Pick of the Litter | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Genre | Docuseries |
Developed by |
|
Composer | Dave Tweedie |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Running time | 30 min |
Production companies |
|
Release | |
Original network | Disney+ |
Original release | December 20, 2019 – January 24, 2020 |
Pick of the Litter is an American documentary television series by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy for Disney+ based on 2018 film of the same name, also written and directed by the duo, that began streaming on December 20, 2019. [1]
The series follows six potential guide dogs named Paco, Pacino, Raffi, Amara, Tulane, and Tartan and how they are nurtured, trained, loved, and shepherded along the way forward potentially changing a blind human companion’s life and working as their guide dog. [2]
In August 2019, Kidscreen reported that Disney+ commissioned a six part series Pick of the Litter inspired by 2018 film of the same name attaching the film's writer-directors Dana Nachman and Don Hardy along with Mary Celenza, Josh Braun and Dan Braun as executive producers with ABC Studios producing the series. [3] [4]
Shortly after the trailer for the film was released, Disney put out an idea to adapt the film into a series and the negotiations began for making the series. When the idea about this series was pitched to Chris Beginner, CEO of Guide Dogs for the Blind, he accepted as it would increase awareness of their organization. Instead of repeating the content of the 2018 film, the directing duo decided to instead focus on the transition period from getting the puppies from puppy raiser homes to the twelve weeks of guide dog training by focusing on a specific litter.
As the production didn't want to disturb the training process, they used smaller camera on a gimbal that then went onto a monopod that could be flipped upside down. Another challenge they had faced was the question of whether the puppy raisers would be willing to open their homes for the documentary crew. [5]
No. | Title | Directed by | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Meet the Dogs" | Don Hardy | December 20, 2019 | |
Focuses on the six puppies and their puppy raisers and the bond between them. It also focuses on how the dogs undergo the evaluations to become guide dogs for the blind before advancing to professional training. | ||||
2 | "Off to Puppy College" | Don Hardy | December 27, 2019 | |
Focuses on how the puppies are recalled to the guide dog facility for their training and their medical tests at the center. It also touches on how visually impaired individuals can opt for a guide dog. | ||||
3 | "Training Begins" | Dana Nachman | January 3, 2020 | |
Focuses on how the puppies are trained as guide dogs, including undergoing testing with their trainer blindfolded. It also focuses on how puppies selected for breeding undergo distraction and other testing. | ||||
4 | "Next Level Training" | Don Hardy | January 10, 2020 | |
Focuses on advanced levels of training from phase three to phase seven, where guide dogs in training have to use all their skills to pass the test in phase eight. It also focuses on the match-making process between dogs and clients. | ||||
5 | "Meet Your Match" | Don Hardy | January 17, 2020 | |
The dogs in advanced training take their final exams in the hopes of being matched with clients. | ||||
6 | "Together at Last" | Don Hardy | January 24, 2020 | |
The graduating dogs meet with their puppy raisers before they go home with their new partners. |
The first episode premiered on Disney+ on December 20, 2019 with the following episodes debuting weekly on Fridays. [6] The series was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023. [7]
The first poster and trailer for the show were released on November 19, 2019. [8]
Allie Gemmil of Collider declared that Pick of the Litter manages to depict the important work accomplished by the guide dogs and their trainers, stating it reveals the pressure experienced across the training process, while finding the series emotional across the bond built between the puppy raisers and the dogs. [9] Joel Keller of Decider stated that the series captures the tension experienced by the trainers and the dogs through the training process, found that the documentary manages to explain precisely how important the training process is, and why the selection of the dogs has a key role, while praising the diversity of the puppy raisers. [10] Joyce Slaton of Common Sense Media rated the series 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "There's a lot of love flowing between humans in this series, and trainers and everyone else who comes in contact with the dogs treats them with heartwarming compassion, playing with them and petting them in between training sessions. The nature of training means that trainers will only have dogs for a limited period of time, and the moments when they have to return the dog to the program or give them to a client are painful; we see crying and hear about how difficult it is to say goodbye." [11]
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ground-scent is second only to the Bloodhound.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a 1961 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based on Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, it is the 17th Disney animated feature film. The film was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wolfgang Reitherman, written by Bill Peet and produced by Walt Disney. Featuring the voices of Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth, Ben Wright, Cate Bauer, David Frankham, and Frederick Worlock, the film's plot follows a litter of fifteen Dalmatian puppies, who are kidnapped by the obsessive heiress Cruella de Vil, wanting to make their fur into coats. Their parents, Pongo and Perdita, set out to save their puppies from Cruella, in the process of rescuing eighty-four additional ones, bringing the total of Dalmatians to one hundred and one.
