolo" Julián Cardona Molano (born April 25, 1977) is a Colombian actor. Personal life Cardona was born in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia on April 25, 1977. At the age of seven, Cardona's family nicknamed him "Manolo," which later beca ...

as the human leads and

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rece ...

and

Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), known professionally as Andy García, is a Cuban-born American actor, director and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's ''The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside ...

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

roles. The plot centers on a female Chihuahua named Chloe, who gets dognapped in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and has to escape from an evil

Doberman The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany.German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

, Delgado and a hyperactive male Chihuahua, Papi, who has a desperate crush on her. A sequel, ''

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2'' is a 2011 American comedy film. It is the sequel to 2008's ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' and the second film in the ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' series. Directed by Alex Zamm, and starring George Lopez, Odette Yustman an ...

'', was released

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on February 1, 2011, and '' Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta!'' was released on September 18, 2012.

Plot

In Beverly Hills, California, wealthy businesswoman Vivian "Viv" Ashe leaves her richly pampered pet chihuahua, Chloe, with her irresponsible niece, Rachel, while she embarks on a business trip for ten days. Papi, the landscaper Sam's pet Chihuahua, has an unrequited crush on Chloe, by which she is disgusted. On a whim, Rachel decides to go to

with her friends and brings Chloe along. When Rachel leaves Chloe alone in the hotel room to go dancing at a club, Chloe goes looking for her, but gets dognapped as she tries to find Rachel and is sent to the

dog fights A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. There, she meets a street-smart

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

named Delgado. Rachel comes back to the hotel and is frantic when she finds Chloe missing. Chloe is picked to fight in the pit against El Diablo, a fierce Argentinean-Bolivian

Doberman Pinscher The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany.pack rat A pack rat or packrat, also called a woodrat or trade rat, are any species in the North and Central American rodent genus ''Neotoma''. Pack rats have a rat-like appearance, with long tails, large ears, and large, black eyes. Pack rats are notice ...

named Manuel from being eaten by an

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his ...

named Chico. Manuel gratefully offers to take Chloe's collar to a ship for the captain to read it, and Chloe accepts. When Delgado returns and finds out what happened, he explains that it was all a con to steal Chloe's expensive collar, and that in reality, iguanas are vegetarians. The dogs reach the border by train, but they're caught when the conductor wanders back to the place they and the other dogs are hiding. They're forced to jump out, eventually arriving in the barren deserts of Chihuahua, where Delgado explains that he was a former police dog; he was retired after he lost his sense of smell during a raid and a sneak attack from El Diablo. Chloe and Delgado are attacked by a group of mountain lions, but are rescued by a group of Chihuahuas led by a long-haired Chihuahua named Montezuma. Montezuma teaches Chloe that Chihuahuas are a "tiny but mighty" breed, and tells her to find her bark. He offers Chloe to stay with them, but she declines, saying that someone could be waiting for her at home. She realizes she loves Papi, but was never able to give him a chance. Rachel and Sam are in Puerto Vallarta and find that Chloe was spotted in the state of Chihuahua. After tracking Chloe and Delgado from Mexico City, El Diablo arrives in Chihuahua and attempts to capture Chloe. Papi saves her and ends up getting captured in a cage inside an abandoned Aztec temple. Delgado encounters Manuel and Chico with Chloe's collar, and Manuel frantically explains that they wanted Delgado to smell the collar to find Chloe. Delgado responds that he can't, but Manuel convinces him to try. Delgado smells the collar, and is finally able to track Chloe's scent, taking the collar with him. Chloe rescues Papi, but Delgado discovers that El Diablo had vanished. Rachel finds Chloe, and Vasquez is arrested by the police. Chloe returns safely to Beverly Hills without Vivian finding out what happened and accepts a romantic relationship with Papi, as well as Rachel with Sam. The characters' fates are later revealed: Delgado returns to being a police dog in

; El Diablo is recaptured by Delgado and is adopted by a rich lady who "had a passion for fashion"; Chico and Manuel move to

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

and become rich; and Papi and Chloe have their first date.

Cast

as Vivian "Viv" Ashe *

as Rachel Ashe *

as Sam Cortez * Ali Hillis as Angela * Maury Sterling as Rafferty * Jesús Ochoa as Officer Ramirez *

José María Yazpik José María Yazpik (born November 13, 1970) is a Mexican actor. Biography Yazpik was born in Mexico City, the son of gynaecologist Jose Maria Meza and housewife Cristina Yazpik. He has two siblings, Carlos and Cristina. When Yazpik was a chi ...

as Vasquez *

Eugenio Derbez Eugenio González Derbez (; born September 2, 1961) is a Mexican actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films and television series including '' The Book of Life, The Angry Birds Movie 2 and The Secret Life of Pets.'' In the 2010s, he ap ...

as Store Owner * Roxanne Clayton Poynter as Cheb *

Marguerite Moreau Marguerite Moreau (born April 25, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jesse Reeves in the fantasy horror film ''Queen of the Damned'', Katie in the comedy '' Wet Hot American Summer'', and her role as Connie in '' The Mi ...

as Blair * Alasdair G.W. Simpson as Gardener #2 / foog (uncredited)

Voices

as Chloe - a White Chihuahua *

as Delgado - a

as Papi - a Chihuahua *

Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...

as El Diablo - a

Doberman The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany.Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

as Montezuma (nicknamed Monte) - a Long-haired Chihuahua * Paul Rodriguez as Chico - an

Iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his ...

