At Jesus’ Side Characters & Movie Summary

Since decades, working with real or fictional animal friends has been an effective psychological tool to help guide children and young teenagers towards positive solutions, to life’s many problems and challenges.

At Jesus’ Side is an encouraging story about Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness to the world, as witnessed and experienced in the last week of His life by a group of animal friends, who had in some way been hurt and damaged by life’s unpredictable circumstances.

Finding comfort and security in each other they wander, mostly lost, anxiously seeking the fleeting mundane solutions (or distractions) to earthly life’s constant barrage of challenges. (Click on images to see big version).

Jericho (voiced by Lucas Grabeel) is a teenage vagabond dog, deeply traumatised as a puppy after witnessing the cruel end to his family at the hands of an evil man and dog-abuser named Sykosus. Protected by his own subconscious mind, Jericho is unable to clearly remember the source of his early trauma, yet harbours a profound distrust and hatred of many things – especially humans. Despite his young age, Jericho leads the group of animals, but finds himself challenged by the ever-evolving and unexpected series of events, dangers and responsibility thrust upon him and his friends as they approach the bustling city of Jerusalem, during the time of Passover.

Petra (voiced by Roma Downey) the Desert Hedgehog is Jericho’s adoptive mother, having managed to guide him away from danger when he was a puppy, as his family was being taken by Sykosus (whose job is to “permanently take care of ” Jerusalem’s stray and undesired dogs). Petra has a strong nurturing instinct, and prefers to hide away in the small and sheltered environment that she knew in her younger years. When this group of animal friends come upon a lost puppy, it is Petra who puts all other concerns aside and leads the effort to find the puppy’s original mother in Jerusalem.

Miguel (voiced by Lee Tockar) is a cheeky, expressive and brash Chameleon from Hispania (Portugal/Spain during Roman times) who was owned by and accompanied a well-traveled Roman officer, therefore having seen many exotic places in his life. Oftentimes, Miguel finds excitement in his antics that frequently happen to annoy his friends. Apparently having been “dumped” by the Roman officer due to his annoying behaviour and later found by Petra and his new friends, perhaps Miguel became this way due to having been dumped in the first place. Nevertheless, Miguel is an intelligent, resourceful and loyal friend.

Ulysses (voiced by Blu Mankuma) is an old and arthritic Tibetan Mastiff, who had been captured by the Romans to fight lions in the Hippodrome (stadium) at Jerusalem, but managed to escape and ended up meeting and becoming good friends with Jericho. Weary, but taking the toll of having been a fighting dog in his stride, Ulysses finds purpose in supporting responsibility and helping ease and correct injustices.

Maya (voiced by Kathleen Barr) is an intelligent and kindhearted Saluki, owned by a Roman general and living inside a palace within Jerusalem. Maya lives a sheltered and privileged life, protected from the usual abuse of dogs in Jerusalem by her protected status of being the Roman general’s property. Unlike Petra however, Maya finds no peace in living within the confines of a secluded existence. Aware of being little more than an ornament to her owner and restless about her inability to contribute part of herself to the lives around her, Maya longs for a greater meaning in life.
When Jericho and his friends find themselves cornered and about to be hurt, Maya sees a chance to make a positive difference and decides to assist. From preventing Jericho and his friends from being savaged by war dogs, to assisting in the rescue of a puppy and even organising (stinky) Jericho’s first ever bath; Maya quickly became an invaluable friend.

As the story unfolds, this unusual group of animal friends stumble upon unexpected encounters, meet new friendly (and sometimes unfriendly) faces and discover renewed stability, hope and purpose.

As pivotal as the part is that Jesus (voiced by Kirby Morrow) plays in this story, the main character and narrator is Jericho, the teenage vagabond dog who tells of his own (and friends’) personal journey and discoveries, throughout the last week of Jesus’ life, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Even though this movie is aimed at younger children, with teenage Jericho in a way being the “bigger brother” in this story and narration, he is also relatable to “fellow” teenagers and young adults, who may themselves be facing difficult situations and looking forward to a brighter, more meaningful future.

As gentle as this movie may seem at first, there is a very real undertone of the perils that life in the “real world” can inflict, at one point in the story resulting in a dangerous life or death battle between Jericho and Sykosus – the man who had murdered his family.
Constructed to not overly frighten children (and having received an “all audiences” seal), nevertheless this is a story that doesn’t create comfort in sugarcoating reality and constructing a far-away fantasy world. Rather this story confronts harsh challenges, and reassures the young viewer by positively and resourcefully dealing with sometimes disturbing responsibilities and situations, and then mastering them as best as reasonably possible.

Throughout this story, Jericho meets Jesus at several events described in The Bible. Jericho slowly learns to let go of the fears and hatred of humans that he had been suffering from since his puppyhood, and begins to respect and love Jesus – the first human to ever show him true love and compassion. As Jericho and his friends find out that Jesus had been wrongfully arrested and sentenced to be crucified, they rally to save Jesus from His wrongful execution. Evading the defenses of Jesus’ captors, the group of animal friends manage to find Jesus and hope to free Him.
However Jesus resists and explains why He must remain imprisoned, and promises that Jericho and his friends’ sorrow will be turned into joy, and that He will be with them always.

Truly a journey of love and forgiveness, this movie’s story ends with Jericho walking at Jesus’ side and discovering an earthly life beyond the limitations that fear, resentment and hate impose upon everybody.

A story that introduces younger audiences to some of Jesus’ most important and loving teachings, written in conjunction with several theological advisors and biblical consultants, and with a message that is pressingly important to heed.

At Jesus’ Side is truly a special and unique Christian movie, worth keeping in your library and sharing with family and friends.