Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

Plot

In a land inspired by feudal Japan and inhabited entirely by cats, the official Ika Chu wants to expand his palace, which sits next to the impoverished village of Kakamucho. To force the villagers out, he sends thugs led by his second-in-command Ohga to trash the town. The townspeople demand a new samurai from the Shogun, so Ika Chu appoints Hank, a dog prisoner about to be executed, hoping to offend them.

Initially hostile, the villagers warm to Hank after he trains with Jimbo, a catnip-addled samurai, and subdues the henchman Sumo. Hank's popularity goes to his head, causing a rift with Jimbo. Ika Chu distracts Hank at a nightclub while Ohga's bandits devastate Kakamucho.

Hank nearly leaves but finds an origami figure of himself that reminds him of his oath. Jimbo storms Ika Chu's palace to free Sumo, and Hank returns to help. The townspeople build a fake paper town and dummy villagers booby-trapped with dynamite. When the raiders attack, Hank ignites the bombs, and the villagers fight back.

The Shogun arrives, and Ohga accidentally exposes Ika Chu's plan. Ika Chu flees to his palace, where Hank fights him on a giant jade toilet that overflows. Hank leads the villagers in digging a channel to divert the flood safely around the town.

Production

Originally announced around 2010 as Blazing Samurai by Yair Landau, the project was inspired by the trend of westernizing Asian films. The story initially centered on a black samurai protecting an East Asian village but was changed to focus on cats and dogs for broader appeal. Chris Rock was considered as a co-producer. In November 2014, GFM Films took on international sales, with Rob Minkoff set to produce.

Open Road Films acquired U.S. distribution rights in February 2015, with Chris Bailey and Mark Koetsier attached to direct. In November 2019, Aniventure joined as the producing studio. The budget was $45 million, with $16 million categorized as original equity and $29 million from Aniventure and Canadian tax credits.

In February 2021, producers Adam Nagle and Guy Collins replaced Landau and Purcell; Chris Bailey left as director to work on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, while Minkoff and Koetsier became directors. Bailey still receives directing credit contractually. Arc Productions initially handled animation until it rebranded to Jam Filled Toronto in 2016; Cinesite took over in November 2019, with its Montreal and Vancouver facilities doing the work. Much of the animation and some voice recordings were done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Release

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank finally hit North American theaters on July 15, 2022, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The project had a long, winding road to release. It was originally slated for an April 14, 2017 debut from Open Road Films, which later moved it to August 4, 2017.

By November 2019, the film was still in its first animatic phase at Cinesite, with hopes for a 2021 release. In January 2022, Paramount bought the distribution rights from GFM Animation for $10 million, initially planning a July 22 release before bumping it up a week. Instead of the anticipated Paramount Animation label, it came out under Nickelodeon Movies.

A Big Nate short, Bad Hamster, played before it. In the UK, Sky Cinema debuted it as a Sky Original on July 22, 2022. Paramount Home Entertainment made it available for digital download on August 16, 2022, followed by DVD and Blu-ray on October 18, 2022.

Reception

In the United States and Canada, the film opened alongside Where the Crawdads Sing and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, projected to gross around $10 million from 3,475 theaters. It earned $2.4 million on its first day, including $550,000 from Thursday previews, and debuted to $6.3 million, finishing sixth. In its second weekend, it made $3.9 million, a drop of 38.7%, finishing seventh.

It is the highest-grossing film released by Aniventure to date. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of A−, and PostTrak reported 66% positive scores, with 49% saying they would definitely recommend it. Katie Walsh of TheWrap called it a breezy, funny, highly self-referential flick steeped in movie history.

Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe gave it 2.5 out of 4, noting that while many jokes are dumb, the film is quite smart. Owen Gleiberman praised Jackson and Gervais but thought Cera's sheepish performance left the film in search of a center. Martin Tsai of The A.V. Club gave a highly critical review, calling it morally reprehensible with a lazy, melting-pot approach to exploring Asian culture.

Did You Know?

• A video game adaptation titled Samurai Academy: Paws of Fury was announced in 2025 for digital release on November 20, 2025, on Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
• Robert Ben Garant provided uncredited screenplay revisions during the later stages of production.