Lassie

Last updated
Lassie
Lassie and Tommy Rettig 1956.JPG
Tommy Rettig with Lassie Junior, son of Pal, the first Lassie, in the Lassie television series
First appearance Lassie Come-Home
Created by Eric Knight
Portrayed by Pal
In-universe information
Species Rough Collie
GenderFemale

Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, Lassie Come-Home . Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fictional female collie of the same name, featured in the British writer Elizabeth Gaskell's 1859 short story "The Half Brothers". In "The Half Brothers", Lassie is loved only by her young master and guides the adults back to where two boys are lost in a snowstorm. [1]

Contents

Knight's novel was filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1943 as Lassie Come Home , with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six other MGM feature films through 1951. Pal's owner and trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, then acquired the Lassie name and trademark from MGM and appeared with Pal (as "Lassie") at rodeos, fairs, and similar events across America in the early 1950s. In 1954, the television series Lassie debuted and, over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal's descendants appeared on the series. The "Lassie" character has appeared in radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile novels, and other media. Pal's descendants continue to play Lassie today. [2]

History

Elizabeth Gaskell short story

An early depiction of Lassie is found in British writer Elizabeth Gaskell's 1859 short story "The Half-brothers". In the story, Lassie is described as a female collie with "intelligent, apprehensive eyes" who rescues two half-brothers who are lost and dying in the snow. When the younger brother can no longer carry on, elder brother Gregory, Lassie's master, ties a handkerchief around Lassie's neck and sends her home. Lassie arrives home, and leads the search party to the boys. When they arrive Gregory is dead, but his younger half-brother is saved. Thus, Gaskell apparently originated the character Lassie and, at the same time, defined the "Lassie saves the day" storyline that is the essence of subsequent Lassie tales.

World War I incident

According to writer Nigel Clarke in the "Shipwreck Guide to Dorset and South Devon", the original Lassie that inspired so many films and television episodes was a rough-haired crossbreed who saved the life of a sailor during World War I.

Half collie, Lassie was owned by the landlord of the Pilot Boat, a pub in the port of Lyme Regis. On New Year's Day in 1915 the Royal Navy battleship Formidable was torpedoed by a German submarine off Start Point in South Devon, with the loss of more than 500 men. In a storm that followed the accident, a life raft containing bodies was blown along the coast to Lyme Regis. In helping to deal with the crisis, the local pub in Lyme Regis, called the Pilot Boat, offered its cellar as a mortuary.

When the bodies had been laid out on the stone floor, Lassie, a crossbred collie owned by the pub owner, found her way down amongst the bodies, and she began to lick the face of one of the victims, Able Seaman John Cowan. She stayed beside him for more than half an hour, nuzzling him and keeping him warm with her fur. To everyone's astonishment, Cowan eventually stirred. He was taken to hospital and went on to make a full recovery. He visited Lassie again when he returned to thank all who saved his life.

When the officers heard the story of Lassie and what she did to rescue Cowan, they told it again and again to any reporter who would listen as it was inspirational and heart-warming. Hollywood got hold of the story, and so a star was born.

Eric Knight short story and novel

The fictional character of Lassie was created by English author Eric Knight in Lassie Come-Home , first published as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and later as a full-length novel in 1940. Set in the Depression-era England, the novel depicts the lengthy journey a rough collie makes to be reunited with her young Yorkshire master after her family is forced to sell her for money.

Movies and television

In 1943, the novel was adapted into a feature film, Lassie Come Home , by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that starred Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie was a hit and enjoyed favorable critical response. [3] MGM followed this with several additional films, including a sequel entitled Son of Lassie (1945), starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart, and Courage of Lassie with Elizabeth Taylor. A radio series, Lassie Radio Show, was also created, airing until 1949.

Lassie television series filming on location in Florida (1965) Lassie.jpg
Lassie television series filming on location in Florida (1965)

Between 1954-1973, the television series Lassie was broadcast, with Lassie initially residing on a farm with a young male master. In the eleventh season, it changed to U.S. Forest Service rangers as her companions, then the collie was on her own for a season before ending the series with Lassie residing at a ranch for orphaned children. The series was the recipient of two Emmy Awards before it was canceled in 1973. Lassie won several PATSY Awards (an award for animal actors). [4] A second series followed in the 1980s. In 1997, Canadian production company Cinar Inc. produced a new Lassie television series for the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and YTV in Canada. It ran until 1999.

