Stuff I Grew Up With/Disney: Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996)

Remember the days before the internet, when we would first learn about movies either through trailers at the theater, TV spots, or previews on VHS tapes? Well, I have vague memories from early 1996, when I was eight years old, of my mom calling me into the living room, where she and Dad were watching TV, as there was an advertisement for Homeward Bound II, which was completely out of left-field. I only saw a little bit, particularly Chance falling into a big hole, but it didn't matter; it was a sequel to a movie I absolutely loved, so, of course, my interest was piqued. But I didn't see it in the theater, and until it hit video late that summer, I kind of forgot about it. Once our video rental store got it, though, I immediately checked it out and found it to be very enjoyable. It was fun seeing the characters of Chance, Shadow, and Sassy again, along with the many new animal characters who are introduced, the setting in the city made for some different but no less entertaining obstacles they had to deal with, and there were some scenes that, like the first, really got me in my feels. I never owned it on VHS, but I rented that tape so many times that I grew to be almost as familiar with it as the first. That was, until we stopped renting from that place. Once that happened, many of Homeward Bound II's details faded from memory, while the first continued to be a treasured part of my movie collection. By the time I bought the DVD set with both movies at an FYE in the early 2010's, I hadn't seen the sequel in years, but I did know that it was widely considered to be vastly inferior to the first. Looking at it as an adult, I do agree with that sentiment, and also feel that it was unnecessary to begin with, as the first told its story perfectly and there was no reason to continue on from it. But that doesn't mean the movie isn't entertaining, which it certainly is. Granted, there are certain things I genuinely don't like about it, and I don't find the city setting to be as memorable or inspired as the wilderness, but on the whole, it is a very enjoyable way to kill an hour and a half.

Now living in the suburbs near San Francisco, the Seaver family are about to fly to Canada for a family camping trip, and this time, they're taking Chance, Shadow, and Sassy with them. But before they leave, the energetic and playful Chance unintentionally angers Jamie, who's lately been neglectful of him. The family then arrives at San Francisco International Airport and place their pets in carriers, which frightens Chance. As they're being transported to the plane along with the luggage, he mistakes the airport workers for pound personnel due to their uniforms and panics. He breaks free of his carrier and runs back into the airport, followed by Shadow and Sassy. After running rampant through the building, the animals wind up on the runway and are nearly hit by one of the planes as it takes off. They then elude the authorities and escape the airfield but realize that, once again, they're going to have to journey back home. Walking all day and spending the night in an alley, they find that the city of San Francisco itself stands between them and home. Searching for the Golden Gate Bridge, they make their way through the city streets, the smaller neighborhoods, and the back alleys, but run into trouble when they come across Ashcan and Pete, a Boxer and Bullmastiff pair of street dogs who don't take kindly to pets in their territory. When they threaten Sassy, a vicious fight breaks out between the dogs, only for a large group of other street dogs to intervene. These dogs turn out to be Riley's gang, who help drive off Ashcan and Pete. Realizing that, in the excitement and confusion, Chance ran off, attempting to decoy Ashcan and Pete's "reinforcements," Riley himself sends Delilah, a female Kuvasz, to find him. After a chase and scuffle, she manages to pin him down and explain the situation to him. While wandering the city with Riley's gang, Shadow and Sassy learn of the "Blood Red Van," a vehicle that picks up stray dogs and sells them to an animal experimentation lab. Also, Riley is reluctant to take them to the bridge, as he and his gang don't trust humans and avoid them. And as he spends time with Delilah, Chance begins to fall in love and may be unwilling to return home even if they can find the bridge.

Homeward Bound II was the directorial debut of the late David R. Ellis, who already had a long and successful career in Hollywood beforehand. His first job, fittingly, was for Disney, with a small acting part in the Kurt Russell film, The Strongest Man in the World, and he went on to have bit parts in the Wonder Woman TV series and Rocky III. He found much bigger success as a stuntman and coordinator, working on tons of big movies like the Smokey and the Bandit films, Scarface, To Live and Die in L.A., Lethal Weapon, Fatal Attraction, Road House, and Days of Thunder, among many others, as well as TV shows like V and Baywatch. He was also second unit director on those movies and others. As far as his own directing work was concerned, Ellis later found success in the horror genre, directing two films in the Final Destination franchise (the awesome second and the horrendous fourth one, The Final Destination), Snakes on a Plane, and Shark Night. So, needless to say, Homeward Bound II really sticks out in his filmography. But then, in 2013, Ellis unexpectedly died at the age of 60, though the cause of death has never been released.

In stark contrast to his attitude at the beginning of the first movie, Chance (voiced by Michael J. Fox), is now completely content about having a home and family, telling us, once again in narration, that his time with the Seaver family have been the happiest years of his life. He's also incredibly fond of Jamie, whom he couldn't care less about before, but lately finds that the kid has no time for him and is often more annoyed at him than anything else. Much to his chagrin, Jamie shuts the door in his face after taking his Barry Bonds autographed baseball back from him, and when he tries to follow him to the baseball field, Jamie tells him to stay behind. Regardless, Chance does follow and is unable to keep himself from running onto the field and taking the ball in the middle of the kids' game. Moreover, when one of the players bullies Jamie about it, Chance grabs her mitt, yanks it off her hand, and runs off with it, with all the kids chasing after him again. This not only causes Jamie to run late in getting back to the house for their drive to the airport but he also makes his displeasure with Chance very clear. So much so that, when he and the other pets are put into carriers at the airport and he sees the uniforms worn by those on the airfield, Chance thinks he's being sent back to the pound (or "the bad place," as he always calls it here). Panicking, he breaks out and Shadow and Sassy escape their own carriers in order to catch up with him. After their family unknowingly leaves without them, and they escape capture from airport security, the animals realize they're on their own once again. Chance is, at first, reluctant to try to find his way home, remembering the ordeal they went through before, but when Shadow and Sassy start to leave without him, he joins them. The next day, when they end up in the city of San Francisco, Chance admits he was fascinated by the place and eager to explore it, rather than get home and be ignored by Jamie some more. But then, they run into Ashcan and Pete, the latter of whom Chance deals with while Shadow fights Ashcan. When Riley's gang shows up, Chance, thinking it's an ambush, attempts to act as a decoy to lure them away, but ends up pointlessly running far down the street.

This is when Chance meets Delilah, who chases him down and manages to defeat him in a small scuffle. At first, he's suspicious of her, but realizes she's no threat when she mentions knowing Shadow and Sassy. Understandably attracted to her, he spends the day with her, as she shows him around the city, while he tries to act all smooth, only to constantly run into things and fall into holes, which he insists he does on purpose. Though

he's unimpressed when she takes him to a nice park she says is her favorite spot, he believes she has it made because she gets to live in the city. He then learns of Delilah's distrust towards all humans, fueled by Riley and his extremely sad backstory. Pitying that she feels this way, despite never having any human guardians of her own, he decides to show her the good that can come from humans, mainly in how to beg for food from people at a

boardwalk. As they continue spending time with each other, the romance is clear, especially when they look out over the city from a high vantage point. Eventually, they find their way back to the gang's hideout at the bay, and are discovered laying together when Shadow, Sassy, Riley, and the others show up. Riley is especially unhappy about this, telling Delilah that she can't be involved with a "pet." Heading outside to get away from him, the two of them decide that, despite what Riley thinks,

Chance can stay and live with her in the city. However, it's not a decision that doesn't leave Chance somewhat torn, as he admits he does kind of miss Jamie. And then, Chance proves to not be grown up enough to make it in the city, as he's too busy fooling around outside the hideout to hear the warning that the Blood Red Van is coming. He's easily captured by the two men who drive the van, who trick him by offering him a cheeseburger, and the others have to work together to stop the van

and free him and the other dogs they've captured. Though they succeed and manage to dump the van into the bay, when Delilah tells him that this proves Chance can't cut it in the city, he storms off, angry and hurt. As he tells us, "I'd always heard love hurts, but I never knew it could hurt this much. It was like getting a bath, missing dinner, and going to the vet all rolled into one. I tell you, I was one sad puppy."

After moping around all night, Chance does show up in time the next day to help Shadow and Sassy when they're ambushed by Ashcan and Pete while on their way to the Golden Gate Bridge. He's able to easily outfox and defeat them, and he and his friends head on home, although Chance is still not so anxious to get there. Not only is he sure Jamie probably still won't pay attention to him, but he's also heartbroken over Delilah. As they're crossing a

road not far from their house, Chance stops in the middle of it to look back at the city and actually sings, "I left my heart in San Francisco," (just that, though). His heartbreak becomes very clear when Sassy shouts, "Hurry, Chance! You don't wanna miss dinner!", and he doesn't react at all. In fact, his mind is so distant that he doesn't see an incoming truck until it's almost on top of him and it skids to miss him. Their family just happen to be driving behind the truck and, for a few minutes,

there's a question of whether or not Chance survived. Of course, they find him hiding safely underneath it, his paws covering his head. When Jamie calls to him, he immediately comes out from under the truck and happily licks and loves on him, while Jamie apologizes for being mean to him. Though elated about reuniting with him, Chance is still sad about losing Delilah... until she shows up at the house and is allowed to stay and be part of the family.

