Benji: Off the Leash!
Encyclopedia
Benji: Off the Leash! is a 2004 American film that was shot in various parts of Utah
.
are going to various towns in the U.S. looking for the next dog to play Benji. In a small town, a freelance dog breeder named Hatchett keeps a backyard kennel under poor conditions behind his home. He lives with a young boy named Colby and his mother and is very verbally abusive to both of them but Colby has a love of dogs and is secretly nurturing a female black dog who is Hathcett's top breeder. He goes to an abandoned three story house in the neighborhood and takes food and water to the black dog so she can feed milk to her new pups. Hatchett learns of this and takes the black puppies but abandons a fluffy light colored "mongrel
" in the house after scolding Colby. Over several months time, Colby secretly cares for the pup at a secret play shack built by him and it grows into the unnamed fluffy dog that will become Benji. Colby also has a pet cockatoo
named Merlin who talks a lot and watches the fluffy puppy grow up.
Meanwhile, two Animal Control officers are looking for strays and come across a shaggy looking dog that seems to like to have fun while on his own and is impossible for them to catch. A local elderly man, Zachariah Finch offers food to the stray at his home in the woods and becomes attached to him. The dog is eventually dubbed the name "Lizard Tongue" by the officers looking for him {due to its long tongue always hanging out its mouth}. When the fluffy dog sees that her mother is sick in the kennel, he opens her cage and helps her escape. Then, he gets Lizard Tongue to help when she is too weak to eat and they both draw the Animal Control officers to the abandoned house and the ailing black mother dog. At the shelter, a veterinarian determines she is dying from over-breeding and poor care. so the Animal Shelter Director and the local Sheriff, Sgt. Lewis {always called Ozzie} make the decision to authorize the vet to spay the dog so she will no longer breed.
When Hatchett learns that the Benji film producer is in town and wants the fluffy dog to be the new Benji, he intimidates Colby into lying about being the owner to the producer. At the shelter, the fluffy dog is reunited with its mother and Colby does the right thing and tells everyone that fluffy is not his, which makes Hatchett show his brass temper after he grabs Colby and yells at him in front of everyone. When the Sheriff removes him from the room and everyone talks to Colby and his mother it is revealed that he has also been psychically abusive to her as well and he is arrested. The end credits show various scenes from the film as they were shot and make reference to the origins of the shelter dogs used in the film.
effects and animatronic dogs used in the film as "none".
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Plot
The film starts with the understanding that the makers of the Benji filmsBenji (film)
Benji is the first film in a series of nine about the golden mixed breed dog named Benji. It was written and directed by Joe Camp and was released in 1974. It received one Academy Award nomination for the Best Original Song.-Plot:...
are going to various towns in the U.S. looking for the next dog to play Benji. In a small town, a freelance dog breeder named Hatchett keeps a backyard kennel under poor conditions behind his home. He lives with a young boy named Colby and his mother and is very verbally abusive to both of them but Colby has a love of dogs and is secretly nurturing a female black dog who is Hathcett's top breeder. He goes to an abandoned three story house in the neighborhood and takes food and water to the black dog so she can feed milk to her new pups. Hatchett learns of this and takes the black puppies but abandons a fluffy light colored "mongrel
Mixed-breed dog
A mixed-breed dog, also known as a mutt or mongrel, is a dog whose ancestry is generally unknown and that has characteristics of two or more types of breeds. A mixed-breed may be a cross-breed dog, a random-bred dog, or a descendant of feral or pariah dog populations...
" in the house after scolding Colby. Over several months time, Colby secretly cares for the pup at a secret play shack built by him and it grows into the unnamed fluffy dog that will become Benji. Colby also has a pet cockatoo
Cockatoo
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...
named Merlin who talks a lot and watches the fluffy puppy grow up.
Meanwhile, two Animal Control officers are looking for strays and come across a shaggy looking dog that seems to like to have fun while on his own and is impossible for them to catch. A local elderly man, Zachariah Finch offers food to the stray at his home in the woods and becomes attached to him. The dog is eventually dubbed the name "Lizard Tongue" by the officers looking for him {due to its long tongue always hanging out its mouth}. When the fluffy dog sees that her mother is sick in the kennel, he opens her cage and helps her escape. Then, he gets Lizard Tongue to help when she is too weak to eat and they both draw the Animal Control officers to the abandoned house and the ailing black mother dog. At the shelter, a veterinarian determines she is dying from over-breeding and poor care. so the Animal Shelter Director and the local Sheriff, Sgt. Lewis {always called Ozzie} make the decision to authorize the vet to spay the dog so she will no longer breed.
When Hatchett learns that the Benji film producer is in town and wants the fluffy dog to be the new Benji, he intimidates Colby into lying about being the owner to the producer. At the shelter, the fluffy dog is reunited with its mother and Colby does the right thing and tells everyone that fluffy is not his, which makes Hatchett show his brass temper after he grabs Colby and yells at him in front of everyone. When the Sheriff removes him from the room and everyone talks to Colby and his mother it is revealed that he has also been psychically abusive to her as well and he is arrested. The end credits show various scenes from the film as they were shot and make reference to the origins of the shelter dogs used in the film.
Production
Benji: Off the Leash! was filmed in various parts of Utah such as Kaysville, Ogden, Payson and Salt Lake City as were stated in the end credits. The credits also jokingly refer to the number of computer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
effects and animatronic dogs used in the film as "none".
Cast and crew
- Nick Whitaker - Colby
- Chis Kendrick - Terrance Muncy Hatchett
- Christy Summerhays - Colby's mother
- Neal Barth - Zachariah Finch
- Randall Newsome - Livingston
- Duane Stephens - Sheldon
- Nate Bynum - Sgt. Oswald Lewis
- Melinda Haynes - Animal Shelter Director
- Joey MiyashimaJoey MiyashimaJoey Miyashima is a Japanese American television and film actor. Miyashima played Pee-wee Herman's Japanese pen pal, Oki Doki, in "Accidental Playhouse", an episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse...
- Veterinarian - Scott Wilkenson - Film Producer
- Jeff Olson - Paul's Market owner
- Benji - fluffy dog
- Shaggy - Lizard Tongue
- Ginger - black dog
- Gypsy - Merlin the Cockatoo