In 2005, a remake of the original Lassie Come Home movie was produced in the United Kingdom. Starring Peter O'Toole and Samantha Morton, Lassie was released in 2006. [5]

Additionally, two animated TV series featuring the canine were produced. The first was Lassie's Rescue Rangers , created by Filmation Associates, which aired on ABC from 1973 to 1975. [6] Nearly four decades later, a new animated series titled The New Adventures of Lassie was co-produced by Superprod and Classic Media, in which Lassie was owned by the Parker family and lived in a national park. The series was primarily a traditionally animated (2D hand-drawn animated) TV series, though it also used some CGI animation. It was first seen in the United States starting in 2020 via the CBS All Access streaming service, then carried over to successor service Paramount+.

Lassie continues to make personal and TV show appearances as well as marketing a line of pet food and a current pet care TV show, Lassie's Pet Vet on PBS stations in the United States. Lassie is one of only four animals (and one of very few fictional characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, and Bugs Bunny) to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—the others being silent-film stars Rin Tin Tin, Uggie and Strongheart. In 2005, the show business journal Variety named Lassie one of the "100 Icons of the Century"—the only animal star on the list. [7]

Media

Art

Lassie is featured in Our Nation's 200th Birthday, The Telephone's 100th Birthday (1976) by Stanley Meltzoff for Bell System. [8]

Films

List of films

YearTitleRoleNotes
1943 Lassie Come Home LassiePrincipal role played by Pal
1945 Son of Lassie
1946 Courage of Lassie Bill (as credited; also called "Duke")
1948 Hills of Home Lassie
1949 The Sun Comes Up
1949 Challenge to Lassie
1951 The Painted Hills Shep
1963 Lassie's Great Adventure (TV film)LassiePrincipal role; compilation of television episodes
1978 The Magic of Lassie Principal role played by Boy
1994 Lassie Principal role played by Howard
2005 Lassie Principal role played by Mason

Action scenes played by DR Dakota

2020Lassie Come Home [9] Principal role played by Lukas

Box office performance

TitleYearWorldwide Gross Rotten Tomatoes
Lassie Come Home1943$4,517,00094%
Son of Lassie1945TBATBA
Courage of Lassie1946$4,100,000
Hills of Home1948$2,312,000
The Sun Comes Up 1949$2,044,000
Challenge to Lassie 1949$1,155,000
The Magic of Lassie 1978TBA
Lassie (1994)1994$9,979,68387%
Lassie (2005)2005$6,442,85493%
Lassie Come Home (2020)2020$3,683,655N/A
Total gross/average rating$34,234,19291.3%

Radio

YearTitleRoleNotes
1947–1948Lassie ShowLassiePrincipal role; ABC series
1948–1950Lassie ShowLassiePrincipal role; NBC series

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
19541973 Lassie LassiePrincipal role
1968 The Adventures of Neeka Principal role; compilation of television episodes
1970 Peace is Our Profession Principal role; compilation of TV episodes
1970 Well of Love Principal role; compilation of TV episodes
1972 Sound of Joy Principal role; compilation of TV episodes
1972 Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain Principal role
1972 Lassie's Rescue Rangers Principal role
1980 Taxi Guest appearance (1 episode)
19891991 The New Lassie Principal role
1995 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Guest appearance (1 episode)
1997–1999 Lassie Principal role
2001 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Cameo appearance
1996 Famous Dog Lassie Principal role
2007Lassie's Pet VetPrincipal role
2014–2019 The New Adventures of Lassie Principal role

Video games

GameTitleConsoleYearRef
#1 Lassie PlayStation 2 2005 [10]

Books

  • Lassie Come-Home
  • Lassie: The Prize
  • Forest Ranger Handbook
  • Lassie: A Boy's Best Friend & Buried Treasure
  • Lassie: Party Nightmare & Water Watchdog
  • Lassie: Skateboard Stunt & Danger Zone

