January 17th, 2012
The best-dressed star at the 69th Annual Golden Globes on Sunday night sported nothing but a dickie-bow. Having already stolen the show in one of the most celebrated movies of the year, The Artist, Uggie the Jack Russell again upstaged his cast-mates as he posed on the red carpet and played dead during long acceptance speeches.
Nine year old Uggie has been credited with much of the popularity of the near-silent film – the director of The Artist claims that he allows the audience to feel for an otherwise unlikable lead.
Michel Hazanavicius says of Uggie’s role in the film: “When you look at the [main] character of George Valentin” — a silent-era movie star whose career ends with the arrival of talkies — he’s selfish, egocentric, proud. He’s mean with his own wife, he’s not a positive character. But the fact is, the dog loves him and follows him during all the movie. What happens is, the audience trusts the dog. We think if the dog loves the guy, the guy has to be a good person.”
Uggie’s appearance at the Golden Globes prompted a furore on Twitter, with users calling for the introduction of an award especially for dogs. They must not have heard of the Palm Dog – the canine equivalent of the Palm D’Or has already honoured Uggie for his role in The Artist. A Facebook profile and Twitter campaign called Consider Uggie has also been set up, which urges the Academy to include Uggie in this year’s Oscar nominations.
Whether Uggie is nominated or not, he is sure to add a little fun to the festivities at the upcoming January 24th awards, where The Artist is tipped to win Best Picture.
By Sinéad. Filed under Dogs, News.
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