Though he's not at the center of the story this time around, Shadow (voiced by Ralph Waite) is still the same cool, collected, wise old Golden Retriever he was before. When Chance is freaking out on their way to the airport and when they arrive and are put in carriers, Shadow repeatedly tries to calm him down. His words, however, aren't enough to keep him from breaking loose, and he and Sassy have to chase Chance all over the airport. He repeatedly tries to make him listen to reason, as well as tells him and Sassy to stop arguing, as always. When they find their way back out on the runway, Shadow attempts to guess which plane their family's on, and whether or not he's right in his choice, he's proven very wrong when he says the plane will stop and pick them up, leading to them nearly getting run over when it takes off. After escaping the airfield, Shadow breaks it to them that they're, again, going to have find their way back home. However, he doesn't realize just how far from home they are until they come upon the city of San Francisco. Knowing they have to find the Golden Gate Bridge, Shadow is intent on getting to it as soon as possible, while Chance and Sassy waste time seeing the sights and sniffing the smells. Upon meeting Riley's gang and being separated from Chance, Shadow is determined to find him, with or without Riley's help. And when Riley makes it clear he's not going anywhere that has a lot of humans, Shadow and Sassy strike back out on their own.

As old as he is, and as much as he'd rather do things peacefully, Shadow has no problem defending himself or his friends. Both times they run into Ashcan and Pete, Shadow manages to hold his own in fights against the former. And in a truly badass display of heroism and protective instinct, he, without any hesitation, rushes into a burning house to save Tucker, a young boy they met earlier. Most importantly, when Shadow realizes what's

going on between Chance and Delilah, he tries to make the latter understand that, despite her best intentions, Chance wouldn't make it in the city: "He's not like you. He's not like any of the other strays... He doesn't have what it takes to survive here. Everything is a game to him... This is a dangerous place, Delilah. You won't always be able to be there for him." While Delilah initially doesn't listen to him, Shadow is immediately proven right

when Chance is abducted by the Blood Red Van. Though they manage to save him, he storms off when Delilah does as Shadow said and tells him he doesn't belong in the city. Shadow assures her that she did the right thing, but when Riley's gang is unable to find Chance afterward, he has to face the idea of leaving without him. Before Riley takes Shadow and Sassy to the bridge, he and Delilah bark goodbyes to each other, with Shadow saying, "Goodbye, Delilah. I'm sorry." But despite how

close they get to the bridge, he just can't leave Chance behind and decides to go back and find him. Fortunately for him and Sassy, Chance shows up to help them deal with Ashcan and Pete again, and once they've been vanquished, the pets head on home. He feels bad for Chance when he sees how heartbroken he is over Delilah, but when she follows them home, he's more than assured that it means she does love him.

I really don't care for what they did to Sassy's (voiced by Sally Field) character here. While she was definitely snarky and snobbish towards Chance in the first movie, here she's often downright mean and unfair. Like before, the first time you see her, she's talking trash to Chance, insinuating that the family is leaving because of how bad he smells, but she also goes as far as to repeatedly say they're taking him to "the bad place." Though Chance doesn't take her seriously, at first, that's really crappy of her to poke at him with something she knows he's traumatized about. Moreover, that could've planted the seeds of panic in his brain that led to him freaking out at the airport. And after they've been left behind, Sassy tells him, "You just got us lost, again!" Though she could mean that they're lost once again thanks to him, it sounds as though she's blaming him for what happened in the first movie. If so, that's a bunch of bull, as that was all Shadow. When they work together to save Chance after the Blood Red Van gets him, she, again, makes him say, "Cats rule," before letting him out. But I think the most hateful thing she does is all but say that she would be just fine with leaving Chance behind... several times. When she and Shadow are heading for the Golden Gate Bridge near the end, she's singing to herself, as if she doesn't have a care in the world, and even tries to get Shadow to sing along, only for him to stop and look back. They then have this exchange: "I just can't leave Chance behind. Home won't be the same." "Exactly." "Sassy, we can't cross the bridge without him." "Oh, you're right. Drat, we were so close!" Yeah, can you spell "bitch"? They try to offset it with moments where she's genuinely worried about him, like when he's lovesick and when he nearly gets run over by a truck, as well as give her a heroic moment of her own when she saves Tiger, Tucker's little kitten, but it doesn't make much of a difference to me.

Even as a kid, I knew these weren't the same animals from the first movie. You can definitely tell that Chance is different, as this dog has a lot more brown in his fur, and he has a longer snout. The same goes for the Golden Retriever playing Shadow, whose fur is much darker and he has more orange in his face. Unlike the first movie, where there were two main dogs playing Chance and Shadow for the most part, while various cats

played Sassy, here they made use of different animals playing each role, with four different dogs trained for various actions playing both Chance and Shadow, while six different cats played Sassy. And just like before, they managed to get some amazing performances out of the animals, thanks to a lot of training in pre-production, clever editing, off-camera commands, and switching out between real and fake animals. All of that allows you to, once again, really buy that they're interacting and communicating with each other, and it's made all the more impressive this time by the fact that we have at least four times as many animals.

As with the first movie, a lot of the comedy comes from the pets, particularly Chance, getting stuck in an environment they're unfamiliar with. Even though Chance did originally live on the streets, it wasn't in a major city like San Francisco, as he's blown away by the size of the place and finds it fun to explore. He especially likes what it has to offer in terms of food, and not just the garbage cans and bags he digs into. When they come upon a Chinese

restaurant, both him and Sassy attempt to raid the food found outside on the sidewalk, and he later scopes out the boardwalk with Delilah, looking for leftovers. Speaking of Sassy, when she spots the boy named Tucker with his little kitten, Tiger, she goes up to him and attempts to charm him into feeding her, knowing they likely have cat-food. Unfortunately for her, Chance blows it when he attempts the same thing and gets the door slammed in their faces. Chance is also unprepared for some

of the hazards that come with the city, like when he runs out into the street when Delilah's chasing him, only for a van to nearly hit him, as he yells, "Whoa! Learn to drive, bozo!" Then, he tries to duck into a building, only to realize there's no doggy-door. Besides the city itself, there's also the mischief the three of them get up to while they're loose in the apartment, chief among them being when they go through an x-ray machine, and how, when they're sleeping overnight in the alley, the

prim and proper Sassy has to sleep in a filthy cardboard box Shadow finds, the smell of which is then compounded by that of wet dog when it starts raining.

Riley (voiced by Sinbad), the leader of the gang of strays who come to the pets' defense against Ashcan and Pete, is not too fond of those two punks trespassing on his turf, as he's obviously had to kick them off before. He also informs Shadow and Sassy that the city is no place for pets, and when they realize Chance is missing, Riley sends Delilah out to find him, unaware of the impending romance. While Shadow and Sassy are with him and his gang, Riley warns them of the Blood Red Van when they're forced to hide from it. But when they ask him about the Golden Gate Bridge, he's unwilling to show them the way, explaining, "A bridge means cars, and cars mean the Man, and... we don't like the Man." His cynicism and distrust towards humans comes through even more when he tells Shadow and Sassy that their owners don't want them. While Chance is with Delilah, she tells him why Riley feels this way: when he was a puppy, he was meant as a Christmas present for a boy, but the kid rejected him and, when the family moved away, they left poor Riley behind (that flashback is incredibly sad and still gets me to this day). Thus, he formed his gang and gave other strays a home. But, despite his bitterness about humans, Riley is very impressed when he and the others witness Shadow rescue Tucker from the burning house. Though he thinks he was crazy for putting his life on the line like that, he tells Shadow, "That was pretty righteous, man. So, if humans mean that much to you, I'll take ya'll to the bridge." By the end of the movie, his interactions with the pets, especially Shadow, have lightened up his opinion on humans. At the same time, though, Riley does not at all approve of Chance and Delilah's budding romance. Though he doesn't come out and say it, you can guess it's for the same reason Shadow later gives her, which is that Chance isn't cut out for life in the city. That doesn't stop Delilah from going to him, but whether or not Riley even knows about it is never revealed. In any case, Sinbad's performance as Riley is fine, and he manages to a bring street-smart sense of humor and charm to a role that is, otherwise, mostly serious.

Delilah (voiced by Carla Gugino) manages to strike a nice balance between being streetwise and tough, while also being very feminine. As beautiful as she is, when she snarls and shows her teeth during her early confrontation with Pete and at the drivers of the Blood Red Van, she's quite intimidating, and proves to be relentless when she's sent after Chance, chasing him across the street, down the sidewalk, and in a yard. Though he does get the drop on her, she easily subdues him, only to give him a nice lick when he thinks she's about to finish him off. Once she convinces him that she's not an enemy and that she was chasing him for Shadow and Sassy, the two of them begin to spend time together, as Delilah shows Chance around the city. There's a mutual attraction between them from the beginning, as Delilah commented, "Cute butt," while she was chasing him, and Chance is so smitten and distracted that he ends up crashing into things. While she is a street dog, her favorite spot is a nice park, a place she says she's dreamed of living in. But she also shares Riley's prejudice towards humans, even though she was born a stray, thanks to his sad backstory and own attitude about them. Chance, feeling bad that she's never known what it's like to have human guardians who truly care, decides to show her their brighter side by taking her to a boardwalk and feasting on their leftovers, as well as begging for food. By the end of the day, they've not only made it back to Riley's hideout but have grown quite close. Despite what Riley and Shadow think, Delilah is sure Chance can stay in the city, with her looking out for him. But she soon realizes how right they were about his not having what it takes, as his fooling around and naivety get him captured by the Blood Red Van. After they've rescued him, Delilah takes Shadow's advice and lets Chance go by telling him he really doesn't belong in the city. Though Shadow assures her it was the right thing to do, she's not so sure, and becomes depressed after Chance storms off, angry and hurt. Once they've gone, Riley again tries to tell her that they're too different for each other, but that doesn't ease the pain. In the end, with or without Riley's knowledge, Delilah follows Chance home, they admit their love for each other, she's introduced to Jamie and the rest of the family, and is adopted into it.