Seafarer Books

  • Lassie and the Lost Little Sheep
  • Lassie's Forest Adventure

Whitman Cozy-Corner

  • Lassie: Rescue in the Storm

Whitman Novels

  • Lassie and the Mystery of Blackberry Bog
  • Lassie and the Secret of the Summer
  • Lassie: Forbidden Valley
  • Lassie: Treasure Hunter by Charles S. Strong
  • Lassie: the Wild Mountain Trail
  • Lassie and the Mystery of Bristlecone Pine
  • Lassie and the Secret of the Smelter's Cave
  • Lassie: Lost in the Snow
  • Lassie: Trouble at Panter's Lake

Big Little Books

  • Lassie: Adventure in Alaska
  • Lassie and the Shabby Sheik
  • Lassie: Old One Eye

Golden Books

  • The Adventures of Lassie
  • Lassie and Her Day in the Sun
  • Lassie and Her Friends
  • Lassie and the Big Clean-Up Day
  • Lassie and the Daring Rescue
  • Lassie and the Lost Explorer
  • Lassie Shows the Way
  • Lassie: The Great Escape

Tell-a-Tale Books

  • Hooray for Lassie!
  • Lassie and the Cub Scout
  • Lassie and the Deer Mystery
  • Lassie and the Firefighters
  • Lassie and the Kittens
  • Lassie Finds a Friend
  • Lassie's Brave Adventure
  • Lassie: The Busy Morning

Tip-Top Books

  • Lassie: The Sandbar Rescue

Wonder Books

  • Lassie's Long Trip

Marian Bray

  • Lassie to the Rescue
  • Lassie: Hayloft Hideout
  • Lassie Under the Big Top
  • Lassie: Treasure at Eagle Mountain
  • Lassie: Danger at Echo Cliffs

The New Lassie

  • The Puppy Problem
  • Digging Up Danger
  • The Big Blowup
  • Water Watchdog
  • Skateboard Dare
  • Dangerous Party

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Lassie Come Home</i> 1943 film by Fred M. Wilcox

Lassie Come Home is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor 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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collie</span> Type of herding dog

Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many types have a distinctive white color over the shoulders. Collies are very active and agile, and most types of collies have a very strong herding instinct. Collie breeds have spread through many parts of the world, and have diversified into many varieties, sometimes mixed with other dog types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudd Weatherwax</span> American actor (1907–1985)

Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax was an American actor, animal trainer, and breeder. He and his brother Frank are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Their collie, Pal, became the original Lassie, handled by Rudd for the 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Lassie Come Home. He also handled the dogs for the Lassie television series which ran from 1954 to 1974, and trained Spike for the 1957 feature film Old Yeller. After his death, his son, Robert, took over the training of the animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pal (dog)</span> Rough Collie dog

Pal was a male Rough Collie performer and the first in a line of such dogs to portray the fictional female collie Lassie in film, on radio, and on television. In 1992, The Saturday Evening Post said Pal had "the most spectacular canine career in film history".

<i>Lassie</i> (1954 TV series) 1954 TV series

Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973. The eighth longest-running scripted U.S. primetime television series, the show ran for 17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color in 1965.

Eric Mowbray Knight was an English novelist and screenwriter, who is mainly known for his 1940 novel Lassie Come-Home, which introduced the fictional collie Lassie. He took American citizenship in 1942 shortly before his death.

<i>Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle</i> Animated television series

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is an American animated series created by the Filmation studio for Saturday mornings on CBS, starting in 1976. This was the first animated series about the jungle hero. There are 36 episodes produced over four seasons.

<i>Lassies Rescue Rangers</i> American TV series or program

Lassie's Rescue Rangers is an animated TV show produced by Filmation and featuring Lassie, running from 1972 to 1973. The hour-long pilot, Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain, was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.

<i>Son of Lassie</i> 1945 film by S. Sylvan Simon

Son of Lassie is a 1945 American Technicolor feature film produced by MGM based on characters created by Eric Knight, and starring Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp, June Lockhart and Pal. A sequel to Lassie Come Home (1943), the film focuses on the now adult Joe Carraclough after he joins the Royal Air Force during World War II and is shot down over Nazi-occupied Norway along with a stowaway, Lassie's son "Laddie" – played by Pal. Son of Lassie was released theatrically on April 20, 1945, by Loew's.

