Dog Day Blogathon & Sunday Lists: My Favorite On-Screen Dogs

Today is the International Dog Day and Allie at Often Off Topic decided that it was a fine opportunity for everyone to share in a blogathon about dogs in movies. You find all the details of the blogathon when you click on the banner above or HERE. Its Sunday so why not get back to those long-awaited Sunday Lists as its the best opportunity to share My Favorite On-Screen Dogs.

This is in no particular order and will be updated if I remember or find other dogs to add to the list in the future! For the sake of the blogathon though, the initial batch is the 10 selections that I thought of (and yes, I cheated with some of these).

Balto – Balto (1995)

Review

Balto is a half wolf half dog and because of this, in the small town of Alaska, he is criticized for being wild in nature and untameable, even dangerous. However, when the town gets in trouble, Balto is the dog that goes out and brings the dog sled teams back in a snowstorm to deliver stranded urgent medicine for the infected.

Lady & Tramp – Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Review

One of my favorite Disney films goes to Lady and the Tramp. It may be one of the first Disney films that I saw because I remember it the most and it had the most lasting effect when I was younger (until Aladdin or other films came along). The story between Lady and Tramp is super awesome. It also happens to be one of my favorite Disney films as well so what more can I say?

Shadow & Chance – Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

Its been years since I’ve seen Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey but its always been one that I think about every once in a while. The bond between Sassy the cat and the two dogs, Shadow and Chance are incredible. Its nice to see two different types of dogs also because in reality (while they don’t talk), dogs tend to be the excited and not so obedient type and the smart and obedient type but in the end, they still care a lot about their owners and are loyal in their own way.

Toby – The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

The Great Mouse Detective is one of those films that are rarely referred to in everyday conversation however, I like it a whole lot. One of my fave moments are between Toby and the various characters. This dog is  a hound dog who has quite a bit of character and just so dutiful. He’s just a fun and odd character in a story about mouse detective and the mouse world.

Copper – The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Its an obvious choice to have on the list is The Hound in the The Fox and the Hound called Copper. Copper is one of those memorable characters when I was younger because you know, animals in movies are always such a heartstring tugging thing because of pets, right?  Copper is just so adorable, and the cutest puppy you know. Just look at him.

Snoopy – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
(or any other Peanuts movie)

Review

Snoopy is an iconic Peantus character so while I use A Charlie Brown Christmas because that is the one I rewatch the most, he’s in a ton of other ones like the Great Pumpkin or Snoopy Comes Home or something. I watched a ton.

Rex & Fly – Babe (1995)

Babe is one of those films that when you tell someone who knows nothing about it, they kind of look at you weird because its about a talking pig and a farm of talking animals. But then, one of the best parts of the films is how these two dogs become of the parents of Babe in a certain way. Rex and Fly are fantastic parents both being great sheep dogs on this farm.

Goofy – A Goofy Movie (1995)

Another Disney choice and probably not limited to just A Goofy Movie, however Goofy made the most impressions to me as A Goofy Movie. It was a movie that initially my mom and my aunt had bought so my cousin and I could share and we used to watch it on repeat whenever we were together so at a certain point, I remembered know all the songs and how can you watch Goofy and not mimick his hyuck and his over the top screams. Memoriable as I said. Its why he still is a family favorite.

Quill – Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog (2004)

A little out of the left field with this choice as it is the only foreign movie selection here. A lot of people probably would have seen Hachi but I haven’t. My first sad dog movie was Quill: The Life  of a Guide Dog which is a Japanese film about exactly what the title says. We see him from birth to being selected to be a guide dog and then the bond he makes with his owner and his responsibilities and of course, to the departure. Thinking about it makes me want to cry. Its a sad and touching story and if you haven’t seen it, well, Quill is going to tug on some those heartstrings. Just remember that you will need your tissue box…like the entire box.

Dug – Up (2009)

Who can forget about Dug, right? The talking dog in Up. I would have used the “squirrel” moment also because I do that a lot when I’m anxious about something. Dug is just so hilarious and because he talks, its his words that just crack me up every single time as he interacts with every single character in Dug.

And one of the things for the blogathon was to talk about pets and well, I choose to share something about my dog who has passed away since 2010. Here’s a picture of him below. Isn’t he just like a fluffy bear? I miss him all the time. He was so awesome.

That’s it for this blogathon and Sunday Lists.
Thanks so much for Often Off Topic for putting together this blogathon. 

What are your favorite dogs in movies?

Breaking Emotions Blogathon: Tears & Surprise

Its the second week at Mettel Ray’s Breaking Emotions blogathon. Click on the banner above to check it out! Last week, it was Fear & Awkward.  I chose to do one emotion and showcased 5 awkward scenes.  If you’d like to check out that post, its right HERE! This week, our mission is to break Tears (aka sadness) and Surprise. For all the instructions and other entries, head over HERE.  Join in if you have some scenes to share, it’ll be lots of fun!

