Did you know that dogs have been movie stars for a long, long time? From as far back as when Scraps was on the silver screen with Charlie Chapin.
I learnt all about dog movie stars when we came across the book Citizen Canine : Dogs in the Movies. And we were thrilled to find some of our favourites in there …
The Artist is high on Mum’s list.
And of course, there’s Marley of Marley & Me!
Two doggy stars that we love didn’t make it into the book before it was published – the dog who played Enzo in The Art of Racing in the Rain and Togo!
Who are your favourite doggy movie stars?
May’s comment: We’ve watched more films and telly in the last 18 months than the last five years! There were of course a few some dog movies amongst them. We listed them on our blog – What’s your fave movie?
Have you noticed that most dog movies have tearful endings? Cried buckets! So we were delighted to come across Citizen Canine: Dogs in the Movies – a book about some of the famous doggy movie stars.
We got in touch with the author of the book, Wendy Mitchell … who had only recently been at the Palm Dog Festival in Cannes.
And we asked Wendy what inspired her to write this book.
Dog days of Cannes…and Hollywood by Wendy Mitchell
Tilda Swinton stood on a stage at the famed Cannes Film Festival last week thanking Snowbear, Dora and Rosy, three of her co-stars in Joanna Hogg’s drama The Souvenir II. Snowbear, Dora and Rosey also have a
full-time role in Swinton’s life, they are her very own beloved springer spaniels. They were being honoured at the world’s most famous film festival for their appearance on screen, as the top winners of the Palm Dog 2021. “I have to tell you honestly, this is the prize to get. We’ve been eyeing it for years,” Swinton said on stage in Cannes. “I tried to get the dogs here but they’re busy,” she added with a laugh. “I hear they’re on the beach in the Highlands of Scotland.”
The Palm Dog celebrated its 20th anniversary in Cannes, after being founded by London-based film enthusiast and dog lover Toby Rose. Toby has been kind enough to invite me to serve on the jury for the past three years of the prizes, which recognise the best canine actors in Cannes. Other winners this year included pitbull Sophie, who appeared in American filmmaker Sean Baker’s Red Rocket; and the late sheepdog Panda, who stars alongside Noomi Rapace and a lot of sheep in Valdimar Johansson’s Icelandic supernatural film Lamb.
The Palm Dog ceremony is terrific fun every year, always gathering the world’s media alongside some local French pooches to celebrate every year’s winners. Tilda was so happy to win the award that she started wearing the coveted leather Palm Dog around her own neck! In 2019, Quentin Tarantino showed up to accept the Palm Dog on behalf of Brandy, who starred alongside Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Past winners through the decades include Uggie, star of 2012’s Oscar-winning film The Artist; Lucy in Wendy and Lucy; Banjo and Poppy from Sightseers; and the whole cast of Dogman.
Serving on the Palm Dog jury for the last few years isn’t my first encounter with cinematic canines. I’m a longtime film journalist, usually writing about more serious topics like how films are financed and produced. About 16 years ago, I was attending a film industry convention in Los Angeles when I was introduced to HeyHey, the star of the 2005 Lassie remake – HeyHey was such a beautiful, well trained collie and I was fascinated to learn that she was a direct descendent of Pal, who played Lassie starting in 1943. This got me thinking about the magnificent canine actors who have starred in great films over the years and how each of them must have a great back story.
So I wrote a book, Citizen Canine: Dogs in the Movies, that includes 100 years of films, from 1918’s A Dog’s Life with Charlie Chaplin to 2018’s Patrick the pug. I had such fun rewatching these great films and digging up fun facts about the real dogs – The great mutt from the 1970s, Benji, was a rescue dog before he became famous — even Alfred Hitchcock said he was a secret fan of Benji. Old Yeller was played by a dog named Spike, a really docile dog that had been raised around kids — in real life Spike was so sweet that Walt Disney thought he couldn’t play the tougher part of the role. But the trainer worked extra time with the dog to have him look menacing on screen. Rin Tin Tin, the big star in the 1920s and 1930s, got 50,000 fan letters a month. Toto, played by a Cairn terrier named Terry, actually sprained his paw on the set of the Wizard of Oz and guess where he went to heal himself? Judy Garland’s house!
Those are just some of the fun facts I learned while researching Citizen Canine. Now I get asked a lot what is my favourite dog film of all time? It’s a hard choice to make but certainly one that moves me every time I watch it is My Dog Skip – such a moving story of a boy and the strong bond with his first dog. And I always have a soft spot
for a Jack Russell Terrier.
I finished writing the book in late 2018 and it was published in early 2020 but I still like to keep up with the latest dog movies – including Tilda’s hounds in The Souvenir II at Cannes 2021 and some recent favourites including The Art of Racing in the Rain, the new Lady & The Tramp on Disney+ and Cruella. Long may cinematic hounds continue to steal our hearts!
We love a dog movie – guaranteed to melt hearts and be ready to cry buckets of tears.
