Dogs on TV always look so stiff. Like they’re supposed to be just sitting there but you can tell that the dog is like “!!!! Am good boy!!! Am hold position!!! Am look off stage at handler!!! Hi handler!!! Ready your finest treats for the good boy!!!”
My favorite are dogs who are supposed to be fierce but are so clearly playing at it. Just dubbing in growls can’t change that butt-wiggle of “I’m doing THE THING and soon I’ll get PRAISE and play with MY TOY”
Yes. This too.
In the Lion the Witch and the Wardobe movie (the one with Tilda Swinton, not the BBC one) the wolves all have CGI tails. Because they’re actually Malamute or Huskie crosses and wouldn’t stop wagging their goddamn tails all the time because they were so excited to be playing with all these nice people on this nice set with their nice handlers just out of shot holding lots of nice sausage.
I’ve heard they can’t use full wolves for green-screen work unless
they *really* trust their handlers, because otherwise they’re just “why
are you crazy humans asking me to react to stuff that plainly isn’t there?”
Also, there was a play that was super-popular throughout the
19th century called The Dog of
Montargis that basically involves a medieval French hunting dog who solves
his master’s murder; naturally the various productions starred trained dogs,
and several writers, including Dickens, commented on which ones could actually
act.
Mr
Bartley came before the curtain to announce that Dragon, who was supposed to
have played The Dog, was ‘suddenly indisposed’ and unable to appear. But,
unwilling to disappoint their patrons, ‘the Management have prevailed on Mr
Partridge’s celebrated dog, Neptune,’ he said ‘to read the part’ (Era,
1874).
Mooncustafer 