<i>The Sun Comes Up</i> 1949 film by Richard Thorpe

The Sun Comes Up is a 1949 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor picture with Lassie. Jeanette MacDonald had been off the screen for five years until her return in Three Daring Daughters (1948), but The Sun Comes Up was to be her last. In it, she had to share the screen not with an up-and-coming younger actress but with a very popular animal star. Although her retreat from a film career can be blamed largely on an increasingly debilitating heart ailment, MacDonald continued to make concert and TV appearances after this. Her last radio performance was a broadcast version of this same story on The Screen Guild Theater in March 1950.

<i>Lassie</i> (1994 film) 1994 film by Daniel Petrie

Lassie, or Lassie: Best Friends are Forever, is a 1994 American adventure family film directed by Daniel Petrie, starring Tom Guiry, Helen Slater, Jon Tenney, Frederic Forrest, Richard Farnsworth, Michelle Williams, and featuring the fictional collie Lassie.

<i>Lassie</i> (1997 TV series) Canadian television series

Lassie is a Canadian television series which aired from 1997 to 1999 on YTV in Canada and Sunday nights on the Animal Planet network in the United States, as a modified remake of the original Lassie series (1954–1973) about a boy and his faithful dog. As with previous Lassie TV versions and several films dating back to the original Lassie Come Home film of 1943, the star was Lassie, a trained Rough Collie.

<i>Family Classics</i> American TV series or program

Family Classics is a Chicago television series which began in 1962 when Frazier Thomas was added to another program at WGN-TV. Thomas not only hosted classic films, but also selected the titles and personally edited them to remove those scenes which he thought were not fit for family viewing. After Thomas' death in 1985, Roy Leonard took over the program. The series continued sporadically until its initial cancellation in 2000.

<i>Challenge to Lassie</i> 1950 film by Richard Thorpe

Challenge to Lassie is an American drama directed by Richard Thorpe in Technicolor and released October 31, 1949, by MGM Studios. It was the fifth feature film starring the original Lassie, a collie named Pal, and the fourth and final Lassie film starring Donald Crisp.

<i>The Painted Hills</i> 1951 film by Harold F. Kress

The Painted Hills, also known as Lassie's Adventures in the Goldrush, is a 1951 drama western film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and directed by Harold F. Kress.

<i>Courage of Lassie</i> 1946 film by Fred M. Wilcox

Courage of Lassie is a 1946 American Technicolor MGM feature film featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, and dog actor Pal.

<i>Lassie Come-Home</i> Novel by Eric Knight

Lassie Come-Home is a novel written by Eric Knight about a rough collie's trek over many miles to be reunited with the boy she loves. Author Eric Knight introduced the reading public to the canine character of Lassie in a magazine story published on 17 December 1938, in The Saturday Evening Post, a story which he later expanded to a novel and published in 1940 to critical and commercial success. In 1943, the novel was adapted to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film Lassie Come Home starring Roddy McDowall as the boy Joe Carraclough, Pal as Lassie, and featuring Elizabeth Taylor. The motion picture was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry. A remake of Lassie Come Home, entitled Lassie, was released in 2005.

<i>Lassie</i> (2014 TV series) TV series or program

Lassie is an animated television series produced by Superprod with the participation of Classic Media. It is a hand-drawn 2D animated update of the classic character by Eric Knight. In the United States, the show was released on Paramount Global's streaming service, Paramount+

References

  1. Gaskell, Elizabeth (1889). "The Half Brothers". Lizzie Leigh and Other Tales. London: Smith, Elder & Co.: 482–492.
  2. "Lassie: The Perfect Dog Sets High Bar for Real Pups". NPR . 7 January 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  3. "Lassie Come Home". Variety . Reed Elsevier Inc. January 1, 1943. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  4. Harris, Norene (September–October 1973). "1973 PATSY Awards" (PDF). Animal Cavalcade. pp. 24–25. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  5. Potempa, Philip (August 11, 2006). "Latest Lassie busy promoting new film". Northwest Indiana Times . TownNews.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  6. "Lassie's Rescue Rangers (TV Series 1973–1975) - IMDb" via www.imdb.com.
  7. "100 Icons of the Century: Lassie". Variety . Reed Elsevier Inc. October 16, 2005. Archived from the original on 4 January 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  8. "Stanley Meltzoff Archives: The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover" JKL Museum of Telephony (December 19, 2015); retrieved March 16, 2021
  9. "Lassie Come Home - Film Review". www.weekendnotes.com.
  10. "Lassie (PS2): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games". www.amazon.co.uk.