They’re just dogs, right? Wrong! Actually, they’re Dalmatians.
And if what animal-rights activist Teri Austin tells Hollywood.com is anything to go by, the spotted canines are specifically “a large breed intended to be bred as working dogs. They need a lot of exercise, and they get anxious when they’re confined to a yard. [Plus,] they shed a lot of hair.”
Austin and her dog-loving co-horts in the Amanda Foundation took that information to Disney’s doorstep Monday, staging a demonstration and press conference outside the movie studio’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif.
Why? They want the Mouse House to take responsibility for its portrayal of the spotted pooches in the upcoming film “102 Dalmatians.”
Activists want the studio to 1) add a disclaimer at the beginning and the end of the film, elucidating the public about the real nature of the dog (like, they shed a lot of hair); and 2) donate part of the film’s revenue to organizations that rescue Dalmatians.
And no, we’re not making this up.
Remember, they shed a lot of hair And if you’re like us, you might be wondering exactly how these flicks, which also include the animated “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961), the hit “101 Dalmatians” (1996) with Glenn Close, plus a straight-to-video movie — and which have only made the speckled pups out to be the coolest, cutest thing since Scooby Doo — damaging to Dalmatians?
The problem, as Austin explains, is that the films make the dogs look too unrealistically cute and cuddly. She thinks a lot of moviegoers, after seeing the flick, will go out and get their own Dalmatian, then take it to the animal shelter or otherwise disown it after finding out what annoying things Dalmatians do, and which aren’t really depicted in the movie (such as getting really big).
Austin says it’s a potential repeat of what happened four years ago.
“There was a huge upsurge in Dalmatians purchases when the last movie [“101 Dalmatians“] came out,” Austin tells Hollywood.com.
“The idea perpetuated by Disney is that all kids are good with all dogs, but they don’t tell you that the cute little puppy is going to grow up to be 70 lbs. And people don’t want a big dog.
“Come this Christmas, people are going to say that ‘I want to get my kid a Dalmatian.’ And we’re asking [Disney] to help not make that happen again,” Austin concludes.
Disney has issued a statement saying it will partner up with the Dalmatian Club of America to promote pet adoption and pet awareness in conjunction with the flick’s release.
But there’s no word on whether the studio plans to comply with the protesters’ demands.
“We don’t have any comment for the press conference,” Andrea Marozas, Disney’s publicist, tells Hollywood.com.