Initially, I had thought about doing only one emotion because I’m a sap and I cry at everything, but then I thought about it a bit deeper and dug deep in my mind to find scenes where I cry repeatedly, like the scene shows up and the waterworks start immediately.  These days, nothing really gets me as much as it used to (but thats also because I’m avoiding dramas in general).  However, the ones that made me shed tears or downright bawl were only a select few.

1) Les Miserables ending scene

A lot of people would say that Fantine’s solo I Dreamed a Dream would be the most emotional.  I’m not saying it isn’t.  I bawled for a good part of Les Miserables.  However, the part that touched me the most of was the ending scene.  Jean Valjean’s part where he has to reveal himself. To me, Jean Valjean’s story is a sad one and the ending he met may be a form of release for him but at the same time, his character is one that tugs at my heartstrings and makes me cry every single time.

2) 2 Young – Parent’s heart felt words

2 Young is a 2005 Hong Kong movie that I like a lot.  I reviewed it a month or two ago (you can find it HERE). As much as this movie is about a sweet young love and their struggles, its also brings in the parents and how they are coping with it.  Thats what makes this drama so good.  This scene is touching because one, we have an amazing actor in Eric Tsang being the father.  He expresses his sadness because of his failure to be a good father and a good husband because he couldn’t stop his son from going down his own path and in turn, not being able to make better choices for his life.  The scene by itself probably doesn’t mean much but to fully grasp it, you have to really watch the whole thing, which I urge you to do.

3) Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog -> Saying Goodbye

I watched Quill almost 10 years ago.  Quill is a Japanese story about the life of a guide dog called Quill: the bonds he builds in his training, his career and then till the very end.  I’m an animal lover so when you give me a story about the life of a dog and as a pet owner, I understand the pain of parting of them more than anything.  Hell, I’m still grieving over my last dog and its been recently 2 years.  This scene up there makes me burst into tears in buckets.  I was rewatching a part of the movie last night on YouTube and I was getting all teary even when seeing it in snippets.

Thats it for now, I had a few choices to make but one thing this did do was remind me of a lot of movies that I haven’t seen in a long time.  Another one that is kind of honorable mention was My Sister’s Keeper.  That movie was not a great adaptation of the novel but there was a few parts that was really tear-jerking,  at least for me.  Lets wrap this one up and move on to the next emotion!

Surprise is one that I don’t really want to go too much in depth about and struggled with whether I should do it.  Why? Because if it was a plot twist, I wouldn’t want to reveal it to all of you, thats in spoiler territory.  So instead of videos, I’ll just brush the surface on movies that surprised me the most when I first saw it. Not to mention there is only a very little amount of movies that I haven’t predicted the twist in advance to some degree.  An overactive and analytical mind will do that to you.  Lets give it a shot though.  Lets try and break SURPRISE!

1) The Mist – ending scene

I’ve heard lots of people praise The Mist and its “amazing” ending.  Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the movie because of the ending but it is also one that surprised me the most.  I never saw that coming at all! This may be an adaptation from a Stephen King novel (it is, right?) but I haven’t read any of them. Shocking and surprising, I know, I need to get to it.  Still, that ending knocked me out and I was like WTF?!?!?!?

2) Re-cycle – plot twist

Re-cycle is an Asian horror flick by the Pang brothers that I adore.  I’m a huge fan of their movies especially after my favorite horror flick, The Eye.  As much as this movie is going to give you a ripoff of Silent Hill at the beginning sort of vibe, the movie turns out to have this amazing twist.  I really don’t want to reveal it.  All I have to say is that the world’s meaning turns into something else and the scene where it all explains it really gives it a huge boost.  I couldn’t find even an obscure scene of the surprise moment I’d say this scene kind of links to it a bit. The clever build-up for the big reveal really makes this one of the most surprising moments (for me) till today. Obviously, I still have a lot of catching up to do, especially in terms of classics but this one definitely qualifies.

3) The Cabin in the Woods

I went into The Cabin in the Woods knowing absolutely nothing so the ending is a shocking one that kind of gives the movie a purpose.  I don’t even know what I’m being all secretive, I’m sure most of you (if not all) have seen this movie.  Granted, I thought it was an absurd twist in a certain way but does give it this lasting memory in my mind.  My reaction to the ending, “Excuse me? Are you for reals?!?!?!?!?” Thats better than my boyfriend’s standing up and walking away calling it stupid.  I have to revisit this movie since I’ve gained this immense praise for Joss Whedon but still, it was quite the creative thought.  I gotta give the movie that much.  It definitely surprised the hell out of me.  

Its funny how my list is all horror movies.  LOL! What can I say? I’d put thrillers but I can see people pounding me for giving away those big twists even more.  Plus, a lot of thrillers, I really do have it figured out before the big reveal, I blame it on overuse of foreshadowing (or just bad promo work).  Either way, I’ve learnt better. The ones above, I watched them without knowing anything in advance.  Just to make it clear, since we’re looking at movie scenes, we’re talking about ending scenes for The Mist and

Here we go! Another week of Breaking Emotions blogathon! Remember to click on the banner or the link to check out other entries or get information to join in. 🙂