Among Riley's gang, you have Sledge (voiced by Tisha Campbell-Martin), a Shetland Collie mix who, and there's no other way to say this, comes off like a sassy, smart-alack black girl. Tisha Campbell-Martin's voice gives her that attitude in spades, like when she tells Shadow, "You da dog! You da dog!", and describes Sassy as one, "Bad cat!" But she's definitely not just talk, as she runs down one of the Blood Red Van's drivers and gets

him on the ground, yelling, "Yeah, you better run, 'cause I'm on your heels! Oh, got you, chump! You goin' down!" And unlike Riley, she's all for Chance and Delilah's relationship, telling her, "D, you go girl! Looks he's got it goin' on." She also thinks Chance is cute, if a bit goofy. Stokey (voiced by Michael Bell) is a Portuguese Podengo whose most notable personality quirk is he often tries to talk while scratching himself, leading to him stuttering

worse than Porky Pig and almost never getting to the point. He's also the first to suggest that Chance and Delilah may not be compatible. Spike (voiced by Ross Malinger) is a young Jack Russell Terrier who, while not able to do as much as the other dogs, does help Sassy get the better of Pete during their first confrontation. And finally, there's Bando (voiced by Stephen Tobolowsky), a slightly dim-witted Bluetick Coonhound who thinks of himself as Delilah's boyfriend, even though Delilah herself

never thought of him that way. He's not happy about her being sent out to find Chance, and when he and the others learn of their romance, he and Chance almost get into a fight, but Riley breaks it up. Even so, Bando has little sympathy for Chance when the Blood Red Van takes him, and only does the damage he does to it because Delilah gets hurt in the chaos. He forces the drivers out of the front so the others can have a crack at them, and then puts the van in reverse, causing it to fall into the bay. Once it's over, Bando blames Chance for everything that happened, including Delilah's injury, and their licking and nuzzling each other adds more fuel to Chance's frustration and pain.

As opposed to Riley's rough around the edges but noble gang, Ashcan (voiced by Jon Polito) and Pete (voiced by Adam Goldberg) are just a couple of punks who think they own all the back-alleys, even though they happen to be on Riley's turf when they first meet the pets. Ashcan, the leader, is a loud-mouth bully, and Pete is really slow and dumb, though no less of an asshole. Uninterested in the fact that the pets are just lost and trying to find their way home, they threaten Sassy, leading to a fight that's broken up when Riley's gang shows up. However, the two of them, Ashcan especially, aren't the types to let something like this slide, as they threaten to get even and later attempt to jump Shadow and Sassy, only to, twice, miss their chance. They then ambush Shadow and Sassy again at a spot full of construction equipment when they head for the Golden Gate Bridge, with Pete specifically going after Sassy out of revenge for her dropping a flowerpot on his head before, while Ashcan resumes his fight with Shadow. But when Chance joins the fight, he's able to outmaneuver and trick them into a dizzying and humiliating defeat.

In a weird bit of what I guess could be considered stunt-casting, when Chance is at Jamie's ballgame early in the film, he comes across three dogs who are commenting on the game as if they're sportscasters, even telling Chance as much, to which he comments, "And Sassy tells me to get a life?". All three of them are voiced by actual sportscasters and baseball managers: Sparky Michaels (voiced by Al Michaels), a Collie, Lucky

Lasorda (voiced by Tommy Lasorda), a black and white Havanese, and Trixie Uecker (voiced by Bob Uecker), a German Shepherd. The three of them are very complimentary towards Jamie's playing but tell Chance to get off the field and stop blocking their view. And when he chases after the ball and runs off with it, Sparky describes him as a "crazed fan," while Trixie comments, "Let me tell ya, it's a sad day for the sport of baseball and all of caninekind when something like this happens." As

it goes on, Lucky says, "I am just sickened," while Sparky comments, "Well, I know none of us likes to hear the B-word, but that is one bad dog." Finally, when Chance runs off with the one girl's mitt, Sparky says, "He's going, he could be, he might be... Yes, that dog is outta here!"

As the first movie gave us an insight into how pets like cats and dogs view both each other and humans, Homeward Bound II expands on it, this time showing us how animals from different "backgrounds" view each other. Specifically, we're talking about how street animals, like Riley and his gang, view the "pets," as they call Chance, Shadow, and Sassy. While Chance's experience of living on the streets before the Seavers adopted

him gave him a viewpoint that Shadow and Sassy didn't have, here we get that viewpoint from various animals who've lived as strays their entire lives. Riley and his gang think the three of them are foolish for being out on the streets where it's not safe for them, while Ashcan and Pete are just jerks who think they can push them around because they're pets. And because of Riley's past, he and the others think the pets, especially Shadow, are idiots for trying so hard to find their owners, let

alone risking their lives for humans. And there's a sort of clash between social hierarchy in how Riley tells Chance and Delilah that they're far too different from one another in order to be together, although it mostly boils down to Chance not having the attitude necessary to survive in the city. 

On another note, when Chance brings Delilah to the boardwalk area, he teaches her some tricks of the trade when it comes to getting food for humans: "First thing I'm gonna teach you is the proper method for begging. Now, what you gotta remember is it's all in the eyes. See, the objective is to look cute but be sad as possible. Oh, and don't drool. Never drool. They hate that." And yet, despite her prejudice towards humans, Delilah

objects to Chance going in to take a hotdog from a kid in a stroller, saying, "He's just a pup!" Speaking of things they know humans don't like, when the dogs confront Jack and Ralph, Shadow tells them to show their teeth. Chance also doesn't like the idea of tranquilizers, thinking they're "doomed" if the family went out of their way to make them swallow those "little, gray kibbles," and comes up with a method of barfing them up. The animals have their own version of 99 Bottles of Beer: 99

Cans of Dog Food, which they sing along the way to the airport, although Sassy, as expected, hates the song with a passion. Despite having now lived with the Seavers for several years now, Chance still isn't above eating out of a garbage can, as well as any surprises he gets from it (while eating out of the can in the alleyway, he goes, "Mmm, cockroach!"). And finally, like I said, for some reason, they call the pound "the bad place" now, as if the word "pound" has become taboo.

Though all of their actors from the first movie returned, the human cast doesn't get as much screentime or as much to play as before. As Bob and Laura Seaver, Robert Hays and Kim Greist, again, play them as very loving parents, with Bob now totally accepted as the family patriarch. He's the one who breaks the bad news about the animals to the others when they arrive in Canada, and he originally plans to go back home to look for them

while everyone else enjoys their vacation. But because they'd be too worried to enjoy themselves, they all decide to go back. Like Kate in the first movie, Bob calls someone to report the animals missing and is told that they don't have much of survival. But after he gets off the phone with him, he tells the others, "Nothing yet but, he's hopeful." Laura, like before, gets to do even less except be a supportive mother for her kids, this time towards

Jamie (Kevin Chevalia) in particular who, after being quite neglectful and short-tempered towards Chance during the opening, giving him an indifferent goodbye at the airport as a result, feels guilty about it when he learns the animals are lost again. However, he doesn't get as much focus as Peter did in the first one, save for a couple of moments where we can tell he's thinking about Chance and admits it to Laura. He's genuinely scared at the prospect that Chance got hit by the

truck near the end, only to then be happily reunited with him. And when Delilah shows up at the end, Chance formally introduces them and Jamie and Delilah instantly connect. Speaking of Peter (Benj Thall), he and Hope (Veronica Lauren) have virtually nothing to them, save for being worried about their respective pets when they learn they're missing, especially Peter, and being very happy when they're reunited. Since Peter was the main focus of the human drama in the first, and Jamie is

here, it makes me wish there were a third one that focused not only on Sassy as the main animal character, since Chance and Shadow both stole the limelight here and in the first movie, but by extension, gave Hope some focus as well.