In general, an assistance dog, known as a service dog in the United States, is a dog trained to aid or assist an individual with a disability. Many are trained by an assistance dog organization, or by their handler, often with the help of a professional trainer.
The Bearded Collie, or Beardie, is a herding breed of dog once used primarily by Scottish shepherds, but now mostly a popular family companion.
Housebreaking or house-training is the process of training a domesticated animal that lives with its human owners in a house or other residence to excrete outdoors, or in a designated indoor area, rather than to follow its instinctive behaviour randomly inside the house.
Quill is a 2004 Japanese drama film about a guide dog, first released in Japan on 13 March 2004 and on DVD on 25 September 2004. It was also shown at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on 17 September 2004.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, known colloquially as Guide Dogs, is a British charitable organisation founded in 1934. The Association uses guide dogs to help blind and partially blind people. The organisation also participates in political activism for the rights of those with vision impairments.
The Seeing Eye, Inc. is a guide dog school located in Morristown, New Jersey, in the United States. Founded in 1929, the Seeing Eye is the oldest guide dog school in the U.S., and one of the largest.
The Black Norwegian Elkhound is a small Spitz breed classified by the FCI as a hunting dog. It is currently an uncommon breed in Norway and very rare outside the Nordic countries of Scandinavia. It is a sibling breed to a Grey Norwegian Elkhound, but is smaller, more agile, doesn't bark and was bred explicitly for on-leash dog hunting.
Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) is a guide dog school located in the United States, with campuses in San Rafael, California, and Boring, Oregon. It was founded in 1942 by Lois Merrihew and Don Donaldson to help veterans who had been blinded in World War II. Guide Dogs for the Blind has about 2100 Guide Dog teams across the United States and Canada.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind is one of eleven schools in the United States that train guide dogs to aide people who are visually impaired. Guide dogs are one type of service dog covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. All service dogs must be specifically trained to aid their handler with specific life tasks. Guide dogs are trained to help people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired navigate independently in complex environments. Training typically includes 14-18 months of obedience training and socialization by volunteer puppy raisers. Dogs are then returned to the main campus, screened, and paired with the person they will be aiding. The recipient and guide dog are then trained further to work together as a team.
Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and dog trainer. He received his veterinary degree and a Special Honours degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College, and a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at UC Berkeley, where he researched the development of social hierarchies and aggression in domestic dogs.
NEADS Inc. is an American 501(c)3 nonprofit program that provides trained service dogs to people who have physical disabilities or who are deaf or hearing impaired; veterans with PTSD; and children with autism or other developmental disabilities.
Sarah Wilson is an American author, dog trainer, and international speaker. She is the author of eight books about subjects related to pet ownership.
Dana Nachman is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Northern California. She has written, directed, and produced six feature documentaries including the 2020 film Dear Santa and the 2018 Pick of the Litter and Witch Hunt, The Human Experiment, Love Hate Love, Batkid Begins and Pick of The Litter.
Togo is a 2019 American historical adventure film directed by Ericson Core and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centers on Leonhard Seppala and his titular sled dog in the 1925 serum run to Nome to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions during an epidemic of diphtheria. The film stars Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Michael Gaston, Michael McElhatton, Jamie McShane, Michael Greyeyes, Thorbjørn Harr, Shaun Benson, and Nikolai Nikolaeff. It was released on Disney+ on December 20, 2019. The movie received generally positive reviews from critics.
Pick of the Litter is a 2018 American documentary film by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy about a two-year odyssey following puppies training to be guide dogs for the blind. It had its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in January. A web television series of the same name inspired by the film and following a new group of dogs was released on Disney+ on December 20, 2019.
Behind the Attraction is a documentary TV series by Brian Volk-Weiss for Disney+ produced by Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions and Volk-Weiss's The Nacelle Company. The first five episodes were released on July 21, 2021, with the remaining five being released on August 25 of that same year. The documentary is narrated by Paget Brewster.