Border Collies have been used in numerous movies and TV shows, but perhaps the most famous is Lassie! Even though Lassie was portrayed as a girl in the movies, all of the dogs who played Lassie were actually boys! The original Lassie character was played by a border collie by the name of Pal. Pal began playing Lassie in 1943 and ended his career playing this famous collie in 1951. After Pal retired, his descendants continued to carry on the legacy by playing the part of Lassie in his place. The names of these collies were: Lassie Junior, Spook, Baby, Mire, and Hey Hey. They continued on the legacy of Lassie until the late 1990's in movies and television series's.The first Lassie movie came out in 1943; it was called "Lassie Come Home." In the first movie, Lassie (Pal) is separated from his loving owner (a boy named Joe Carraclough) and yearns to find her way back home to be reunited with him. Lassie faces many trials in her travel, but when Joe loses all hope that Lassie will return, she does! This movie was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Color Cinematography. The Saturday Evening Post said that this film started Pal on "the most spectacular canine career in film history." To order this movie along with four other Lassie movies, you can click here.
Other Lassie movies like "Son of Lassie" (in which Lassie has a son named Laddie who accompanies Joe into military combat), "Courage of Lassie", and "Lassie's Great Adventure" were released as time went along. The character of Lassie was also used in many TV cameos and she even had two of her own television shows!!
The many adventures of Lassie are still loved and cherished my many young and old to this day. You can read more about Lassie and all of her wild journeys by clicking here!