The two men who operate the Blood Red Van, Jack (Michael Rispoli) and Ralph (Max Perlich), are guys who simply don't care for dogs, don't understand why people are interested in them as pets, and thus, snatch up any dog they see and sell them to an animal testing lab. Jack especially despises dogs, commenting, "The only good dog is a hotdog," and, "Dogs. I'd kill 'em if they weren't worth so much." Even though Ralph isn't exactly

fond of them either, he does seem to find Jack's searing hatred to be a bit disturbing. Jack is also unknowingly responsible for the fire that nearly kills the little boy named Tucker, as he tosses a cigar into a bit of bush right next to his house. After they grab Chance, who Jack manages to distract with a cheeseburger while Ralph snares him from behind, Jack actually taunts him from the front seat, telling him they're going to light him up at the lab. But when the others form a blockade, Jack, even though they could get more money by selling all of them to the lab, opts instead to run them over as a way of squashing this little revolt. And when Ralph refuses to do it, Jack grabs the wheel and floors it right at the dogs, the two of them fighting for control. Afterward, they get their just desserts when Riley and Sledge attack Jack and Ralph respectively and they're chased off by the dogs they'd already captured, while Bando disposes of the van.

In a weird way, you can draw parallels between Homeward Bound II and the second Home Alone and Predator movies. The connection with the latter should be obvious: since the first film was set in a type of wilderness, an urban environment was the logical place to take the sequel. I can especially make connections between the film and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and not just because it's another family movie; in fact, these two sequels remind me a lot of each other. Both involve the

protagonists this time becoming lost in a major city (their subtitles are virtually identical), which occurs as a result of an incident at the airport; the characters discover the good and shady sides of the cities; while the protagonists get good weather, for the most part, their family's stuck some place where it's pouring rain; and Jack and Ralph are bumbling villains very much in the vein of Harry and Marv, only not nearly as memorable. Also, you could say that, like Home Alone 2, Homeward

Bound II is guilty of being a rehash of the first film, just in a different setting and on a bigger scale. Honestly, though, it's an inherent part of both of these series that certain specific elements would have to come together each time for us to even have a story, which is why I'm glad they didn't attempt to push Homeward Bound to the point they did Home Alone (God, I hope I didn't just give Disney any ideas). And while this film doesn't

recycle as many beats from its predecessor as Home Alone 2, you still have a misunderstanding that causes the animals to go missing, a conflict involving one of the pets and their owner, said owner being especially worried during the main section of the movie, Chance getting stuck while trying to climb under a fence, the animals spending the night in a spot that's a bit creepy, Shadow performing a heroic deed by saving a child, the animals having to work together to help each other near the end (the raid to save Chance from the Blood Red Van is akin to the sequence at the animal shelter in the first movie), and Chance being a big part of the story.

Even before we get to San Francisco, the movie doesn't have the same rustic charm as the first, as the family now lives in the suburbs near the city itself, rather than in the country in Fresno like before. And while they still have a nice house that anybody would want to live in, I miss that feeling of them living out in the country, in that Northern California beauty, and the house they live in now is not as memorable. That said, there is a lovely park nearby with a baseball field, where Jamie and the

other kids play. And on the way to the airport, we get some nice scenery, like a marina they drive by and some breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge, both here and later on. We also get a lot of action in the airport, from the baggage check area and the luggage conveyor belts to baggage slides, an x-ray machine, and finally, the runway itself and the fields surrounding it. Once they've made it off the runway and try to find their way back home,

we get a montage of them walking along the road, crossing a street with a lovely sunset in the background, and finally staying overnight a dark back-alley full of garbage, including a cardboard box they use as a makeshift shelter. This spot can be seen as a prelude to the more rundown sections of San Francisco they make their way through. And like I said up above, when we cut to the family at the airport in Canada and the motel they stay in, we see that it's raining and storming, unlike the nice weather the pets have in San Francisco.

We see plenty of San Francisco itself (although, a number of scenes were shot in Vancouver as well as the actual city), like streets with trolleys, spots that give you a nice view overlooking the city (specifically, Coit Tower), a spot on a hill where you can see Alcatraz in the background, and even Chinatown, where the pets attempt to snag some food from a restaurant. Besides the major parts of the city, we also see the smaller, more rundown neighborhoods and alleyways, a vacant lot that's

been used as a dump and is where Ashcan and Pete make their home, and also some more well-to-do areas full of homes, like where Delilah begins showing Chance around. Delilah also shows Chance her favorite spot, which is this really lovely park, with a stone bridge extending over a duck pond, weeping willow trees, and big stretches of green grass where people are sitting around, picnicking, and, in the case of a group of guys,

having fun playing Frisbee. Chance, in turn, takes Delilah on a date to a boardwalk area near a waterfront filled with people so they eat their leftovers, as well as a spot near the water filled with seals. We also get an abandoned building at a shipyard that Riley and his gang have made their home. And in the final confrontation with Ashcan and Pete, it's set in a spot filled with construction materials, a type of setting I've always liked, for some reason.

Like the first movie, there are numerous instances of the camera becoming one of the animals' POV, usually Chance whenever he's sniffing around or making his way through big crowds of people or foliage. Twice in the movie, once with Sassy and near the end with Ashcan and Pete, they have a moment where Chance sends a big hollow tube rolling with someone inside and you see their whirling POV. Other than that, there's nothing that spectacular about the camerawork but the film is

still very well shot and you can tell they had a pretty substantial budget to work with. I can assume that David R. Ellis' expertise in stunt-work and action might've come in handy in the dog fights, chase scenes, and the sequences involving vehicles, like near the end. Like in the first, we get more than our fair share of lovely views of the main setting of San Francisco, both in broad daylight and some very nice shots at dusk, and near the end of the movie, when the pets are finally on

their way back home, we get an impressive overhead shot of them making their way up the bridge, walking beside the highway. And unlike the first movie, all of the nighttime scenes were clearly shot at night, with the best being the one in the alleyway where the pets sleep overnight, where you see some spooky shadows of a passing group of people moving along the wall (although, their rapping hurts the effect).

The humor in this one is sometimes much more cartoonish and even juvenile than before. You have a lot more buffoonery thanks to Jack and Ralph, especially in the former's complete failure at abducting the French poodle they find waiting outside a store for her owner. In trying to get her, he rips the seat of his pants, gets his thumb bitten, and as they drive off, he realizes the poodle peed on his T-shirt. We get another look at his red

boxers with white polka dots during the dogs' confrontation with them, as Riley chases him and yanks his pants down. Speaking of the poodle, Tress MacNeille voices her with an exaggerated French accent and makes comments like, "You fat Grey Poupon!", and, "Save me from this blubber ball!", an example of the humor derived from how over-the-top some of the animals' personalities are. Others are Ashcan and Pete's bullishness and

stupidity, Sledge's aforementioned stereotypical, energetic black woman voice, and Stokey's stuttering when he's scratching himself. Bando is especially silly, with the redneck voice Stephen Tobolowsky gives him and how dim-witted he can be, like when they're hiding from the Blood Red Van and he's laying his head on a step, thinking he's camouflaged. Even Riley gets in on it a little bit, introducing himself as, "My name's Riley. But you can call me Riley," and, while leading Shadow

and Sassy to the Golden Gate Bridge, he says, "Okay, then. Let's shake some booty! As James Brown would say, 'We're headin' to the Bridge! Heeeey!'" (The dog doesn't trust humans, yet he knows who James Brown is.) Going back to cartoonish and juvenile, we not only have that moment where you see an image of Chance's skeleton in the airport x-ray machine but Chance, in trying to get rid of the tranquilizer, pukes up a bunch of stuff, including a ball he says he's been

looking for, and he also wets himself when the plane flies right over them. And there is some slapstick, like Chance sending Sassy and, later, Ashcan and Pete on a dizzying ride in a long hollow tube, Sassy dumping a flowerpot on Pete's head, his and Ashcan's failed attempt to jump Shadow and Sassy, and Chance being so taken with Delilah that he continually walks into things.

While the first movie did mention the issue of pet abandonment as the root of Chance's initial disinterest in the family and his paranoia about being sent back to the pound, the sequel tackles it more head-on with the character of Riley. Like I said before, his backstory is so freaking sad. In this flashback we see as Delilah tells Chance, we see Riley as a cute little puppy, sitting in a wicker basket underneath a Christmas tree, with a red bow tied around his neck. But when the little boy in this

family comes downstairs on Christmas morning, he ignores Riley, and even when his dad picks him up and offers him to the kid, the kid shakes his head and goes to his other presents. What makes it sadder is that little Riley is excited at the prospect of a friend, and you can hear him whine when the kid rejects him, as he can sense it. And as if that weren't heartbreaking enough, we then see that they moved away and left Riley in a cardboard box as it's pouring rain... and the bow is still tied to his

collar. When I first saw this movie as a kid, I almost started crying, and to this day, this scene still gets to me (I choked up capturing stills of it from Disney Plus). I don't know who to be angrier at: that kid for being such a cruel, cold-hearted brat, or his parents for, one, not making sure if he would be the right type of kid to have a dog, and two, for just leaving Riley like that. This is just me speaking as a big softy when it comes to animals

but, if there were a puppy waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning, especially one as cute as Riley, I would've instantly bonded with the little guy and been the best friend he could ever have. And the sad thing is that I know this kind of stuff happens in real life, all too often, and it really saddens me. It does do a good job of making you understand why Riley is the way he is and why he tries to "protect" his gang from humans, and also gives you a vision of who Chance might've become had the Seaver family never come into his life, but I dread it every time I watch the movie.

