Lassie

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"Lassie" while filming in 1965

Lassie ( Scots for "girl") is a bitch of the breed Collie and the main character of books, films and television series.

Short story

Lassie was created by the British-American writer Eric Knight , who published the short story Lassie Come Home in the Saturday Evening Post on December 17, 1938 . In 1940 it was published as a novel.

Knight's short story tells of a boy from Yorkshire who owns a particularly beautiful and loyal female Collie, but when his family gets into financial difficulties, he has to sell her to a wealthy nobleman. Neither the boy nor the bitch can get over the separation, which gets worse when the nobleman takes them to his country estate in Scotland hundreds of miles away. Lassie instinctively flees and tries to get back to the boy.

Film adaptations

movie theater

In 1943 the first Lassie film Lassie Come Home (ran in Germany under the title Heimweh ) with ten-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was released in cinemas, which was based on the literary model. Since then, many more films have been made, with such success that Lassie was one of three dogs, alongside Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart , to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

On September 1, 2005, a new edition of the story of Lassie was released in US cinemas. The script is based again on the story of Eric Knight and was written by Charles Sturridge , who also directed.

watch TV

In the television series Lassie (1954-1973) the dog had a number of masters, first one after the other, the farm boys Jeff (played by Tommy Rettig ) and Timmy (played by Jon Provost ), who were saved from all sorts of dangers by the intelligent dog. Ranger Corey Stuart (played by Robert Bray ) later became Lassie's owner, and by the end of the series the dog got by without a master. The music for the series comes from the pen of Fred Strittmatter and Bernhard Kaun , among others .

Dog actor

The first dog to play Lassie on the TV series was a male named Pal, whose owner Rudd Weatherwax also trained him. Some of his descendants also played the role of Lassie. Lassie was mostly played by males because their fur is fuller and more "telegenic" than that of female dogs. For celebrity appearances at dog shows in the USA there is one animal that is considered an "official lassie".

Books

For the television series, the book series Fernsehhund Lassie was published from 1956 (volumes 1 and 2 with Jeff, from volume 3 with Timmy):

  • Dorothea J. Snow: The secret of the blackberry swamp . 1956.
  • Dorothea J. Snow: Help for the Miller Farm . 1960.
  • Doris Schroeder: The forbidden valley . 1961.
  • Charles S. Strong: Track with surprises . 1960.
  • George Giersen: The hut at the Schlangengrund . 1963.
  • George Giersen: Storm over Calverton . 1966.
  • George Giersen: In the cave labyrinth . 1966.

From 1960 a total of 10 novels about Lassie were published by Tessloff Verlag .

  • Henri Arnoldus : The Adventures of a Faithful Dog . 1960
  • Henri Arnoldus: Jeff's loyal friend brings salvation . 1960 / Second edition as: Timmy's loyal friend brings salvation
  • Henri Arnoldus: Lassie in the Snowstorm . 1960
  • Henri Arnoldus: The clever animal catches the thief . 1960
  • Henri Arnoldus: Burglary on the farm . 1961
  • Henri Arnoldus: The forest fire . 1961
  • Henri Arnoldus: The tiger is loose! . 1961
  • Henri Arnoldus: Lassie is kidnapped . 1962
  • Henri Arnoldus: The fight with the wolf . 1962
  • Henri Arnoldus: Lassie doesn't give up . 1962

Filmography

TV Shows

  • Lassie (TV series 1954–1973, also Jeff's Collie or Timmy and Lassie )
  • Lassie's Rescue Rangers (animated series 1973-1975)
  • The New Lassie (TV series 1989)
  • Lassie (1997 TV)
  • Lassie (animated series 2015)

Feature films

  • 1943: Homesickness (Lassie Come Home)
  • 1945: Son of Lassie
  • 1946: Lassie - Hero on Four Paws (Courage of Lassie)
  • 1948: Lassie's home (Hills of Home, also Master of Lassie)
  • 1949: The Sun Comes Up
  • 1949: Lassie in Not (Challenge to Lassie) - retelling of the story of the terrier Greyfriars Bobby
  • 1951: Lassie and the Gold Diggers (The Painted Hills)
  • 1963: Lassie's Great Adventure , cut of several episodes of the TV series
  • 1965: Lassie's way home, compilation of several episodes of the 11th season of the TV series
  • 1966: Lassie on the move, editing of several episodes of the TV series
  • 1967: Lassie goes his own way, editing of several episodes of the 14th season of the TV series
  • 1968: Lassie at Handford's Point, editing of several episodes of the TV series
  • 1970: Everyone loves Lassie, a compilation of several episodes of the TV series
  • 1970: Lassies Kinder (The Miracle), a compilation of several episodes from the 17th season of the TV series
  • 1972: All good things come from above, a compilation of several episodes of the TV series
  • 1978: Our Lassie (The Magic of Lassie)
  • 1978: a new beginning
  • 1994: Lassie - Friends for Life (Lassie)
  • 2005: Lassie returns
  • 2020: Lassie - An Adventurous Journey

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lassie's Rescue Rangers (1973–1975) in the Internet Movie Database (English)