Movies That Popularized Different Dog Breeds

Published: April 9, 2024 by Colman Andrews

When we think of “influencers” today, we tend to think in terms of internet personalities who reach large audiences and recommend products and/or launch trends across many areas of interest, from cooking to fashion to politics to travel.

Many decades before anyone had dreamed of smartphones or personal computers, however, motion pictures fulfilled much the same functions. Marlon Brando sported jeans and a white T-shirt in “A Streetcar Named Desire” back in 1951, and all over America, men emulated that look and turned it into a timeless classic. Audrey Hepburn helped make the “little black dress” a fashion icon by wearing it in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961). More recently, women across the country began dressing in men’s shirts, neckties and vests after Diane Keaton so memorably pulled off that look in 1977’s “Annie Hall.”

It’s not just fashion. After Elliott lured his alien friend into his house with a scattering of Reese’s Pieces in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), sales of the candy jumped 65%. Eggo frozen waffles enjoyed a bump after they were featured in the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” The gin-and-vodka Vesper Martini sipped by Daniel Craig as James Bond in “Casino Royale” (2006) is now found on bar menus everywhere. And the 2003 reboot of “The Italian Job,” in which Mini Coopers featured large, was reportedly responsible for a 20% rise in sales of that pint-sized vehicle. (Check out 25 of the most iconic cars in film and TV.)

Then there are animals. Pet pigs became more popular after “Babe” (1995) and clownfish became so sought-after following the release of “Finding Nemo” in 2003 that populations of the fish in the wild decreased by as much as 75% in some places.

The effects of movies on the popularity of dog breeds are particularly strong. To determine which ones spurred interest in which breeds, 24/7 Tempo reviewed The making of a (dog) movie star: The effect of the portrayal of dogs in movies on breed registrations in the United States, published in January 2022 by PLOS ONE, an online scientific journal. The site used data on American Kennel Club registrations, ranking movies on the percentage change in the number of annual AKC registrations for the breed featured on screen 10 years after the film’s release. Supplemental data on IMDb user ratings for the movies mentioned is current as of January 2024.

It’s no surprise that collies surged in popularity after the 1941 release of “Lassie Come Home,” featuring the world’s most famous representative of that breed, and anyone who has seen “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (either the original 1961 animated version or the live-action interpretation of the story from 1996) might well be forgiven for wanting to go out at once and bring home one of those black-and-white puppies.

Maybe more surprising is the fact that one movie, “The Incredible Journey” (1963) promoted sales of two very different breeds — the Labrador Retriever and the Bull Terrier. The dog breed profiting the most from “The Ugly Dachshund” wasn’t the eponymous breed at all, but the Great Dane — since it was one of those magnificent creatures that mistakenly thought himself to be a less-than-attractive sausage dog. (To explore new dog breeds, check out the Newest Dog Breeds You’ve Never Heard Of Before.)

Click here to read about movies that popularized different dog breeds.