Starting in the 1920s and running through to modern days, dogs have been beloved characters in movies. Rin Tin Tin, Toto, Lassie, Old Yeller, Air Bud, and Bailey have all made their marks in the cinemas. But while we’ve seen many of them on the silver screen, you may not have known much about them, until now.

Rin Tin Tin

Rin Tin Tin was a male German Shepherd born in France, and he has quite a success story. He and the rest of his litter were rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, Lee Duncan. Rin Tin Tin was immediately brought to the United States, Duncan realized how obedient and well-trained this dog was, and those skills got him multiple movie roles. He starred in movies like The Wolf Dog, Finding Rin Tin Tin, The Test, and many more.

His roles brought him so much success that he was voted Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 1929, but then the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that a human should win the award instead and they rescinded the vote. In 1932, Rin Tin Tin passed away at Duncan’s home in Los Angeles California.

Toto

One of the most famous dogs of the 1930s was Toto from The Wizard of Oz. A Cairn Terrier, she was made famous by two lines in that movie: “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!” which was said by the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton, and “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” which was said by Dorothy, played by Judy Garland. Toto was owned and trained by Carl Spitz and Gabrielle Quinn.

Lassie

For the 1940s, Lassie was one very loved movie dog. A Collie, she even had her own film, Lassie, Come Home, starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal. It was released on July 22, 1943. The film is about Lassie escaping from her new owner as she begins the long trek from Scotland to Yorkshire.

For the author of the film, Eric Knight, his main goal was to try to familiarize people with a real story about the devotion of the war dog hero. Lassie would then go on to accomplish the role in six more films, as well as two TV pilots, throughout her 18-year life.

Old Yeller

One classic film from Disney in the 1950s is Old Yeller, a movie directed by Robert Stevenson. The 1957 movie is about a young boy, Travis, who finds a stray dog and grows lots of love for the dog. This was just after a civil war in Texas and Travis helps his mother and brother run their Texas homestead while the father is away on a cattle drive.

The end of the film is what causes everyone to shed a tear. Old Yeller contracts rabies after being bitten by a wolf in a fight. Since the disease could harm Travis’s family, he decides he can’t risk his family’s safety, and he shoots the dog.

Air Bud

Fast forward a few decades into the 1990s. The movie Air Bud tied dogs and sports together, two things that many human beings love most. Air Bud is a 1997 sports comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It was so successful that it made $4 million in its opening weekend.

The movie is about the main character named Josh, whose dad passed away and he had to move back in with his mom in Washington. Josh always plays basketball behind an abandoned church and comes across a Golden Retriever and takes him home. Josh’s mom agrees to keep the dog as a Christmas present and he decides to name him Buddy.

Josh makes the basketball team and Buddy often shows up to his games. A custody battle with the dog ends happily, in Josh’s favor.

Bailey

In A Dog’s Purpose, Bailey is played by a range of dogs. The movie is a heartwarming story based on a dog whose spirit moves on through different dogs. He starts off as a mongrel, and then becomes a Golden Retriever where he earns the name Bailey. Over time, the dog’s spirit is in a German Shepherd named Ellie who was working as a police dog, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Tino, and finally a St. Bernard / Australian Shepherd mix named Buddy.

All throughout the film, Bailey is trying his best to get back to the man who owned him as a Golden Retriever and make him realize it’s him but it’s hard since Bailey looks like a different dog each time. Years and years fly and Bailey finally gets his owner to realize it is him. His story was truly inspiring because he went through several lives trying to figure out what his purpose was.

All of these movie dogs have their own beautiful story to tell with extreme passion.
Some dogs in this story have sadly passed away but their legacy and stories will live on
forever.