A new element to the story that wasn't there before is the danger of animal testing labs. While they don't go as dark with it as Beethoven did, as all we see is the Blood Red Van and the animals they've captured in the back, it's still ballsy of them to bring it up at all. The concept is basically Chance's worst fears about what he thinks the pound is come to life, with the Blood Red Van roaming the city, ready to snatch up any animal they see, stray or not, and sell them to a place where they put them

through horrific experiments. While Jack and Ralph are portrayed as buffoons, it's still horrific to think that they've gotten money for doing this and they personally despise dogs so much that they're willing to do it. And even though their introductory scene, where Jack tries to abduct the poodle, is, again, mostly played for comedy, the thought of that dog being snatched up while her owner is inside the grocery store is a scary one, regardless.

As much as I do enjoy it, I must admit that Homeward Bound II does suffer from a minor case of sequelitis, albeit not as badly as some other movies I could name. Besides being wholly unnecessary, it, like most sequels, just can't capture the charm and magic of the first one, with the changing of the environment and the doubling down of certain elements from the first, like the number of animals and the more heightened comedy. Also, the story isn't as inspired as before,

it doesn't have any of the deep, meaningful character arcs, and what arcs that are here, like Riley beginning to change his opinion on humans thanks to what he's learned from the pets and Delilah deciding to be with Chance, regardless of where he comes from, aren't as resonant. And finally, this movie doesn't feel as much like an "incredible journey," for lack of a better term. Instead of traveling through various places, we're now relegated to just a handful of spots in San Francisco, and it feels like they're only there for a few days, as opposed to how long the first movie's story spanned.

Like the first one, we meet Chance first, as he comes out of the house's front door, chewing on and shaking a sneaker, while in his narration, he talks about the perks of his lifestyle. Tossing the shoe down the steps, he claims he smells something in the yard and goes to investigate, while Jamie comes to the doorway, yelling about Chance stealing his shoe. Walking through the driveway, Chance says it's his job to protect Jamie.

Stopping, he looks off-camera and says, "Alright, trespasser, say your prayers. You have got a date with the Chancinator." And his target? A butterfly on a dandelion. He adds, "I have no choice but to terminate you!", and charges. The butterfly flies up just before he grabs the dandelion with his mouth. He spits the seeds out, then barks at the butterfly and yells, "Yeah, you butter fly away!" Looking back at the house, he goes, "Okay, the crisis has

passed. Perimeter is secure. Situation is neutralized. Yep!" He heads back inside, exclaiming, "It's a thing of beauty when Chance is on duty!" Sassy, who's lying nearby, comments, "Speaking of 'doody,' I thought I smelled something. Yuck." She then says she saw suitcases, meaning the family is leaving, and blames it on Chance's smell. To retaliate, Chance shoves her with his snout, playing some "kitty soccer," when Bob comes downstairs with a bunch of clothes.

When he mentions loading up the car, Sassy panics and runs upstairs, ranting about them leaving. She ends up tripping Bob, who drops the clothes, which land on top of Chance. Sassy looks down at him to see he has a pair of underwear stuck on his head, of which he comments, "Oh, man. Who says cotton breathes?" Hope comes running in, concerned about Sassy, and paying no attention to Bob. She picks Sassy up and, as they head downstairs, the cat teases Chance: "Ooh, Chance. Take it off! Take

it all off!" She even hums some stripper-esque music, as he finally gets the underwear off his head and goes to find Jamie. In the kitchen, everyone has breakfast, and we learn that they're taking the pets with them on a camping trip to Canada, as Laura tosses Bob a big bag of IAMS dog-food.

Up in his room, Jamie is still looking for his shoe, and tells his friend, Stacey, that he'll meet her at the baseball field. Chance shows up and sits in the doorway, as Jamie looks under the bed and then in a cupboard for his shoe. He knocks a baseball off the top of the cupboard when he slams the door and Chance begins gnawing on it, complimenting on how tasty it is. Jamie sees what he's doing and takes it from him, saying it was autographed by

Barry Bonds, before slamming the door in his face, as he exclaims, "Hey, I was workin' on my spitball!" Complaining about how Jamie has no time for him nowadays, he then smells something sweet and runs downstairs and into the kitchen. Spotting a plate of doughnuts on the dining room table, he goes in for a lick, but Laura stops him, telling him he's already had two breakfasts (Hope is sitting there, reading the funny papers, but does

nothing except exclaim, "Yuck!", when she sees him). Jamie then leaves for the baseball field and when Laura turns her back, Chance grabs one of the doughnuts and runs after him. Jamie stops him in the yard, telling him to stay, but as he walks off, Chance is confused, thinking he's mad at him for taking the doughnut. He comes across Sassy, sitting inside a hide-and-seek tunnel, who taunts him by saying Jamie's going to send him back to the pound. To get back at her, he sends the tunnel

rolling across the yard and into the driveway. As Sassy has to run inside it like a hamster in an exercise wheel, she yells, "No! No! I hate these kinds of rides! Oh! Ohh! I just ate! I'm gonna blow cat chow everywhere! Get me out of here! I hate this...!" The tunnel finally stops when it hits the front of the family van. Chance proclaims, "Dogs rule, and cats drool!", and runs off to catch up with Jamie. Sassy emerges from the tunnel, extremely dizzy, and as she staggers about, threatens to get even with Chance, grumbling, "I am going to hurt you."

Jamie reaches the ball-field with the game already underway, and Chance arrives soon after, "telling" the other kids they're going to have to get lost. After encountering the dogs who are acting as announcers, he goes and sits nearby, but can't resist chasing after the baseball as he watches the kids toss it around. While the other dogs watch in shock at what's going on, Chance gets everyone chasing after him. When he finally stops, Jamie takes the

ball away and admonishes him for what he did, when a girl on the team shoves Jamie, telling him to keep Chance away from the field. Already irked at this, when the girl follows it up with, "I've seen some pretty dumb dogs, Seaver. Yours is pathetic!", Chance grabs her mitt and starts pulling on it. He keeps on until she yells, "Give it to me, you stupid dog!", and then yanks it away and takes off with it, the kids chasing him yet again. On their

way back home afterward, Chance annoys Jamie even more when he grabs his mitt and pulls on it like he did the girl's. He runs back to the house in anger, and when Laura tells him they're running late, Jamie yells that it was because of Chance. He gets in the car, grumbling about missing the important games of the season, while Peter puts Chance in the back with Shadow and Sassy. When they start out the driveway, Chance is amazed that they weren't given tranquilizers... and then Bob

says, "Hey, Peter, did you give them the tranquilizers?" Cue all three of them going, "Uh-oh!" On the way, Chance talks about getting rid of the tranquilizers, saying, "You just work up a nice sized hairball and then you think of something disgusting. Like a big... fluffy... cat!" Cut to Sassy as Chance barks off-screen, with her commenting, "How pleasant," and then back to Chance after he's barfed up several objects. As they drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, Chance sings, "99 cans of dog

food on the wall, 99 cans of dog food... everybody," and the others join in with, "If one of those cans should happen to fall, 98 cans of dog food on the wall." Chance goes, "Cats only," and Sassy grumbles, "I hate this song!"

At San Francisco International Airport, Chance desperately tries to keep from being placed inside a pet carrier, at one point coming up with the excuse that he forgot to "lock the doggy door" back at the house. But, as much as he resists, Bob picks him up and puts him in the carrier, as Shadow tries to calm him down. As the three of them are carted away, Chance thinks the family is leaving them, and Jamie doesn't help when he gives Chance a ho-

hum, "See ya later." Chance apologizes for being bad and yells for Jamie as they're carted outside and towards the plane. Seeing some other dogs in pet carriers, and noting how they don't look too good, Chance then sees the runway workers and mistakes them for people who work for the pound due to their uniforms and helmets. Ignoring Shadow and Sassy telling him to settle down, he rocks his carrier back and forth until it falls off the

luggage cart and hits the edge of another one, splitting it open. Chance emerges and heads back towards the main building, while Shadow and Sassy escape their own carriers thanks to the latter. They follow Chance back inside, but they don't go unnoticed by the airport staff, who call for security. Chance heads back inside through a luggage conveyor, dodging the suitcases and bags, with Shadow and Sassy right behind him. They make it

back to the terminal and are reunited, with Shadow trying to talk sense into Chance, while Sassy tells him to just go with a passing family. With no other recourse, they go back through the luggage conveyor, passing through an x-ray machine, and then head down a slide, with each of them having different reactions to it: "Chance slides, and he's out of there!" "Chance, you're gonna kiiiiiiiilll me!" "Can someone tell me why I keep following Dumb and Dumber?!" At the very Bob assures Peter that

the animals are safe in the plane's luggage area, they find themselves out on the runway again. Trying to decide which plane they need to go for, and aware that the security team is closing in, Shadow picks out the one he claims to sense Peter on. They run across the airfield and get ahead of the plane on the runway. As it approaches them, they wait, confident that they'll see them and stop... although they duck down just to be safe. The plane gets closer and closer, with Shadow assuring an

increasingly panicked Sassy that they will stop, while Chance puts his paws on his head. At the last possible moment, the plane takes off right above them and heads up into the sky. While Shadow is crestfallen about Peter, Sassy talks about how terrified she was. Chance goes, "I wasn't scared. I wasn't scared one wee little... bit," then sees urine pool out from under his backside, as Sassy comments, "Obviously."

