Dogs have appeared in movies almost since the birth of cinema. In the early twentieth century, dogs played small parts in several silent films. One of the most memorable was Charlie Chaplin's canine companion in misery in "The Kid", in 1921. Not until Hollywood's "Rintintin", released in 1922, did a dog play the starring role in a movie.
- Rintintin
What could be more natural than acting for a dog whose past was far from the peaceful existence of a farm dog? Rintintin served as a messenger to the Germans during World War I and was found by an American aviator who brought him back to the United States after the war. When the American veteran discovered how quickly his canine companion could learn, he decided to make him a show dog. From 1922 to 1932, Rintintin appeared in twenty-two films, always in the role of an honorable and fearless hero who would do anything to defend the innocent. His popularity spread all over the world, making him a true movie star. He had his own dressing room, "signed" his own contracts and chose his own co-stars! When he died, his character was played by his pups and grandpups; his fourth-generation descendants brought Rintintin to television.
- Lassie
Another dog superstar was the famous Lassie. Purchased for five dollars by an animal trainer, this Collie launched her career in 1943 in Lassie Come Home. While Rintintin tore after the bad guys and leapt across chasms, Lassie exemplified the loyalty and unconditional love of a dog for her master, preferably a child. Like Rintintin, Lassie enjoyed worldwide popularity. Her trainer and agent demanded astronomical salaries for her - fifty thousand dollars a year and four thousand dollars per commercial appearance - as well as a dressing room, a private secretary and even paid holidays! Through the third generation, Lassie's descendants made films; then her legacy was brought to television.
The stories of Rintintin and Lassie are unique in the history of cinema. Both dogs had talented trainers who helped them gain recognition as true actors and who had the business sense to manage their career and earnings.
Following these successes, the presence of dogs in cinema declined. Before the 1980s, a few books by Jack London were made into movies, but none featured dogs as developed characters. Instead, dogs usually served as sidekicks for their co-stars, as in Call of the Wild with Charlton Heston.
Not until the 1970s did Walt Disney Studios make another push for canine films. They needed to find a nice dog who was, of course, extremely loyal and had a friendly face with star quality - in short, a kid's best friend. Into the studios trotted Benji, a little Pyrenean Shepherd mix. For the first time, casting directors chose not a big, proud Sheepdog but a spunky ball of fur. Disney made five movies about Benji's wacky adventures before launching a televised series. With an annual salary of a million and a half dollars by 1974, Benji was certainly expensive to produce! Several movies pairing the police with dogs were also released but had little success. Since 1990, the new dog hero for kids is a big, fat Saint Bernard named Beethoven, whose movies have been successful worldwide. In addition, a new screen adaptation of Jack London's White Fang was produced recently by Disney.
The current trend in movies involves dogs who think and talk, like human actors. For example, Charly au pays des kangourous [Charlie in the Land of the Kangaroos] follows the adventures of a Labrador puppy in Australia and Disney's Incredible Journey (1994) features two dogs and a cat who comb the United States in search of their young master.
Today's dog actors are graduates of professional training schools where they learn everything from barking on command to playing dead to whining - a true theater arts program! The result of all this effort does pay off for the trainer; only one of his students needs to be picked for him to make a fortune.
For some twenty years, film production has been monitored by animal protection organizations to ensure the well-being of canine actors.
As long as movies with dogs are successful, Hollywood will continue to make them. Of course, not all aspects of this success have been positive. Certain movies that feature a specific breed have triggered a considerable demand for the breed and the subsequent overbreeding of puppies of lower and lower quality. Hopefully, someday movies will show dogs for what they really are, not as mere caricatures of the almost human "nice doggy".
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