'The Artist's Uggie the dog to retire from films
Published Jan 26 2012, 22:34 GMT | By Tom Eames
Uggie the dog is to retire from appearing in films, his trainer has revealed.
© PA Images
The Jack Russell has won many plaudits for his starring role in the Academy Award-nominated The Artist, including winning the 2011 'Palm Dog'.
Uggie will appear at the 2011 Golden Collar Awards on February 13, for which he is nominated for his roles in The Artist and Water for Elephants. He will retire following his appearance at the Oscars on February 26.
Omar Von Muller and Sarah Clifford of Animal Savvy - the trainers of Uggie - revealed that their animals only appear in movies if they are having "fun" during filming.
"We don't force our dogs to do this," Clifford told The Hollywood Reporter. "And it always has to be fun for them. Uggie's still enjoying it but he's getting up there and he's slowing down a little."
She added: "He's at the stage where he just says, 'I think I want to go and lay in the sun by the pool'."
The Artist has received ten nominations for the 84th Academy Awards.
> Hangover, War Horse, Artist: Scene-stealing animals in pictures
Watch the trailer for The Artists below:
Awwww... I loved "The Artist" – sure, it's gimmicky, but it's also a lot of fun. And some people say it's not really original – I think it's completely original. Just a fun movie that deserves to win Best Picture. Here is my favorite review of the movie from a drunken Finnish film critic who seems confused at first but grows to love it.
http://mankabros.com/blogs/btp/2012/01/24/the-artist-review/
January 27th 2012 at 1:10am
Nice to hear his trainer/owner is going to let him retire and have a dog's life! As much as I love performing animals, I do worry that they are sometimes mis-treated or abandoned when no longer of any use.
January 27th 2012 at 12:36am