The pictures in the book, Hollywood Dogs, were taken between 1920 and 1960, a period considered the Golden Age of Hollywood. They capture the unattainable movie stars in a moment of pure spontaneity, stimulated, of course, by their faithful companions, inside and outside the movie sets. Dogs that were “professional actors” such as Toto from The Wizard of Oz (1939), also make an appearance in the book.
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| Marilyn Monroe and Mafia Honey |
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| Frank Sinatra and Snuffy |
Nowadays, dogs have become major stars and have an important role in historical and contemporary American culture. Which is why in 2012, the Golden Collar Awards was created, to award dogs that are essentially celebrities. It may seem like a joke, but Hollywood took it very seriously, handing golden collars to the best dog in a theatrical film, foreign film, television series, reality television series and Direct-to-DVD film. The awards demonstrate how dogs are stealing the show in the film industry – and in American society.
At the time, there was some criticism around the subject; many people thought the awards were only created due to the attention the dog Uggie from the movie The Artist (2011) was getting from the media. This 10 years old Jack Russell Terrier, is only a supporting protagonist in the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), but steals the show effortlessly. Uggie also demonstrated his “stardom” in other events he attended such as The Golden Globes and Cannes Film Festival, where he won the Palm Dog Award. Uggie is not alone as a dog celeb – Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were also absolute stars in major productions of their time.
"Uggie is a star with true Hollywood pedigree"
This phrase mentioned in the video below really exemplifies the importance of the dog in the showbiz. The video shows Uggie's retirement announcement with "true celebrity style" by being the first dog to engrave his paws in cement for the Walk of Fame outside the Chinese Theater. Uggie represents how what is considered stardom has changed throughout the years and became something much more flexible to the parameters and circumstances of our contemporary society.
For some time now, dogs have gained a more important role in the American family. Which is why they have become so popular and important in the cinema industry. Dogs can be not only symbols of success in an American middle-class family but also of nobility and wealth for celebrities. For example, there are many dog breeds that have been associated with wealth because celebrities own them, such as Chihuahua and Pomeranian. It is no surprise that fans try to imitate their beloved stars by buying similar dogs – which shows how stars create particular cultural notions of class, even through their pets.
For Paris Hilton, dogs are almost like an accessory of clothing that can express her identity and have an have an important value to her image. It was no surprise when she bought a Pomeranian that allegedly costed $25K - it was as if she was buying a purse to polish her look.
From Hollywood to Beverly Hills, dogs know how to be the main stars of the show - and celebrities know how to use them to their advantage. Maybe one days dogs will take over and become the main stars of the showbiz, who knows...
For the first Oscars, Rin Tin Tin received the most votes for Best Actor, but the Academy gave it to a human of course. I'm surprised THAT didn't spark an animal division of awards; it's a shame for the horse in National Velvet that they waited until so recently for the Golden Collar, etc.
ReplyDeleteThere is a showbiz adage attributed to W. C. Fields that one should "never work with dogs or children." The idea behind this being that dogs and children will always steal the scene because they are so natural, energetic, and spontaneous. So it's funny that this concept has been flipped on its head with stars using pets as accessories and one more means to publicity. We see so many pictures of stars with their dogs and even whole fluff pieces about the relationship. Perhaps the adage should be amended to "never work with dogs and children but always do PR with them."
The main disadvantage a dog has to being a star in its own right, though, is commercial. The whole point of a star from a production standpoint is to sell more, but a dog is only going to be able to do that for ten years or so, whereas some human stars make lucrative products for fifty years or more. The workaround to this has been making an animal ROLE the star, as in Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, and then multiple similar dogs can all play the part and people won't necessarily notice the transition. Still in that case "Lassie" the character is the star, the dogs Pal/ Howard/ Lassie/ Mason/ etc are NOT stars.
So I think human stars are probably safe, and much as dogs have been barred from the Oscars, so too I think they will be barred from the highest ranks of stardom.