A Dog's Purpose (2017)/Dog's Journey (2019)/Dog's Way Home (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Mark:

We disagree on this. I don't see trying to get a trained dog to do what he's trained to do as an act of animal abuse. Obviously, we see that the dog doesn't want any part of getting in the water in that clip. But that's all we see, right? The trainer was not negligent in any way. All we see is a recalcitrant dog. I see no "clear animal abuse."

And in the 2nd cut, the dog goes underwater. We don't know for how long...but we see at least two humans rushing to his aid. I will assume they safely get the animal out of the water.

Editing is powerful stuff. And we can be pushed toward imagining lots of things which might not have happened.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, I disagree with Mark on this video too and think there is a rush to judgement as the video is clearly edited and really doesn't tell us the whole story here.

 

[Mark Booth]

This weekend's premiere of 'A Dog's Purpose' has been cancelled. At this moment, the film is still scheduled to open wide on January 27. The linked article contains a bit more information. The film's producer is angry but he is targeting that anger at the AHA for failing to do their job properly during the filming.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-dogs-purpose-premiere-cancelled-controversy-966354

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

This weekend's premiere of 'A Dog's Purpose' has been cancelled. At this moment, the film is still scheduled to open wide on January 27. The linked article contains a bit more information. The film's producer is angry but he is targeting that anger at the AHA for failing to do their job properly during the filming.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-dogs-purpose-premiere-cancelled-controversy-966354

Mark

The article indicates he's none too happy with PETA either.

 

[Bryan^H]

I just read a news story out of Grand Rapids about a dog that had his nose and ears cut off. That is animal abuse. I hope they catch the sick maniac That did it and do the same to him.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'll go and see the film anyway. Nothing in that footage indicates to me that animal abuse was occurring. PETA is losing all credibility with me. They complain about how that particular company was going to animal shelters to pick up animals without explaining how they were going to be employed. Exactly what does PETA think happens to unclaimed and unadopted animals at a shelter? Do they think the shelter feeds and cares for them until the end of their natural lifespans?

 

[Tino]

I'm going too. Loved the book. I question the timing and editing of this footage. Perhaps PETA was behind it.

Hope it's a hit.

 

[Jason_V]

I question the timing and editing of this footage.

Same thing happened to Bryan Singer around the release of Days of Future Past (IIRC). Turned out to be nothing but someone looking for publicity. It's not like this footage happened yesterday and it got to the media as fast as possible. Someone was sitting on this video for a long time in hopes of news attention around the premiere.

That's selfish from someone purportedly caring about the dog.

 

[TravisR]

Same thing happened to Bryan Singer around the release of Days of Future Past (IIRC). Turned out to be nothing but someone looking for publicity. It's not like this footage happened yesterday and it got to the media as fast as possible. Someone was sitting on this video for a long time in hopes of news attention around the premiere.

That's selfish from someone purportedly caring about the dog.

I thought the same thing but to be fair, TMZ could have been the ones sitting on the tape for the last 14 months. I'm sure when you sell your tape (and soul) to TMZ, you can't sell it to anyone else or leak it without getting sued. TMZ has a financial interest in waiting to close to the release when there's a bigger awareness of the movie and thus more site hits.

 

[Alf S]

Problem now is all the soccer moms and similar Facebook huggers have probably bombarded their pages with "THIS IS HORRIBLE! I WON'T EVER GO SEE THIS MOVIE! SIGN THIS PETITION!!!" and just the power of that will put (probably) a decent dent in the box office.

Then again, it could do a 180 and do really well. Hard to say what will happen in our overly PC world.

 

[Jason_V]

Oh, no doubt. I am not blaming the person who took the video 100%. There is a financial interest in waiting. But therein lies the rub: this happened over a year ago (depending on when filming happened). We're so far removed now from these actual events there can't be a legit investigation. Everyone has moved on.

 

[DaveF]

This thread is about the movie, A Dog's Purpose. It's not for political axe-grinding or bemoaning one's view of societal woes.

I've deleted one post that crossed the line. Please let that be the only one.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Would have been nice if you would have deleted the one paragraph, and left the other two that had a valid point that were not "societal"!

I also do not appreciate the suggestion I have an axe to grind, especially coming from a Mod!

 

[Radioman970]

Animals don't know they are acting in a movie. The scene looked hectic since it was set up for the movie, but what is going through Hercules's mind? What if you didn't know exactly what was going on and you were being forced into something like simulated raging water/rain and your fear welled up but you couldn't express it with words? This just bothers me. Looks like someone worried about an animal actor (not a pet, but a prop) costing them money. Even considering as 2 vids put together. Animals get hurt on sets all the time. Was reading on vox.com a short time ago about the tiger in Life of Pi almost drowning. 8 Below husky was punched to stop him from fighting with another dog. I read 27 animals died while filming The Hobbit.