As security closes in, the three of them run for the fence and, like at the animal shelter in the first movie, Chance and Shadow have to dig a hole under it, while Sassy easily climbs over it. The security personnel park their vehicles nearby and run for the fence. Also like before, Shadow manages to squeeze under it, groaning, "I'm too old for this stuff," but when Chance tries it, the bottom rim of the chain-like gets snagged on his collar.

This time, however, he's able to free himself without any assistance from Shadow and before his legs can be grabbed. The three of them run off, as Chance yells, "Give our regards to the bad place, suckers!" But then, as they walk away, it hits them that they're, once again, separated from their family and are going to have to find their way back home. During the montage of them walking, Chance narrates, "So we walked, and walked, and just for a

little change of pace, we walked some more. Questions began racing through my mind. Where were we? How were we gonna get home? Who decided a Chihuahua was a dog? And, most importantly, when were we going to eat?" Come nightfall, they find their way into a back alley and, while Sassy doesn't like it, Chance goes straight for a garbage can and starts rummaging around in it. Sassy is even less enthused when Shadow grabs a

cardboard box and drags it, saying it's where they're going to sleep. She and Shadow climb inside, while Chance walks over and sits down beside it. Shadow advises him to climb inside with them, as it would be safer, but he yawns, "Safe. Ha! You forget I'm a bulldog. I welcome danger with open paws." Sassy adds, "And a constantly open mouth." But then, a group of people pass by, rapping to some music, and when Chance sees their shadows on the wall, he panics, exclaiming,

"Look it, they're big! They're huge! They're comin' to get me!" He then climbs into the box, stepping on Shadow's paw and causing him to nearly knock up against Sassy. Lying down beside Shadow, he says that they're safe now, to which Sassy remarks, "Chance, you put the 'bull' in 'bulldog.' Admit it, you're just scared." Chance retorts, "Hey, I think the expression is 'fraidy cat,' not 'fraidy dog.'" And as if things weren't miserable enough for them, there's a thunderclap, followed by rain pouring

down on them. Chance comments, "Uh,Pops, I don't wanna knock your choice of hotels but I think we got a leak here," and Sassy grumbles, "And nothing smells worse than wet dogs. Ugh, this is gonna be a long night."

The next day, after a cutaway to the airport in Canada, where the family realizes the animals are missing, the three of them continue on their journey. Much to Sassy's annoyance, Chance has picked up rap from the group that passed by. Following behind them, he beat-boxes and raps, "Yo, I'm Rap Master Chance and I'm lost in the city with an optimistic dog and a sarcastic kitty." Reaching the top of the hill, Shadow and Sassy

aren't at all thrilled about what they see, and when Chance catches up, he sees what they're looking at: the city of San Francisco, to which Chance comments, "That doesn't look like our backyard." Shadow figures they need to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and he and Sassy head down towards the city, with Chance following behind, saying, "Okay, fine. But if we don't find food, I got dibs on the cat." We get our first look at the Blood Red Van as

it roams the streets, as well as Jack and Ralph, and then, the pets pass by a French poodle, whose owner ties her leash to a fire hydrant while he heads into a grocery store. While Shadow politely says, "Good morning, miss," Sassy remarks, "I hope you didn't pay money for that haircut," and Chance says, "Hey, nice buzz, cuz. Get in a fight with a lawn mower?" To that last one, the poodle intones, "Peasant." The Blood Red Van comes around the corner and Jack spots the poodle. They

pull up next to the curb where she's tied and Jack, baby-talking to her and checking inside the store for her owner, attempts to abduct her. Though he splits the seat of his pants and has to chase the poodle around the hydrant, he does grab and pick her up, only for her to bite his thumb in retaliation. When her owner comes out, Jack acts as though he was concerned for her safety, saying there are people out there who would steal her. He gives her back and, as she says, "I leave you a special gift on

your extra-large T-shirt," he bangs his head while climbing back into the van. As Ralph takes off, Jack angrily yells at the barking dogs in the back and puts his bitten thumb in his mouth. That's when he finds the poodle peed on him and is completely disgusted, while Ralph can't help but laugh.

During a montage of the sights and sounds of San Francisco, Chance narrates, "I had never seen anything like this place before. It was huge! I had no idea what to expect but somethin' told me it was gonna be fun. Shadow kept insisting he knew where we were going. But, I don't know. It seemed to me like we were just walkin' around in circles... which, to be honest, was okay with me. Heck, I was in no hurry. Why should I rush home? So

Jamie could ignore me? Nah, I was enjoying the here and the now. Every now and then, you gotta just stop and sniff the hydrants." They come to a Chinese restaurant and Chance sniffs out some food outside of it, while Sassy is excited at the sight of some live fish in a tank. But then, the guy inside spots them and chases them off. Elsewhere, as they continue down the sidewalk, Sassy spots the boy named Tucker sitting on his front step with

his little kitten, Tiger. Figuring, "Where there's a cat, there's cat-food," Sassy runs over to the kid and endears herself to him, waiting for him to get her some food. But then, Chance tries it and Tucker freaks out at the sight of him. He yells for his mother, who comes to the door and attempts to shoo Chance away. Sassy, who's already annoyed at his interference, is utterly perplexed when he starts saying, "Meow." Tucker's mom slams the door on him, and after groaning about what he

said, he comments, "Whoa, she must really hate cats." Sassy retorts, "Only cats that look like you!" She then whines, "They were about to feed me... He was charmed by me. He was heading for the can opener and you blew it!" Shadow tells them they need to keep moving, and they head on.

While going through an alley, Chance talks about how, being guys, him and Shadow don't need to ask for directions and that they know where they're going. He then walks right into Ashcan, who snarls at him to watch it, while Chance shakes himself off and exclaims, "No offense, dude, but you need a bath!" Pete comes around the corner and Ashcan tells him the pets are on their turf. When they threaten Sassy, as Ashcan says, "Lunchtime," the

pets realize these two are bad news. Shadow tells Sassy to run for it but when she does, Ashcan goes for her. She climbs up onto a ledge, while Shadow cuts him off. Chance tells Pete, "Whoa, hey! Did you know there's a long, furry thing growing out of your butt?" Pete turns and looks, going, "Huh?", when Chance says, "It's your tail, genius," before going around and biting him. Shadow and Ashcan get into a vicious brawl, with Ashcan managing to

pin Shadow down. More dogs come running in and Chance attempts to act as a decoy and lead them away. He's so into it that he doesn't realize that the other dogs aren't paying any attention to him. Riley comes running in and knocks Ashcan off Shadow before fighting him himself, while Delilah confronts Pete, asking him, "You lookin' to get fixed?" Sassy is unable to get off the ledge because Pete's blocking her way, when Spike comes running in, jumps over Pete's back, and lures him

underneath the ledge. Bando, who's watching nearby, yells, "Bombs away!", and Sassy, getting the idea, knocks over a flowerpot, which hits Pete right on the head. Ashcan tells Pete they'd best get out but, before they leave, they threaten Shadow, telling him to watch his back. Riley and the others warn him he'd better think twice about that, before Riley himself sends them packing. While everyone gets acquainted, they realize that Chance isn't there; he's still running "decoy duty," unaware that

nobody's chasing him. Stokey then tells them that he saw Chance run up the south-side alley and Riley sends Delilah after him, since she knows that part of town well.

Chance finally stops to rest, thinking he lost his "pursuers," only to turn and see Delilah coming for him. He takes off running again, nearly gets hit by a van, and when he fails to take cover inside a building due to the lack of a doggy door, he has no choice but to keep running. Heading down a sidewalk, he exclaims, "This is crazy! What did that dog eat for breakfast?! Jet fuel?!" Running up a hill, Chance gets a cramp in both his front and

back legs. They round a corner, heading into a rural neighborhood, and Chance runs to the back of a parked utility vehicle. Delilah follows suit, only to come around the back of the vehicle and find him gone. Unbeknownst to her, he's hiding in the truck, and when her back is turned, he leaps out, again declaring himself the "Chancinator." He lands near her and they jump around each other, as he boasts, "Okay, pal, now you're toast. My paws are lethal weapons and I'm totally rabid. You picked the

wrong pooch to mess with." But within seconds, Delilah has him on the ground, begging for mercy. When she stops, she reveals herself to be a female when she speaks and then comes in for the "kill," only to lick him, much to his disgust. While Shadow, Sassy, and Riley's gang search for them, Chance and Delilah get acquainted, although Chance is suspicious about her motives. When she finally convinces him that she means no harm, they have this exchange: "Okay, let's try this again. I'm Delilah, Chance." "Delilah Chance? Wow, your last name is the same as my first name." "Oh, boy. Good thing you're cute."

