NZ on Screen: NZ's most famous pups

Cheeky Hobson speaks to Wal and the dog in a scene from Footrot Flats : A Dog's Tale.

Opinion

Animal trainer Mark Vette’s new series Pound Pups to Dog Stars is carrying on a fine tradition of TV dog shows. NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner looks back at our favourite screen dogs.

Tux Wonder Dogs was our last big primetime television series to star our canine friends. The popular show ran from 1993 to 1999 (with a short resurgence in the early 2000s), and was hosted by dog lover Mark Leishman and his trusty labrador Dexter. Jim Mora provided a friendly and pun-filled commentary, as obedience tests and obstacle courses challenged the teams of dogs and their owners.

You can see an episode of Tux Wonder Dogs here:

Our original favourite TV dog show was called just that - A Dog's Show. It screened in the late 1970s and right through the 1980s, in a primetime Sunday night slight - perhaps something that would only happen in New Zealand. The show featured sheepdog trials from around the country, with commentary provided by John Gordon. The opening tune is a version of the classic country song Flowers on the Wall, also used in the film Pulp Fiction.

Watch the 1981 final of A Dog's Show here:

As well as television series, our TV advertisements have also provided New Zealanders with a couple of top screen dogs.

Made for Toyota by ad agency Saatchis to follow up their beloved Barry Crump and Lloyd Scott ads, the "bugger" commercial has become one of our all-time favourites. The laconic use of the swear word, the role of Hercules the dog, and the performance of the hapless farmer (in the tradition of Fred Dagg and Wal Footrot) made for Kiwi pop culture magic. Mark Vette trained the dog, and the director of the ad was distinguished filmmaker Tony Williams.

You can see the Toyota "bugger" ad here:

Spot the Telecom dog was also much loved by New Zealanders. In the 90s SPOT was an acronym for the Services and Products of Telecom, and Spot the dog was a Jack Russell terrier (actually from Australia). He starred in 43 different Telecom commercials made between 1991 and 1998, many of them on an epic scale and seemingly at risk to Spot's life or limb.

Watch the Spot commercials here:

No look at New Zealand's legendary screen dogs would be complete without the animated feature film Footrot Flats: The Dog's (Tail) Tale, and its dog star The Dog. In 1986, the movie and its theme song Slice of Heaven were huge hits in New Zealand and Australia. The movie starred the characters from Murray Ball's Footrot Flats comic strip and was NZ's first animated feature. This trailer doubled as a promo for the Dave Dobbyn and Herbs song.

View the Footrot Flats trailer here:

And, last but not least, one of New Zealand's most well known fictional dogs - Hairy Maclary. He's better known as a book character than a screen dog, but Lynley Dodd's beloved children's book has also been animated (by the late Euan Frizzell). Actor Miranda Harcourt narrates.

Here's Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy:

For a more comprehensive look at our celluloid canines, check out NZ On Screen's NZ Screen Dogs collection.