* Cheech Marin as Manuel - a Rat *

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

as Delta - a

Toy Poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a Dog breed, breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium ...

Leslie Mann Leslie Jean Mann (born March 26, 1972) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including ''The Cable Guy'' (1996), ''George of the Jungle'' (1997), '' Big Daddy'' (1999), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 17 Again'' (2009), '' Funn ...

as Biminy - a

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.Luis Guzman Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

as Chucho - a

Mongrel A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongre ...

Michael Urie Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC dramedy television series ''Ugly Betty''. He can be heard as Bobby Kerns in ''As the Curtain Rises'', an original podca ...

as Sebastian - a

Pug The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (Fawn (colour) ...

Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, (born December 1, 1972) is a Mexican radio broadcaster. He is currently host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''El Show De Piolín'' on Entravision''.'' His nickname means "Tweety Bird" in Mexican Spanish, a nickname ...

as Rafa - an American Pit Bull Terrier
Lisa Marie Quillinan
as Carthay Hotel Poodle - a

Poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle var ...

* Matthew Valks as Himself (uncredited)

Production

Chloe was named after writer Analisa LaBianco's dog, a 4-year-old Chihuahua.

Visual effects

The

Cinesite Cinesite Studios (also known as Cinesite VFX or simply Cinesite) is an independent, multinational business which provides services to the media and entertainment industries. Its head office in London opened for business in 1994, initially offe ...

studio used their specially developed pipeline for creating digital muzzle replacements, animated the many talking dogs. The in-house visual effects supervisor was Matt Johnson, and the animation supervisor was Alexander Williams. The chihuahua regularly changes throughout the film.

Tippett Studio Tippett Studio is an American visual effects company specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) for films and television commercials. The studio has created visual effects and animations on over fifty feature films and commercials, garnerin ...

was also used for the visual effects and helped with Manuel and Chico.

Music

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

was written by composer

Heitor Pereira Heitor Teixeira Pereira () (born November 29, 1960), or Heitor TP, is a Brazilian composer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and record producer. In his career, Pereira has recorded with the band Simply Red and several famous musicians, such as Elt ...

, who recorded the score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Reception

Critical reception

''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' received mixed reviews from critics. , the film holds a 40% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 99 reviews with an average rating of 5.10 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite hitting some sweet notes, ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' is little more than disposable family entertainment". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 41 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Mark Olsen of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' wrote in his review, "One could try to overlook the film's view of Mexico as an either-or land of resort poshness and street-level poverty, chiefly populated by criminals and hustlers of all stripes, except that view forms the entire film, driving the narrative impulse by which the spoiled puppy makes her journey". Olsen also wrote, "Think of it as the

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...

Complex, that idea of young people as little princesses and princes who get what they want, and what they want is easy pickings and a life without engagement". Walter Addiego of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' gave a positive review, writing, "the film combines the themes of dignity and empowerment'We are tiny, but we are mighty', says the leader of a vast Chihuahua packwith a story of a spoiled rich canine who learns not to be so high and mighty, the film hits all the typical Disney notes. There's even a politically correct message at the end advising would-be dog adopters to make sure they know what they're getting into".

Box office

''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' was a commercial success. The film grossed $29,300,465 on its opening weekend from 3,215 theaters, averaging about $9,114 per theater, and ranking number 1 at the box office for that weekend. On its second weekend, the film arrived number 1 again with $17,502,077. As of May 10, 2009, ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' has grossed $94,514,402 domestically and $54,767,204 in other territories leading up to a total of $149,281,606 worldwide.

Home media

''Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' was released by

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...

on March 3, 2009 in the US and May 25, 2009 in the UK on Disney DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

. As of November 1, 2009, the DVD has sold over 3 million copies generating $59,918,764 in sales revenue.

Sequels

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

sequel was released for DVD and Blu-ray on February 1, 2011 by

.Shallenberger, Samuel (2010-09-26)
The Disney Flame: "'Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2' DVD"
TheDisneyFlame.Blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-09-26. It was filmed in October 2009 in Los Angeles and

returned as the voice of Papi.

and

didn't reprise their roles. Another direct-to-video sequel was released for DVD and Blu-ray on September 18, 2012, with Lopez once again reprising his role as Papi, making him the only actor from the original film to appear in the sequels.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{Raja Gosnell 2008 films 2000s adventure comedy films 2000s children's comedy films American adventure comedy films American children's comedy films 2000s English-language films Films about kidnapping Films about animals Films about dogs Films about pets Films directed by Raja Gosnell Films set in Beverly Hills, California Films set in Mexico Mandeville Films films Walt Disney Pictures films Films scored by Heitor Pereira 2008 comedy films Beverly Hills Chihuahua (film series) Films produced by David Hoberman Films produced by Todd Lieberman 2000s American films Talking dog films