John Delach

Ruddell Bird “Rudd” Weatherwax and his son, Bob Weatherwax introduced the American public to collies, here-to-for, a virtually unknown breed of pure-bred dogs. This heroic story about a boy and his dog first came to life with a best-selling English novel, “Lassie Come Home”, written by Eric Knight that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights to in 1943. The movie starred Roddy McDowall who played Joe Carraclough, the Yorkshire school boy who loved Lassie and Elizabeth Taylor, who played Priscilla, a  young girl sympathetic to Lassie’s plight.

The film supposedly set in England and Scotland was actually filmed in Washington and Monterey, California. During production, those MGM executives who previewed the dallies were so moved that they ordered more scenes added to “This wonderful motion picture.”

A female collie was selected for the title role, but she began to shed excessively when called upon to perform. Fred M. Wilcox, the director approached the trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, who agreed to substitute his male collie, Pal, to play Lassie. Being a male, Pal was bigger and looked more impressive. Mr. Wilcox decided to cast Pal because when he performed he expressed  human emotions and reactions. Pal performed beyond expectation in the most dramatic scene of the film, crossing a dangerous rapid to continue Lassie’s way home. After seeing the first prints, MGM’s chairman stated, “Pal had entered the water, but Lassie had come out, and a new star was born.”

While Pal became a star, Weatherwax received all rights to the Lassie name and trademark in lieu of back pay owed him by MGM.

Set in Depression-era Yorkshire, England, Mr. and Mrs. Carraclough were forced to sell their collie, Lassie, to the rich Duke of Ruding. The duke took Lassie to his home in distant Scotland. His Granddaughter, Priscilla, (Elizabeth Taylor) sensed the dog’s unhappiness and arranged for her escape.

Imagine all of the perils Lassie encountered on her long trek home, dog catchers, violent storms and the rapids. She also met kind people who offered her aid and comfort. Lassie finally returned to her favorite resting place in Joe’s schoolyard where she was reunited with the boy she loved.

Budgeted for $666,000, it made $4,517,000 at the world-wide box office.,

Of course, a dog movie this successful initiated re-makes. One of the most successful was: “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.” Released fifty years later, this movie featured three pets wrongfully separated from their family. The old member of the group, a Golden Retriever named “Shadow” voiced by Don Ameche, a cat named Sassy, voiced by Sally Field and, Chance,  a free-spirited American Bulldog voiced by Michael J. Fox who narrated the movie.

The film received positive reviews with the consensus stating, “Disney’s re-make of ‘Lassie Come Home’ successfully replicates, and in some ways improves upon, the simple charms of the original.”  The movie Made $57,000,000.

One of this trainer’s secrets in continuing the successful continuation of the Lassie brand was using several collies to play the part. To accomplish this, they bred thousands of collies to produce Lassies, each with a distinctive white blaze down their snouts. But only one Lassie at a time appeared onscreen or at public events. 

Rudd Weatherwax went on to train collies for the Lassie TV show that ran from 1954 to 1974. He also trained other dogs like the one who played Spike in the film, “Old Yellow” and the New York Mets first official mascot, a beagle named Homer.

Bob Weatherwax became his father’s apprentice. He learned the interdisciplinarian roles needed to manage the Lassie brand. These included being the dog’s talent agent, pooch geneticist and acting coach.

Rudd died in 1985 and Bob Weatherwax embraced his Talent-manager role including traveling First-Class with his celebrity dog. “On a trip to promote the 1994 movie ‘Lassie,’ a successful attempt to revive the franchise, he and the film’s star stayed at the luxurious Rittenhouse Hotel where the celebrity collie dined on boiled chicken prepared by the chef and delivered by room service and washed down with distilled water.”

Bob’s bond with Lassie was enhanced when the collie saved his own life.

“When I was a toddler, my parents couldn’t afford a fence in the yard. They tethered me to a tree to prevent me from running off. I quickly learned how to free myself by unhooking the harness and, one day I decided to take off and explore the great big world beyond the tree.”

He wound up in the middle of the busy street in front of his house.

Pal, a.k.a. Lassie, “saw me and sensed that I was in danger and within seconds our famous collie was running toward me.”

The collie barked and nudged him back toward the yard.

“Lassie not only saved lives on the screen,” he wrote, “but also saved me in real life.”