Best thing about stories like this is they bring this kind of thing out into public view. Animals in movies will be better for it. I like this director's My Life as a Dog. I need to see his other Hichiko but first buy a case of kleenexes I need. :*) I liked this statement about this whole thing. He's genuinely concerned and didn't hide behind a fear of hurting the movie's take. That alone makes me want to see this film since it looks like an amazing idea. Need the book too.

More info needed definitely about this case. See the whole video perhaps. Hoping at least they will donate some of the take to worthy animals orgs.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I find it suspicious that this video is over a year old and it's just now being released when either there's more interest in it or it can do the most damage to the movie. I'm not saying cruelty didn't occur, just that the release of the video was not timed to prevent more cruelty. It should have been released soon after the incident occurred.

 

[Mike Frezon]

So, according to the book's author, W. Bruce Cameron, there was no animal cruelty.

It appears my conjecture was correct and the way the TMZ video was edited was indeed misleading.

Cameron released this statement today on his Facebook page.

Official statement from W. Bruce Cameron

First I want to thank everyone—and there have been literally thousands of you—who have written to express support. Your words and thoughts mean the world to us.

I found the video we’ve all seen to be shocking because when I was on set, the ethic of everyone was the safety and comfort of the dogs.

If the people who shot and edited the video thought something was wrong, why did they wait fifteen months to do anything about it, instead of immediately going to the authorities?

I have since viewed footage taken of the day in question, when I wasn’t there, and it paints an entirely different picture.

The written commentary accompanying the edited video mischaracterizes what happened. The dog was not terrified and not thrown in the water—I’ve seen footage of Hercules earlier that day joyfully jumping in the pool. When he was asked to perform the stunt from the other side of the pool, which was not how he had been doing it all day, he balked. The mistake was trying to dip the dog in the water to show him it was okay—the water wasn’t his issue, it was the location that was the issue, and the dog happily did the stunt when he was allowed to return to his original spot.

I also didn’t like it when Hercules’s head briefly went under water, but there was a scuba diver and a trainer in the pool to protect him. He loves the water, wasn’t in danger, and wasn’t upset.

On a movie where the mantra was the safety and comfort of the dogs, mistakes were made, and everything needs to be done to make sure those errors are not repeated. But the reason American Humane certifies that no animals were harmed during the making of the film is that no animals were harmed during the making of the film.

I celebrate animal rescue and am proud of the values that show up in A Dog’s Purpose. -- W. Bruce Cameron 1/20/17

Still very much looking forward to this film's release. As I've been saying throughout this thread, the two books on which this film were based are really excellent for any dog lover.

 

[Johnny Angell]

So, according to the book's author, W. Bruce Cameron, there was no animal cruelty.

It appears my conjecture was correct and the way the TMZ video was edited was indeed misleading.

Cameron released this statement today on his Facebook page.



Still very much looking forward to this film's release. As I've been saying throughout this thread, the two books on which this film were based are really excellent for any dog lover.

The author has the same question I do, why did they wait so long? I'm going to need to see the whole video before I believe they committed cruelty.

 

[TravisR]

The author has the same question I do, why did they wait so long?

I said it earlier but I'd guess that TMZ got the tape shortly after it was recorded and they decided to wait to post it until it was closer to the release so they could get more website hits.

 

[Tino]

Or someone with a hidden agenda sat on it and just sent it to TMZ.

Either way very suspicious.

 

[Radioman970]

Time frame thoughts... took some time to get the video/hear about then get it?? , then consider what was happening to the dog actor, then decide the legal effects. they'd want the video out before the film was released too to let movie goers know there may be a problem with the production. Some animal orgs are seen as radical and that seems built in.. (I'm not trying to insult, I just believe that's true...PETA for instance is the butt of jokers but they do a lot of great things) Also, my mind keeps going back to the past with how animals were treated in films since making films began. They need protecting like children from filmmakers who would use them then throw them away like props.

Funny, by chance I watched Rear Window last night and there's that extremely cute and important to the plot moment with that little dog being lowered and raised down in a basket. That wasn't safe for the dog, had his panicked and jumped out he would be hurt or dead. And that's Hitchcock! Also by chance I watched an Our Gang "the cobbler" and in addition to the child endangerment all thru that is a dog and mostly a parrot that was in extreme danger for a laugh. Followed that up with a Flipper episode. I think we all know about poor Flipper. so many things I like with questionable animal moments in them. I'm just thinking in modern times better judgement should be used. My though, there's should be no videos like this to make movie goers uncomfortable. I see a handler going too far with a dog that didn't want to participate.