Lassie: Difference between revisions

[[File:lassie-timmy_6686.jpg|frame|Lassie and Joe, from the 2005 movie.]]

 

 

The franchise began with the 1943 film ''Lassie Come Home'' (based on a novel by Eric Knight), but really took off with the [[Lassie (TV series)|long-running TV series]] ("[[Common Knowledge|What's that, Lassie? Timmy's fallen down a well?]]").

 

The original screen "Lassie" was a collie owned and trained by professional trainer Rudd Weatherwax, whose off-screen name was Pal. Pal starred in the 1943 film and six sequels; when the film series ended, Weatherwax acquired the Lassie trademark (in lieu of unpaid wages, according to one account), and the television series resulted. Pal retired partway through the two-decade run of the series, and was succeeded by a string of his descendants. (Yes, ''his''. All the dogs who played Lassie were actually male; male collies were thought to be more visually impressive, and less subject to seasonal shedding issues.)

* Novel

** ''Lassie Come-Home'' (1940) by Eric Knight. That is the book the original films were adapting.

* Manga.

** ''Lassie'' (2001) by Yoshihiro Takahashi. A short-lived series, only 2 volumes.

* ''[[The Painted Hills]]'' (1951 film)

* ''[[Lassie (TV series)|Lassie]]'' (the TV series)

 

* [[Amplified Animal Aptitude]]

* [[A Boy and His X]]: Boy and his dog. Different boy in each version, but always apparently the same dog.

* [[The Other Darrin]]: The various Lassies.

* [[Stage Names]]: Pal and his successors were all credited as "Lassie".

* Parodied with Laddie the Wonder Dog in the Discworld novel ''[[Discworld/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]''.

* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' also has Billy addicted to a heroic Labrador named Laddie; Billy often wonders aloud, "How many times can that kid fall down that well?" PS, he keeps watching the same video over and over.

* On ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' in the 1960s, Dean's co-star [[The Muppets|Rowlf the Dog]] several times mentioned how much he admired Lassie, and Lassie made two guest appearances on the show. In the episode with Lassie's second guest appearance, Rowlf did a skit in which he acted out a Lassie-like scenario narrated by Dean, heroically fighting through hostile terrain, swimming across a raging river, and racing up the other bank to stop the criminals about to dynamite the bridge! ...at which point, Rowlf stopped the skit and complained that it would have been nice if somebody had mentioned the bridge ''before'' he swam across the raging river.

* Spoofed in the "Mindy and Buttons" segments of ''[[Animaniacs]]''. Its [[Title Sequence]] was a direct parody of the ''[[Lassie (TV series)|Lassie]]'' opening.

* ''[[In Living Color]]'' did a parody, involving a pit bull.

* ''[[Martha Speaks]]'' features the in-show TV program "Courageous Collie Carlos", of whom Martha is a major fan.

* "Sassy the Wonder Dog" is a series of radio ads from The Shelter Pet Project, where Timmy and Sassy often pause from helping one of Timmy's luckless friends out of the well in order to tell the listeners about adopting a dog from local animal shelters.

 

[[Category:Films of the 1950s]]

[[Category:Lassie]]