Meanwhile, the others have to hide from the Blood Red Van, and once it's passed, Shadow and Sassy realize they're on their own in finding the bridge, as Riley is reluctant to go there. Back with Chance and Delilah, the two of them head down a sidewalk, with Chance so distracted by her that he, first, walks right into a hydrant, and then, as he's talking, jumps over a hurdle, only to land in a deep ditch beyond it. After he climbs out, and runs into

something else offscreen, Delilah takes him to the nice park she says is her favorite spot. Chance is unimpressed, commenting, "Well, it's no dumpster behind McDonald's. It's just that I get enough of this back home and, to tell you the truth, it gets kinda dull after a while. I mean, ponds and ducks can only be so exciting. Swim, quack! Swim, quack! Booooring." They then move on, passing some nearby humans, who Delilah is leery of, and she then explains Riley's backstory and why he

formed his gang. Delilah goes on ahead, as it starts raining, and Chance, feeling bad for her misplaced distrust of humans, grabs a Frisbee from those playing with it and uses it to shield her head from the rain. A short cutaway to the family in Canada has a moment where, as they're leaving their motel, Jamie sees a kid playing fetch with his dog. He looks down at his catcher's mitt and clearly regrets how he treated Chance. Back in San Francisco, Chance escorts Delilah through the boardwalk and,

when they reach the waterfront and see a bunch of seals gathered on the dock, he tells her that's what happens when dogs stay in the water too long and why they should resist when humans try to bathe them. 

Ashcan and Pete are at their hideout in a lot that, despite the sign, has been used for dumping. Pete's rummaging around in a cardboard box, while Ashcan's chewing up an old teddy bear, saying, "Who says I'm too old for stuffed animals?" Pete hits the jackpot when he pulls out this large bone that still has a fair amount of meat on it. But when Ashcan sees it, he takes advantage of Pete's gullibility and says it's his and that he hid it there

the day before. He sends Pete to the fence, saying he hears somebody coming, but when Pete gets there, he finds there is someone coming: Shadow and Sassy. He tells Ashcan and Ashcan runs and jumps on top of his back, planning on jumping them. However, Pete complains about Ashcan's weight, squirms around, and just as Shadow and Sassy are almost there, his squirming causes Ashcan to fall into a bunch of garbage, after which he growls, "You idiot!" They then attempt another

ambush, but Pete's stupidity costs them again: "Okay, now wait till they pass the hole in the fence, then you'll jump 'em." "So, you'll jump 'em." "No, you'll jump 'em." "That's what I said, 'You'll jump 'em.'" "No, Pete, you'll jump 'em!" "Wait a minute. So who's jumpin' 'em?" By this point, Shadow and Sassy have passed by: "Oh, great! You missed 'em!" "You missed 'em." "Ah, shut up!"

Shadow and Sassy come upon the horrific sight of Tucker's house in flames. Hearing his parents screaming at the top of their lungs, Shadow realizes Tucker is still inside. His loyalty and protective instinct kicks in and he rushes to the house, entering through a basement window; nearby, Riley and his gang watch, shocked that he would risk his life for a human. Sassy promptly follows suit, confounding the other dogs even

more. Suddenly, a power-pole next to a ladder housing a fireman with a hose explodes into sparks and the wire comes loose and flops towards the building. Inside, while Sassy searches for Shadow, he finds Tucker, who's huddled in a corner. Though at first scared of him like he was Chance, when Shadow crawls towards him and licks his hands, he realizes he's there to help. He lets him take his sleeve and lead him past the flames and out the

door. He leads him down the steps and a fireman rushes in, picks him up, and carries him over to his parents. A massive backdraft blows through the house, collapsing the awning above the porch, and though Tucker is fine, he's worried about Tiger. Shadow meets up with the other dogs, who are impressed with his actions, although Riley still thinks it was foolish. It's then that Shadow learns that Sassy went inside and, on cue, she walks across the lawn, carrying Tiger in her mouth. This

amazes the dogs even more, while Tucker runs to her and happily takes Tiger. Sassy, though, is disappointed that all she gets is a thanks instead of a food reward. Shadow runs back to Tucker and his parents, where Tucker strokes Sassy, then thanks Shadow for saving his life. Shadow answers, "You're welcome, Tucker. A dog is a boy's best friend." He and Sassy then head off, and when Tucker asks where they're going, his father tells him, "Maybe they're going home, son." They rejoin Riley and the others and he allows them to come along with them.

Arriving at their hideout in the abandoned shipyard, Riley tells Shadow and Sassy, "Well, this is it. Home sweet home. Hey, it's nothing fancy, but the price is right, and nobody bothers us, so you guys can stay as long as you like." As they head inside the building, Shadow and Sassy talk about Chance, whom Sassy begrudgingly admits to being worried about. Then, when they head up to the top floor, they find Chance up there with Delilah, much to Riley's shock and Sledge's delight, as she starts

teasing them about making out when they were alone. Shadow is also surprised, while Sassy is ready to scratch him up after all the trouble they've been through to find him. Bando, however, is upset, and when Delilah tells him that they were always just friends, he's about ready to start a fight with Chance. Riley tells Bando to cool it and he lays down on the floor, grumbling, "Stupid lost dog comes along and tries to steal my woman. Homewrecker." Chance and Delilah then storm out

when Riley infers that the two of them are not compatible, and Riley and Shadow realize they've got a problem. Chance and Delilah's bond deepens and they decide to live together in the city, and the film transitions to the next day (though not very clearly, with a fade or dissolve, but rather just with cuts). Sassy wakes up in the hideout next to Stokey, much to her horror. Jumping up onto a table, she tells him, "You're the ugliest thing I've ever seen."

Stokey responds, "Yeah, well that's not what you said last night, Toots," and Sassy moans, "I feel faint." Outside, Chance starts acting silly, as he finds a discarded big truck tire and declares it a "doughnut throne," before calling it, "The world's biggest chew-toy," while inside, Riley agrees to take Shadow and the others to the bridge. Some pigeons come flying in and land near a bag of trash, and Chance takes the opportunity to run at and scatter them. He then starts sifting through the bag, much to Delilah's amusement.

The Blood Red Van appears on a road across from the hideout and everybody runs inside. Everybody, that is, except Chance. Despite Delilah warning him, he's too playing to hear her. As the others run upstairs, they realize that Chance has been spotted, as the van heads down a boardwalk towards him. They park behind him and Jack gets out with a cheeseburger, which Chance smells and thinks is inside the trash bag. They creep towards him, Ralph holding a noose, as the others watch in

horror. Chance turns around and sees them, but instead of being scared, he's more interested in Jack's burger. Though Ralph is unsure of what to do, Jack approaches with the burger, baby-talking Chance and baiting him with the food. While he's focused on the burger, Ralph sneaks around and snags him with the noose. Seeing this, the others run downstairs as fast as they can, while the men drag Chance to the back of the van and open it up. Chance thinks he's being taken to the pound and

fights back more. Ralph has to pick him up and put him in, although he falls backwards into it with him. He quickly gets Chance off him and they lock him up with the other dogs. At this point, his friends reach the bottom of the building and come out to find they're too late. Not ready to give up, Riley leads them through the shipyard to cut the van off. When they stop, Sassy comes up with the idea for her to get Chance out when the others stop

sthe van. The van then comes around a corner and they stop at the sight of the blockade of dogs. Jack tells Ralph to run them over, but when Ralph hesitates, Jack, clearly unhinged, floors the van at them. The two of them fight for control over the wheel, causing the van to veer back and forth, smashing into various obstacles. At one point, Jack is nearly thrown out of the open passenger door. Ralph hits the brake right in front of the dogs but

Jack, again, hits the gas. Everyone scatters except for Delilah, who gets her left front paw run over. When Bando hears that they hurt her, he loses control and runs and jumps into the cab with them. While Sassy is sent around back to free Chance, Bando grabs Jack's pants leg and yanks on it, snarling, "Bad human! Bad human! I'll rip you limb from limb, you fussin', ruslin', bad-tastin', dog-nappin' scallywag!"

He forces them out and they're quickly surrounded. The dogs intimidate them by showing their teeth and growling (Bando attempts it but it doesn't quite work), and when they take off running, Riley and Sledge chase Jack and Ralph down respectively. Sledge quickly catches Ralph and forces him to the ground, and Riley isn't slow in doing the same to Jack, pulling the back of his pants and growling, "Nobody takes dogs from Mr. Riley's neighborhood." They both thoroughly enjoy

bringing them to their knees, while Sassy lets Chance and the other dogs out. Riley and Sledge let Jack and Ralph go, as their former prisoners chase after them, intent on some serious payback. They trap them in a spot where the only way out is behind a locked gate with barbwire across the top and the guys find themselves hanging near the top, unable to get over the wire. Bando then gets back inside the van and hits the reverse, sending it rolling backwards across a pier until it falls into

and sinks to the bottom of the bay. Once it's gone, a tag reading, "PUPPIES FOR SALE," floats to the surface. Once everyone's reunited, Bando not only admonishes Chance, saying it's his fault for putting everyone in danger, but Delilah agrees that he doesn't belong in the city. When she and Bando start licking and nuzzling each other, Chance walks away. Shadow tries to stop him but he snaps back, "Just leave me alone, old-timer! I don't need you, or Sassy, or her. I don't need anybody. I'm outta here." Immediately, Delilah regrets what she said, despite Shadow telling her she had to let Chance go.

