Disney’s Teacher’s Pet–sometimes referred to as Teacher’s Pet: The Movie–opened on this day 20 years ago. The film was based on the Saturday morning cartoon of the same name, created by cartoonist Gary Baseman. Disney must have really wanted to work with him, as they agreed to Baseman’s insistence that a theatrical feature be a part of his contract when he signed on to do the show. So if you’re wondering how a series as obscure as Teacher’s Pet ended up on the big screen, there’s your answer.

Anyway, Disney’s Teacher’s Pet (titled that way to avoid copyright confusion with Teacher’s Pet, a Doris Day outing which it takes a song from for the end credits), like the cartoon, centers around the adventures of Spot (voiced by Timon himself, Nathan Lane), a dog who just so happens to be a genius. Not content to remain on all fours, Spot disguises himself as a human child and goes to school, but the film takes things a step further by sending him on an adventure to become an actual little boy when he learns of a mad scientist who can make his dream possible. Unfortunately, the procedure backfires, since Spot is middle-aged in dog years, meaning he turns into a 40-year-old man. So, you know, typical Disney stuff.

Now, it might not shock you to hear that Disney’s Teacher’s Pet flopped, grossing just $6.5 million. The reason it didn’t inspire many “OMG Mickey is doomed!” headlines is because it only cost $10 million to produce, and for context, that’s roughly half of the average production budget for several of Disney’s straight-to-video sequels of the era (it also didn’t have a big marketing campaign, hence why I’m not spending this header educating you on Nathan Lane Happy Meal toys). In other words, no one involved lost much sleep over this one bombing.

But it’s still kind of sad it didn’t do better box office, since this movie is…kind of great? Like, don’t get me wrong, this level of insanity (and it is insanity) isn’t for everyone, but if you’re in the mood for a Disney film that ends up making a lot of fun of Disney films, you might get a solid kick out of this. Also, the voice cast is stacked. In addition to Lane, there’s also David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Stiller, Paul Reubens, and even some people who haven’t died like Kelsey Grammer. And did I mention that it’s also a musical? I recall applauding when it was over…when I saw it in a completely empty theater. Not weird at all.

Have a great night, y’all! And also, the show’s theme song was a banger. It kind of reminds me of Schoolhouse Rock!: