Dog Movies

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians) is the seventeenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was made and produced by Walt Disney, and it was originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961 by Buena Vista Distribution. It is based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith.

The film features Rod Taylor as the voice of Pongo, the first of the Dalmatians, and Betty Lou Gerson as the voice of the villainous Cruella de Vil. The plot centers on the fate of the kidnapped puppies of Pongo and Perdita.

Plot

Pongo the Dalmatian lives in a London bachelor flat with his owner Roger Radcliffe, a songwriter. Bored with bachelor life, Pongo decides to find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. While watching various female dog-human pairs out the window, he spots the perfect couple, a woman named Anita and her female Dalmatian, Perdita. He quickly gets Roger out of the house and drags him through the park to arrange a meeting. Pongo accidentally causes both Roger and Anita to fall into a pond, but it works out well as the couple falls in love. Both the human couple and the dog couple marry.

Later, Perdita gives birth to 15 puppies. One almost dies, but Roger is able to revive it by rubbing it vigorously in a towel. That same night, they are visited by Cruella De Vil, an wealthy former schoolmate of Anita’s. She offers to buy the entire litter of puppies for a large sum, but Roger says they are not selling any of the puppies. Weeks later, she hires Jasper and Horace Badun to steal all of the puppies. When Scotland Yard is unable to prove she stole them or find the puppies, Pongo and Perdita use the “Twilight Bark”, normally a canine gossip line, to ask for help from the other dogs in England.

Colonel, an old Sheepdog, and Sergeant Tibbs, a tabby cat, find the puppies in a place called Hell Hall, along with lots of other Dalmatian puppies who Cruella had purchased from various dog stores. Tibbs learns the puppies are going to be made into dog-skin fur coats and the Colonel quickly sends word back to London. Pongo and Perdita quickly make their way from London to retrieve their puppies. They arrive just as Horace and Jasper are about to kill the puppies. While the adult dogs attack the two men, Colonel and Tibbs guide them from the house.

After a happy reunion with their own puppies, the Pongos realize there are 84 other puppies with them. Horrified at Cruella’s plans, they decide to adopt all of the puppies, certain their pets would never reject them. The dogs being making their way back to London, aided by other animals along the way, with Cruella and the Baduns chasing behind them. In one town, they cover themselves with soot so they appear to be Labrador Retrievers, then pile inside a moving van going back to London. As the van is leaving, melting snow clears off the soot and Cruella spots them. She follows the van in her car and rams it, but the Baduns, trying to cut off the van from above, end up colliding with her, knocking both vehicles into a deep ravine. Cruella yells in frustration as the van drives away.

Back in London, Roger and Anita are attempting to celebrate Christmas and Roger’s first big hit, a song about Cruella, but they miss their friends. Suddenly barking is heard outside and after their nanny opens the door, the house is filled with dog. After wiping away more of the soot, the couple is delighted to realize their companions have returned home. They decide to use the money from the song to buy a large house in the country so they can keep all 101 Dalmatians.

The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney movie about Wilby Daniels, a teenager who is transformed into a sheep dog by a magic ring, and was the first ever Walt Disney live-action comedy. It starred Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk, Jean Hagen, Kevin Corcoran, Tim Considine, Roberta Shore, and Annette Funicello. The movie was originally intended as the pilot for a never-made TV series and advertised as “the funniest shaggy dog story ever told”, although it is not in fact a story of that genre. The director was Charles Barton, who also directed Spin and Marty for The Mickey Mouse Club. Veteran screenwriter Lillie Hayward also worked on the Spin and Marty serials, which featured several of the same young actors as The Shaggy Dog. Veteran Disney voice actor Paul Frees had a rare on-screen appearance in the film – for which he received no on-screen credit – as Dr. J.W. Galvin, a psychiatrist who examines Wilby’s father (MacMurray). Frees also did his usual voice acting by also playing the part of the narrator who informs the audience that Wilson Daniels is a “man noted for the fact he hates dogs”.

The Shaggy Dog was one of the top movies of 1959, and actually grossed higher than Ben-Hur.^{[citation needed]}

Walt Disney Productions filmed a successful sequel in 1976 called The Shaggy D.A. which starred Dean Jones, Tim Conway, and Suzanne Pleshette. In 1988, a made-for-TV movie called The Return of the Shaggy Dog continued the adventures of the now-adult Wilby Daniels; although also a sequel to the original film, it did not share any continuity with the Dean Jones version. The Shaggy Dog was also remade as a 1994 TV movie.

In 2006, Disney released a “remake” of the movie with an entirely different story and characters, unrelated to the original trilogy. To tie-in with the theatrical release of the 2006 film, the original 1959 movie was re-issued in the USA as a special DVD labelled THE WILD & WOOLLY EDITION, which featured the movie in two forms; one in the original black and white, the other a colorized version. However, in the UK, the 1959 movie has only ever been made available on Disney DVD in black and white.

Tagline: The Funniest Shaggy Dog story ever told! Hello Dad… the funniest thing happened!

Plot

Wilby Daniels is constantly misunderstood by his father, Wilson. Wilson thinks Wilby is crazy half the time because of his elder son’s often dangerous inventions. As a mailman who often runs afoul of canines, this has caused his dislike of dogs, and he can’t understand why his younger son, Mongomery “Moochie” wants a dog so badly.

Wilby and his self-centered rival Buzz Miller take a new French girl, Francesca Andrassy, to the local museum. Wilby gets separated from the other two, who leave without him. Wilby ends up in a new wing, where he meets Professor Plumcutt, who tells him all about mystical ancient beliefs, including the legend of the Borgia family, who used shape-shifting as a weapon against their enemies.

On the way out, Wilby collides with a table of rings, ending up with one in the cuff of his pants which he finds later. It is the cursed Borgia ring, and when he reads the inscription on it, he turns into Chiffon, Francesca’s shaggy Old English sheepdog. Confused about what has happened, Wilby as a dog goes to Professor Plumcutt, who says he has invoked the Borgia curse upon himself, which can only be broken through an act of selflessness. After getting chased out of his own house, Wilby has a series of misadventures, as he constantly switches back and forth between human and dog forms. Only Moochie and Professor Plumcutt know his true identity when he is a dog, as Wilby has spoken to them both in dog form. Finally, he goes to a local dance (as a human) and while dancing turns into a dog. He runs out quickly, and goes home.

The next day, Wilby (as a dog) and Moochie are talking when Francesca’s butler comes out and drags Wilby into the house. The butler and Dr. Andrassy discuss plans to steal a government secret, and Wilby (still a dog) overhears. Unfortunately for him, he transforms into human Wilby right in front of the spies and is discovered, but not before he heard Dr. Andrassy expressing his wish to get rid of his own daughter.

The spies capture him and force Francesca to leave with them, leaving Wilby (human) bound and gagged in the closet. Moochie sneaks into the house after the Andrasses leave and discovers Wilby, as a dog, bound in the closet. Wilby reveals the secret to his father, who goes to the authorities, only to be accused of being either crazy or a spy himself.

Wilby steals Buzz’s car and pursues the spies. Mr. Daniels, Buzz and Moochie follow him and the police end up chasing everyone. The spies attempt to leave via boat, but Wilby (dog form) swims up and wrestles with the men, as Francesca gets knocked out of the boat. He then saves her life and drags her ashore, breaking the curse.

Mr. Daniels and Chiffon are declared heroes, Francesca leaves for Paris without her evil dad, who has been presumably arrested for espionage, and she gives Chiffon to the Daniels family for them to keep as thanks. Since Mr. Daniels has gotten such commendation for foiling a spy ring due to “his love of dogs”, he can no longer have his dog-hating attitude, and allows Moochie to care for Chiffon as he wanted a dog all along. Wilby and Buzz decide to forget their rivalry over Francesca and resume their friendship.

Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney, and originally released to theaters on June 22, 1955 by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, it was the first animated feature filmed in the Cinemascope widescreen film process. The story pairs a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with a prosperous, upper middle-class family, and a male stray mutt named Tramp.

Plot

One Christmas, Jim Dear gives his wife Darling a cocker spaniel puppy that they name Lady. Though initially determined that Lady would sleep in a basket in the kitchen like a proper “dog,” she ends up sleeping on the bed with the couple. When she is six months old, she receives a collar and license. Lady goes to show off her badge of “faith and respectability” to her canine friends Jock, a Scottish terrier and Trusty, a Bloodhound. Across town, a stray mutt, referred to as the Tramp by other characters, visits an Italian restaurant where he gets a large bone from the owner for his breakfast. He also spots his fellow strays Peg (a former Dog and Pony Showdog) Pekingese and Bull a Bulldog, locked up in a dog catcher‘s van and sets them free, leading the dogcatcher away in a decoy chase.

Later, Lady is saddened after Jim Dear refers to her as “THAT Dog”, and another occasion when Darling gently swats her for pulling on the yarn she was sewing with. When she tells Jock and Trusty about these events, and how Jim Dear is always asking about Darling’s “condition” they explain to her that Darling is pregnant and going to have a baby. While her friends try to explain, the Tramp wanders into the yard. He tells her that they are nothing but trouble and warn her that when the baby comes she’ll lose her comfortable place in their home. Jock and Trusty take a dislike to the stray and order him out of the yard, then try to reassure her that her humans would never be so cruel.

The baby boy arrives amidst much confusion. Curious, Lady creeps towards the nursery. Jim Dear spots her, but rather than ordering her away as she expected, he lets her in. Lady loves the baby as soon as she sees it, and assigns herself as its protector. Soon after the baby is born, Jim Dear and Darling decide to go on a trip together, leaving their Aunt Sarah to look after the baby and the house. She brings her two Siamese cats, Si and Am. While Aunt Sarah is looking at the baby, the two cats begin causing mischief. When they try to go upstairs to steal the baby’s milk, Lady barks at them and chases them, and the cats wreck the room in the process of being chased. Aunt Sarah comes down at all the noise and the two cats pretend to be hurt.

Blaming Lady for the trouble, Aunt Sarah takes her to a pet shop and has her muzzled. Terrified, Lady escapes from her arms and runs out into the streets. A pack of vicious street dogs chase her, but Tramp hears the barking and rescues her. Seeing the muzzle, he takes her to the zoo where they convince a beaver to remove the muzzle. With Lady free from the muzzle, the two dogs go around town and Tramp tells her about his life, and all the “homes” and names he has.

At dinnertime he takes her to his favorite Italian place, Tony’s, where Tony and Joe prepare the couple a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and serenade the couple. As they eat, the dogs inadvertently share a kiss. After dinner, they go for a walk through the park, lending up on a hill overlooking the town. In the morning, Tramps asks Lady to stay with him, but she feels she must watch over the baby so he agrees to take her home. On the way, he convinces her to stop to chase some chickens, but while they are escaping, the dogcatcher catches Lady. At the pound, Lady is teased a bit by the rougher strays for being high bred, but Peg (who has been caught again), has them lay off. The other dogs talk about Tramp’s many girlfriends, and how he is unwilling to ever settle down. They also predict that if he ever does, he’ll grow careless and likely be caught and put to sleep. The talk upsets Lady, but she is soon taken home. Aunt Sarah chains her to a doghouse in the back yard, much to her shame. Jock and Trusty visit to try to comfort her, and even propose marriage so she could move to one of their homes. Lady appreciates their gesture but gently turns them down.

Tramp tries to apologize for her being caught. When he calls her a “cute little trick” Lady furiously turns on him and questions him about all of his other girls. Refusing to see him, Tramp sadly leaves. Moments later, Lady sees a rat sneaking into the house. She barks frantically, but Aunt Sarah yells at her to be quiet. Tramp hears her and runs back to help. Following Lady’s directions, he gets into the house and finds the rat in the baby’s room and kills it. Lady, having broken her chain to follow him into the house, thanks him for his help. Aunt Sarah runs in, and seeing the overturned crib thinks Tramp attacked the baby. She pushes him into a closet and Lady into the basement then calls the pound to take Tramp away.

As the dogcatcher is taking him away, Jim Dear and Darling return home and Lady shows them the dead rat. Jock and Trusty, having overheard everything, chase after the dogcatcher van. Jock is convinced Trusty has long since lost his sense of smell, but the old bloodhound is able to find the wagon. They bark at the horses to make it stop, causing the wagon to fall. Jim Dear and Lady are not far behind and Lady is happily reunited with Tramp before they discover that the wagon fell on Trusty.

Christmas arrives and Tramp now has his own collar and license. She and Tramp have a litter of four puppies: three girls who look like Lady and a boy who looks like Tramp. Jock and Trusty come to see the family and Tramp’s new collar, with Trusty carefully walking on his injured leg.

Courage of Lassie is a 1946 MGM feature film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, and dog actor Pal in a story about a collie named Bill and his young companion, Kathie Merrick. When Bill is separated from Kathie following a vehicular accident, he is trained as a war dog, performs heroically, and, after many tribulations, is eventually reunited with his beloved Kathie. Though the film is called Courage of Lassie, Eric Knight’s fictional canine character Lassie does not appear in the film.

Courage of Lassie is the third of seven MGM films featuring a canine star called Lassie, who, in actuality, was a male collie named Pal. Using the stage name Lassie, Pal appeared as the titular character in the first film, Lassie Come Home and as Laddie in its sequel, Son of Lassie. Courage of Lassie has been released to VHS and DVD.

Plot

A collie pup is separated from his mother and grows to young adulthood in the forest. After being swept away in a torrent and then shot by a young hunter, he is found by Kathie Merrick (Elizabeth Taylor) and carried to her home. With the help of a kindly shepherd, Mr. MacBain (Frank Morgan), she tends him back to health, names him Bill, and teaches him to herd sheep.

