# Poodle Power: The Animated Iditarod Film That Didn't Cross the Finish Line

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/films-not-made-7685317/poodle-power-the-animated-iditarod-film-that-didn-t-cross-the-finish-line
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/films-not-made-7685317/poodle-power-the-animated-iditarod-film-that-didn-t-cross-the-finish-line.md
Podcast: [Films Not Made](https://stenobird.com/podcast/films-not-made-7685317)
Published: 2026-03-10T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/43a54a1bbb8a04ce57882023bbf30e0f34acc2c2617d54dd86d43a76f9424756/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJkNGU3N2NkZC0zMzcxLTQ1M2EtYWQ2MS1iY2I5ZTEwNTU2MzQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJmODFhYTVjOC0wZjllLTQwNGItYWVkYy1iZDkwM2Q3NzhmZWUiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2NjllNzc0NzViOTljZTdjMTUwMTU4ZjIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjk5M2RjYzhjOWFlNDdiNjBmMDhhYTliL2F2aS13ZWlkZXJzLXN0dWRpby1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTItMTdfXzQtMTMtMTIubXAzIn0=.mp3
Audio file: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/43a54a1bbb8a04ce57882023bbf30e0f34acc2c2617d54dd86d43a76f9424756/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJkNGU3N2NkZC0zMzcxLTQ1M2EtYWQ2MS1iY2I5ZTEwNTU2MzQiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJmODFhYTVjOC0wZjllLTQwNGItYWVkYy1iZDkwM2Q3NzhmZWUiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2NjllNzc0NzViOTljZTdjMTUwMTU4ZjIiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNjk5M2RjYzhjOWFlNDdiNjBmMDhhYTliL2F2aS13ZWlkZXJzLXN0dWRpby1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTItMTdfXzQtMTMtMTIubXAzIn0=.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/films-not-made-7685317/episodes/poodle-power-the-animated-iditarod-film-that-didn-t-cross-the-finish-line
Duration seconds: 3913

## Resource

What if a team of standard poodles ran the Iditarod? Not as a joke—as a real animated feature film. Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell spent nearly a decade trying to make "Poodle Power" happen. Based on the true story of John Suter, who actually raced poodles (alongside huskies) in Alaska's legendary sled dog race until the Iditarod committee banned non-husky breeds in 1990. The project went through countless iterations: from live-action rescue helicopter drama to animated adventure, from Blue Sky Studios meetings to pitch sessions with executives who loved it but wouldn't greenlight it. Amy reunites with her producing partner Anne Hubbell (Provincetown International Film Festival, Kodak) and animation veteran Kent Osborne (SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time) to autopsy eight years of development hell. They dissect the original pitch deck, revisit brutal notes from Oscar-nominated animators, and explore why a perfectly good idea about lovable poodles couldn't cross the finish line. Then we feed everything into the AI pipeline—scripts, decks, news clips, character descriptions—and resurrect "Poodle Power" with a new pitch deck and trailer. Plus, we introduce Bob, our AI film executive, who weighs in on whether this project has legs now. Guests: Anne Hubbell - Producer, Co-founder of Tangerine Entertainment, Director of Provincetown International Film Festival Kent Osborne - Actor, Writer, Director (SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time) Hosts: Amy Hobby - Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning producer Avi Zev Weider - Award-winning filmmaker From analog rejection to digital resurrection - Films Not Made hosts Amy Hobby and Avi Zev Weider unearth both Hollywood and indie film projects too wild, weird, or ambitious to ever hit the big screen. You'll hear writers, directors, and produ…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/films-not-made-7685317/episodes/poodle-power-the-animated-iditarod-film-that-didn-t-cross-the-finish-line/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/films-not-made-7685317/poodle-power-the-animated-iditarod-film-that-didn-t-cross-the-finish-line.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.