Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, 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.
Knight's novel was filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 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.
Contents
History
Eric Knight short story and novel
The fictional character of Lassie was created by English author Eric Knight in Lassie Come-Home, first published as a short story in the Dec. 17, 1938 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and later as a full-length novel in 1940. Set in the Depression-era England, the novel depicts the lengthy journey a Rough Collie makes to be reunited with her young Yorkshire master after her family is forced to sell her for money.
Movies and television
In 1943, the novel was adapted into a feature film, Lassie Come Home, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that stars Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie was a hit and enjoyed favorable critical response. MGM followed this with several additional films, including a sequel entitled Son of Lassie (1945), starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart, and Courage of Lassie (1946) with Elizabeth Taylor again. A radio series, Lassie Radio Show, was also created, airing until 1949.
From 1954 to 1973, the television series Lassie was broadcast, with Lassie initially residing on a farm with a young male master. In the eleventh season, it changed to U.S. Forest Service rangers as her companions, then the collie was on her own for a season, before ending the series with Lassie residing at a ranch for orphaned children. The series was the recipient of two Emmy Awards before it was canceled in 1973. Lassie won several PATSY Awards (an award for animal actors). A second series followed in the 1980s. In 1997, Canadian production company Cinar Inc. produced a new Lassie television series for the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and YTV in Canada. It ran until 1999.
In 2005, a remake of the original Lassie Come Home movie was produced in the United Kingdom. Starring Peter O'Toole and Samantha Morton, Lassie was released in 2006.
Additionally, three animated TV series featuring the canine were produced. The first was Lassie's Rescue Rangers, created by Filmation Associates, which aired on ABC from 1973 to 1975. An anime series Famous Dog Lassie aired in the 1996. In 2014, a new animated series titled The New Adventures of Lassie was co-produced by Superprod Animation and Classic Media, in which Lassie was owned by the Parker family and lived in a national park. The series was primarily a traditionally animated (2D hand-drawn) TV series, though it also used some CGI animation. It was first seen in the United States starting in 2020 via the CBS All Access streaming service, then carried over to successor service Paramount+.
Lassie continues to make personal and TV show appearances as well as marketing a line of pet food and a reality pet care TV show, Lassie's Pet Vet on PBS stations in the United States. Lassie is one of only three animals (and one of very few fictional characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, and Bugs Bunny) to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—the others being silent-film stars Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart. In 2005, the show business journal Variety named Lassie one of the "100 Icons of the Century"—the only animal star on the list.
Media
Games
Two English language board games based on the TV show have been published: one by Lisbeth Whiting in 1955 and another by Game Gems in 1965. A German language game was published by Noris Spiele in 1961.
A Lassie PS2 game was released in 2002.
Comics
A comic series ran from May 1950 to 1969 and lasted 70 issues. It was titled M-G-M's Lassie until issue #37, then just Lassie until the end of its run. It was published by Dell Comics until issue #59 Oct 1962, then by Gold Key.