Entertainment's Underdogs

Entertainment’s Underdogs: 5 Overlooked Movie Mutts

Nothing brings animal lovers together more successfully than movies and TV shows featuring man’s best friend.

We are such softies when it comes to our own beloved pets, and the adorable pups on screen are no different.

In fact, I would guess that the tear count increases exponentially once dogs are introduced into the picture–moving picture, that is.

Some of our most beloved cultural icons are dogs–hello, Snoopy! And Pluto! And Lassie! But some of these entertaining pooches might have been slightly overlooked through the years, which is why we compiled this list of favorite “overlooked” canine stars.

Are we forgetting anybody–or any puppy, I should say? Let us know! We’ll update this list according to your requests!

1. Nana from “Peter Pan”

This cuddly and caring pup won our hearts over in Disney’s retelling of the classic children’s story. Our favorite scene is when Father Darling trips over the children’s toys, and much to his chagrin, the whole family rushes to injured Nana, exclaiming all together: “Poor Nana!” A close second is when a bit of pixie dust spills onto Nana when the Darling children take off to Neverland, causing her to float upward and wave goodbye to her kids. We were heartbroken that Nana was left behind for their adventure, with her sad, droopy eyes saying, “I hope to see you soon!” Nana left us nostalgic for nursery dogs that we never even had.

2. Jack from “Little House on the Prairie”

Okay, okay, so this isn’t a movie. I know. It’s just that Jack left such an impression on us as kids reading the “Little House” books that we had to include him in our list. Remember when Jack reunited with the Ingalls family after being separated during their westward trek? In the TV version of the series, Jack looked a little different than we imagined him, but he was just as lovable and loyal to little heroine Laura Ingalls.

3. The Beast from “The Sandlot“

Who could forget the much feared “Beast,” aka “Hercules,” next door to the makeshift baseball diamond in this rare, kid-and-adult friendly feature? If you’re not a huge baseball fan, you can still appreciate the nostalgic tone of the movie. The hilarious team gets into plenty of trouble over summer break – with a good-looking lifeguard as well as the gigantic dog next door. The classic movie also features two-legged stars Karen Allen, Dennis Leary and James Earl Jones, but we think the adorable big pup is reason enough to add this flick to your list of feel-good movies.

4. Zero from “The Nightmare before Christmas“

Tim Burton’s creepy holiday film wouldn’t be complete without Jack Skellington’s ghostly pooch. Even though Zero floated instead of trotted, he still had the aura of a loving pet pooch. In fact, we would have liked a little more screen time with the pup. And even though we didn’t agree with Jack’s plan to steal Christmas, we were happy that Zero got to contribute by playing an impromptu Rudolph the Reindeer – complete with glowing red nose.

5. Max from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas“

Adorable Max helped balance out the sourness of the Grinch’s attitude in Dr. Seuss’s classic book and beloved children’s TV special. Our favorite scene is when Max waves at the Grinch from the back of the sled when he was supposed to be bearing the reigns out in front of it. Poor Max is coerced into going along with the Grinch’s evil plan of stealing Christmas from the Whos. Even though the Grinch is pretty grouchy toward his poor pup, his change of heart at the very end of the story wins us over every year, especially since Max sits right by his side at the happy Christmas feast with the Whos down in Whoville.

Perhaps a separate list of “Christmas dogs” will soon become necessary as well…

PHOTO: andertoons