One day, unknown to Kathie, Bill is hit by a truck and taken to an animal hospital. Kathie risks her life futilely searching for him on the island where they first met. Bill remains unclaimed in the hospital for two months and is sent to a War Dog Training Center. After training, he is shipped out with the troops. Duke performs heroically on the battlefield, but the stress and a wound cause him to become aggressive. Sent back to the War Dog Training Center to recover, he escapes, attacking livestock and threatening people as his finds his way to back to Kathie.

Merrick neighbors insist he be put down because of his attacks and Bill is impounded. A hearing is held and Mr. MacBain acts as Bill’s lawyer. He discovers an Army tattoo in Bill’s ear; a quick investigation reveals Bill is a war hero. All then realize that the dog who served on the battlefield was not himself after his war experiences and he will need time to adjust to civilian life. Bill is freed and joyfully reunited with Kathie.

Behind the scenes

The movie was shot on location in Railroad Creek by Lake Chelan near Holden.

Courage of Lassie was fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor’s second “Lassie” film as she had appeared in Lassie Come Home in the minor role of the Duke of Rudling’s granddaugter, Priscilla. Taylor received the first top billing of her career with Courage of Lassie. George Cleveland, the “Old Man” in the opening scenes of Courage of Lassie would become the star of the 1954 television series Lassie.

Son of Lassie is a 1945 MGM feature film starring Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp, June Lockhart and the dog actor Pal. The film is a sequel to the first MGM Lassie film Lassie Come Home and follows an adult Joe Carraclough and Lassie’s son, “Laddie” in the RAF. It is the second of MGM’s seven “Lassie” films.

Plot

Joe Carraclough, now an adult, joins the RAF during World War II. Departing for training school, he is forced to leave behind his dog Lassie and her pup, Laddie. Laddie follows Joe to training school and then stows away on his master’s plane, just as it takes-off on a dangerous mission over Nazi-occupied Norway. The two are forced to parachute when hit by enemy fire. Laddie seeks help for her injured master and thereafter the two race for their lives to reach friendly lines as the Nazis pursue them.

Production

Son of Lassie was the first movie to be filmed using the Technicolor Monobook method.^{[citation needed]}

Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia, and the glaciers of the Canadian Rockies were sites for most of the film shoot. Los Angeles locations and studio lots were also sites.

Reception

Bosley Crowther in the New York Times of June 11, 1945 felt the sequel to Lassie Come Home fell short of “being a worthy heir to the champion” and further noted, “The resulting film, which, while it undoubtedly will be a delight for dog lovers, evolves mainly as a lengthy, contrived and only occasionally suspenseful melodrama handsomely dressed in the lovely polychromes of Technicolor.” He praised the main players and concluded, “it is the winsome Laddie and Lassie who romp away with the acting laurels of this pretty but incredible picture.”

Lassie Come Home is a 1943 MGM feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor, Pal in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie. The film was directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a screenplay by Hugo Butler based upon the 1940 novel Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. The film was the first in a series of seven MGM films starring “Lassie.”

The original film saw a sequel, Son of Lassie in 1945 with five other films following at intervals through the 1940s. In 1954, the Emmy-winning, long-running television series Lassie debuted on CBS, further cementing Lassie’s iconic status and making her a babyboomer favorite. A British remake of the 1943 movie was released in 2005 as Lassie to moderate success. The original film and its sequels continue to air on television and have been released to VHS and DVD.

Plot

Set in Depression-era Yorkshire, England, Mr. and Mrs. Carraclough (Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester) are hit by hard times and forced to sell their rough collie Lassie to the rich Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), who has always admired her. Young Joe Carraclough (Roddy McDowall) grows despondent with the loss of his companion. Lassie will have nothing to do with the Duke, however, and finds ways to escape his kennels and return to Joe. The Duke finally carries Lassie to his home hundreds of miles distant in Scotland. There, his granddaughter Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor) senses the dog’s unhappiness and arranges her escape. Lassie then sets off for a long trek to her Yorkshire home and the boy who loves her. She faces many perils along the way (including a brush with dog catchers and a violent storm) but also meets kind people who offer her aid and comfort. At the last, when Joe has given up hope of ever seeing his dog again, the weary Lassie returns to her favorite resting place in the schoolyard at home. There, Lassie is joyfully reunited with the boy she loves.

Production notes

During the film’s production, MGM executives previewing the dailies were said to be so moved that they ordered more scenes to be added to “this wonderful motion picture”.

Pal was coached in the role of “Lassie” by Rudd Weatherwax. Weatherwax would later receive all rights to the Lassie name and trademark in lieu of back pay owed him by MGM. He then teamed up with producer Robert Maxwell to create the long running 1954 television series Lassie. Unlike the several MGM films which were set in Britain, the television series was set on a weatherbeaten American farm. The series would become a babyboomer favorite and would make “Lassie” an undisputed icon of American television and culture.