Late that night, though reluctant to leave without Chance, Shadow agrees to let Riley guide him and Sassy to the bridge. After a cutaway to show Chance wandering sadly through the night, Riley gets them within view of the bridge by sunrise. They say their goodbyes, with Riley commenting that Sassy is, "Kinda fine, for a feline," (Sassy responds, "Uh-huh! You know it!",), and as Shadow leaves, Riley promises to keep in mind what he said about humans. Shadow and Sassy

head to the bridge, finding their way to a spot where construction equipment is stored, but since Shadow can't bring himself to leave Chance behind, he decides to go back and find him. But before they can, Ashcan and Pete appear. Not wanting to waste time fighting, Shadow tells them as much but they, of course, don't listen. Pete has his eye on Sassy, chasing after her and telling her she doesn't have something to drop on his head this time... only for her to scratch his butt. Shadow and

Ashcan get into another fierce fight, and Pete tells Sassy, "I've seen Ashcan kill a dog just for stepping on his tail." Shadow yells for Sassy to go find help but Pete isn't about to let her escape. But when there's a lull in the fight, Chance shows up, rushing between them and jumping over Pete's back. Confronting Pete, he tells him, "Hiya, Stinky. Long time no smell," and with that, both dogs chase him. Chance has them chase him through the bottom of 

a stack of long tubes, then he goes up a plank that acts as a seesaw and jumps through the cab of a bulldozer. Ashcan reaches the "seesaw," but when he walks to the end, it doesn't low and he finds it's because Pete is standing on the other end. He tells him to get his feet off the board so he can reach the bulldozer and, when he does, the end of the plank whacks Pete in the chin. Ashcan doesn't see Chance, but Pete does and they run to some stairs

leading up to a platform. They follow him up there and find him sitting on the other side of a long, green tube. They both walk into the tube and, as he runs around and nudges it with his nose, Chance goes, "Hey, what's got eight legs, no brains, spins around, and screams like a baby?" As the tube starts to roll, Pete asks, "Uh, I don't know. What?", and Chance answers, "You guys!" The tube rolls off the platform, down some planks, and crashes down below. You then hear a familiar exchange inside: "This is all your fault." "This is all your fault?" "Ah, shut up."

Chance reunites with Shadow and Sassy, saying he was following them since they left Riley's hideout. They then head for home, although Chance is still not so confident about Jamie. They cross the Golden Gate Bridge, unaware that their family is rushing home at that exact moment. The pets make their way through the suburbs and cross a road to reach a hill which Shadow is sure their home is just beyond. However, Chance stops in the middle of the road and looks back at the view of San

Francisco, depressed over Delilah. Seeing how sad he is, they worry about his well-being, but then, they have a more pressing reason to worry about him, when a big cargo truck comes around the corner and heads right for him. They both yell for Chance and he turns to see it just as it's almost on top of him. The driver swerves to miss him, hitting his brakes, and right behind him, the family has to do the same to avoid crashing into him. Once they stop, Bob prepares to get out and see what

happened, when Peter and Hope spot their pets on a nearby hill. They all get out and the kids and Laura run to the pets, when Jamie yells for Chance. Shadow and Sassy then realize they don't know what happened to him. Bob talks with the truck driver, who tells him that he stopped because there was a dog standing in the road. Hearing Laura and Jamie calling for Chance, he realizes it was him and, after telling Laura, he runs to Jamie and

breaks the news to him. Distraught, Jamie screams for Chance and runs to the front of the rig... when he hears the sound of a dog whimpering. Looking under the front of the truck, he sees Chance lying there, unhurt, with his paws above his head (apparently, he was lying like that this whole time, unaware that he wasn't hurt). Jamie yells his name and Chance, realizing it's him, quickly climbs out from under the truck and pins him to the road,

licking him continuously. With that, the family is reunited, Jamie apologizes to Chance for mistreating him, and tells him, "I love you, Chance," with Chance responding, "I love you, too, man!", as he wags his tail happily.

Some time later, though, Jamie is surprised when Chance isn't rearing to go with him to the park like before. Chance says, "It's called heartbreak, kid," but Bob thinks he's just tired from his journey. Meanwhile, as they prepare for an outside lunch, Peter plays Frisbee with Shadow, while Hope keeps Sassy from jumping up onto the table, prompting her to say, "Well, I guess the honeymoon's over, huh?" Chance then hears a bark in the distance and walks into the yard, thinking it

might be Delilah. But when it turns out to be another kid's dog following him as he rides a bicycle, Chance lays down in the grass, trying to snap himself out of this apparent delirium. He hears the bark again and becomes irked with himself... until Delilah comes around the corner and into the driveway. At first, he's shocked that she found him, while she apologizes for what she did and tells him, "Chance, you're my man." The two of them run to each other and meet in the yard,

declaring their love for each other, and playing and licking each other. The family hears them barking and comes around the corner to see what's going on. In all his happiness and excitement, Chance finally sees them and "introduces" her to them. He walks Delilah up to Jamie, as Shadow says, "Let Jamie show you what humans are really like." She lets Jamie pet her and licks his face, nervous about whether or not he'll like her. However, it's clear she

has nothing to worry about, as the whole family comes over to meet her. As they do, Peter notes that she doesn't have a collar and Hope asks Bob if she can stay. Chance is anxious, barking, calling him "Daddy," and asking him how he couldn't want her. Though he seems to have some reservations, Bob says, "Yeah, she can stay." Upon hearing that, Chance jumps for joy about as high as a dog can, while Sassy realizes that the old Chance, who she admitted she was missing, is back.

As he watches Delilah with Jamie and the rest of the family, Chance remarks that he definitely doesn't want to leave his home ever again. He says, "There's only one thing I know that could make this moment more perfect. In fact, I think I smell it coming up the driveway right now." Sure enough, a pizza car shows up, parks, and a guy carrying a pizza box (Will Sasso) gets out. Chance drools, "I'm smellin' pepperoni, I'm smellin' mushrooms,

I'm smellin' anchovies. I'm smellin' three... no, no, four. Four kinds of cheese! It could be. It might be. It is. It's pizza!", then rushes at the guy. He runs circles around him, trying to get at the pizza, and tells him, "Hand it over nicely or I can take it but, either way, pal, that pizza is mine!" The guy falls over and throws the box. The pizza flies through the air like a Frisbee, lands on Chance's back, and hits the ground. As the others see what he's doing, and Jamie yells at him to stop, Chance chows down, despite it being hot. He invites the others to join him and finishes the movie with, "Oh, what a day. Oh, this is so good. You know, I can't think of a happier ending. 

Like before, the music score is the work of Bruce Broughton, and also like before, his work is a big reason why the movie works as well as it does. Naturally, the main theme he created for the first one returns and, while it sounds just a bit different, lacking that rustic, country sort of feel it had before, it's still more than welcome to hear again and is used nicely, sometimes played in a big sweeping orchestra for scenes like when the pets run across the airfield or when they're crossing the Golden Gate Bridge near the end. Broughton also reuses Sassy's theme a couple of times, though less explicitly. He also comes up with motifs for some of the new characters, such as a creeping, sneaking one for the Blood Red Van (like the characters themselves, it's sort of in the vein of John Williams' theme for the bandits in the Home Alone films), a bluesy harmonica for Ashcan and Pete, and a very lovely one for Delilah, reflecting both her kind-hearted personality as well as the sadness about her in that she's never had any loving humans of her own. Broughton also makes use of her theme for the moments where her and Chance's relationship blossoms (it really sounds good when played on a smooth saxophone), the pain the two of them feel after they're separated and feel as though they can't be together, and the happiness they feel when they're reunited at the end and Delilah is welcomed into the family. As you'd expect, he comes up with more music to tug at the heartstrings (he makes Riley's backstory even sadder than it is already), to make you laugh in all the comedic moments, and also to excite you, such as in the confrontations between Ashcan and Pete and the pets, when they're trying to save Chance from the Blood Red Van, and when Chance shows up in time to save Shadow and Sassy, with his music sounding downright heroic. Finally, there's a fiddle theme for Chance in some scenes that does hint at the first one's country feel but that's about as far as it goes.

In the pantheon of Disney sequels, many of which are not only unnecessary but downright terrible, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco is an example of one that, while still not needed, isn't that bad of a movie in and of itself. The main characters are just as likable as before, thanks to the voiceover performances and those that the animal trainers bring out; the new characters are perfectly fine, especially Delilah; there are plenty of funny and exciting scenes and moments to be found here, as well as some that will definitely get you right there; the city setting is used well; the movie is well-made overall, with top notch production values; and the music score is, once again, excellent. The comedy may be a bit broader, more cartoonish, and even juvenile, and the film does sometimes rehash elements from the first one, but other than how made Sassy a little too mean this time around, my only major complaint with the sequel is that it just doesn't have the charm, heart, and spirit of the first one. The character arcs aren't as impactful, the setting doesn't have the same appeal as the wilderness, the story isn't as inspired, and above all else, as I've said time and again, the first one told its story perfectly and there was no reason for a follow-up. But that said, it's not a travesty that this movie exists and, again, when it comes to Disney sequels, you can do a whole lot worse.