What is the name of a fictional collie dog, who became a protagonist of several films, series and books?

Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog, and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called "Lassie Come-Home". Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fictional female collie of the same name, featured in the British writer Elizabeth Gaskell's 1859 short story "The Half Brothers". In "The Half Brothers", Lassie is loved only by her young master and guides the adults back to where two boys are lost in a snowstorm.

Published in 1940, Knight's novel was filmed by MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios) in 1943, as "Lassie Come Home" with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six other MGM feature films through 1951. Pal's owner and trainer Rudd Weatherwax then acquired the Lassie name and trademark from MGM and appeared with Pal (as "Lassie") at rodeos, fairs, and similar events across America in the early 1950s. In 1954, the long-running, Emmy winning television series "Lassie" debuted, and, over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal's descendants appeared on the series. The "Lassie" character has appeared in radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile novels, and other media. Pal's descendants continue to play Lassie today.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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32 Comments

Nicholas Miernicki

No mention of Timmy falling down the dry well every week. If I were Lassie, I would have locked him in his room.

lhreese

My uncle Lionel Houser helped write that first movie and words for "Lassie"

Martha Calkins

It occurs to me that they wouldn’t have had a show at all if they had ever closed Timmy’s bedroom window.

✨KRISTA✨

When watching this show as a child, i would cry 😭 thinking 🤔 the dog 🐕 was not going to make it...

hazelphyllis

Chris Baz, I remember reading somewhere that the storybook "lassie" was a girl but was acted by male dogs for some reason that I cant remember.

redrose

Paul Karuntzos, You have that backwards. Male dogs were used because their manes (ruffs) were fuller and therefore more photogenic.

Gordon MacKrith

How many Lassies have there been?

Nicholas Miernicki

Karen S. Wolf, She seemingly did everything but sign the checks, the rest of the family came off as being very ineffective. This is based on my memories from my childhood.

Irene Townsend

Mother of Dogs, Good heavens, when I was in England we would watch many American shows, so of course 'Even us Bits have seen it'. It was on British tv before I left England 50 plus years ago.

Conrado De Leon

Eric Knight is the author of a magnificent character, Sam Small, the Flying Yorkshireman, a collection of admirable short stories. ironically, when WWii started, the British tried to keep Knight safe and dispatched him to Canada to a bureaucratic army job... and he was killed when the plane that was taking him to Guyana, fell down on the jungle.

John W Shreve

"Go get help, girl."

Chris Baz

Oh Lassie Come Home 😭😭😭 always made me cry. Funny though how they couldn’t make up their minds whether Lassie was a girl or a boy.

Carl Belken

Pal and his offspring did not like kids. In scenes where he licks a child's face or hands, there was a thin coat of peanut butter on the skin. This was kept secret for many years. In public events where kids were involved they used a child friendly dog.