A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : DOG DAZE : Why <i> (Woof)</i> Can’t <i> (woof)</i> I (<i> woof)</i> Get <i> (woof)</i> Any <i> (woof)</i> Respect <i> (woof)</i> ?

“It’s a dog’s life and I love it,” sings the title character in Hyperion’s “Rover Dangerfield,” but Warner Bros. seems to be treating the movie like a dog.

The animated feature, which stars a caricature of comedian Rodney Dangerfield as a Las Vegas showgirl’s pet basset hound, was initially scheduled to hit the screens earlier this summer. But the announced August release date came and went; so far, the film has played for a few weeks in only a handful of small markets. It’s become increasingly unlikely that this dog will ever have its day.

Rumors have been flying about “Rover’s” fate: The film was about to open, it wasn’t going to open, the film was being re-edited and/or the soundtrack was being re-recorded, the film was going directly to video. If the animation industry had a National Enquirer, “Rover” would have grabbed more headlines than Oprah’s waistline.

So what happened?

In a telephone interview, Robert G. Friedman, president of worldwide theatrical advertising and publicity for Warners Bros., said, “It is probably not going to find a broad national release. As of right now, ‘Rover’ will probably have a limited release around the country in the next couple of months.” It will not be released in the L.A. area.

But Friedman declined to give the reason behind the studio’s decision. Dangerfield and officials at Hyperion refused to comment on the film’s fate.

Dangerfield conceived the idea of a canine alter-ego about five years ago and began to develop the concept. He took the idea to Hyperion Pictures, a studio founded in 1984 by two ex-Walt Disney Studio executives, Thomas Wilhite and Willard Carroll. Hyperion’s best-known film was the feature “The Brave Little Toaster,” currently one of the nation’s Top 10-selling videocassettes.

“Rodney funded the first phases of the production entirely himself,” said Wilhite. “That’s well over a million dollars, and that included the character and production designs, songs and screenplay--all of the basic work that convinced Warner Bros. to fund the picture.”

David Newman composed an original score for the film, and Billy Tragresser collaborated with Dangerfield on the songs. A staff of more than 150 artists was overseen by directors James George, a veteran of the Disney and Don Bluth studios, and Robert Seely, a Clio-winning commercial animator.

It seems surprising that the film isn’t getting wider release at a time when parents complain of a dearth of family films, particularly given the success of Disney’s recent reissue of “101 Dalmatians.” “Rover” garnered generally favorable reviews in its limited run, and an animator from another studio, who asked not to be identified, said, “I saw sections of ‘Rover’ at a festival in Ojai. It looked like a quality product, and the scenes seemed funny to me, but I don’t know if the idea of Dangerfield as a dog can carry 90 minutes.”