Results: Pop culture moments we owe to animals

George Lucas's Dog Created Two Of His Most Famous Creations: In the 1980s, George Lucas was unstoppable with his Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Those movies owe something to an Alaskan malamute named Indiana. In the Indiana Jones franchise, Dr. Henry Jones Jr. was nicknamed "Indiana" after Lucas's dog. However, Indy was not the only character in the franchise named after a dog. Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was named after screenwriter Willard Huyck's dog. Lucas also hatched the idea of Chewbacca, the hairy sidekick, when Lucas saw his dog, Indiana, sitting in the passenger seat of his car. Lucas had been talking to his wife, Marcia Griffin, who was really the dog's owner. Marcia had wanted Indiana to play the dog in American Graffiti. But Lucas went with another dog for that movie. To make up for it, he turned an Indiana surrogate into this galaxy's favorite Wookiee. Were you aware that George Lucas's dog helped create these famous animal related movie characters?

Charles Dickens's Pet Helped Another Writer Find Fame: Charles Dickens's books are usually somber stories of struggling orphans or failed revolutionaries, but he was actually a pretty wacky guy. His most sitcom-like antic was having a talking raven sidekick. His raven, Grip, would entertain Dickens's family with inspirational lines like "Keep up your spirit!" and "Never say die." In 1841, Grip failed to follow his own advice when he died after eating lead paint chips. Dickens was heartbroken. For some closure, he featured a talking raven in his next book, Barnaby Rudge. When Barnaby Rudge was published in the US, Graham's Magazine gave the book a good review except for the raven. The reviewer thought that the raven was too hokey and should have been a prophetic harbinger instead of a sideshow act. That reviewer was Edgar Allan Poe. Four years later, Poe would respond to his criticisms in Graham's Magazine with his own prophetic raven in one of the most famous poems in American literature. Are you familiar with these facts about the two ravens for Dickens and Poe?

Pets Brought Cinema's Best Friends Together: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the classic love story of a boy and his alien. E.T. and Elliott's relationship is built on real emotions. One of the most obvious characteristics of E.T. is his giant blue eyes. Those eyes were modeled after Carlo Rambaldi's beloved pet. The Himalayan cat's eye and shriveled-up nose were added to E.T. to give it a friendlier feel. The other half of this friendship was Henry Thomas. He clinched his audition for the role of Elliott after an emotional screen test. Henry acted out the scene where the government officials come to take E.T. away. Henry cried on cue by thinking about when his dog died. The companionship Rambaldi felt for his pet and the heartbreak Thomas felt for his pet brought true love to their roles. Were you aware of how E.T. and Elliot's relationship was built on real emotions in this 1982 science fiction fantasy film?

Gollum's Voice Was Based On A Coughing Cat: Gollum is one of those impressions that everyone can pull off. Just bend over, give your voice a gravelly tone, and say: "My precious." Gollum is still one of the most memorable characters in the nearly 12-hour Lord of the Rings film franchise based on J.R.R. Tolkien's books. Part of that is due to Andy Serkis's guttural voice work. The rasping voice was modeled on watching his pet cat, Diz, cough up a hair ball. Andy tried to copy the struggling sound of a vomiting cat. His reenactment eventually transformed into Gollum's iconic voice. Are you familiar with these facts on how Gollum's voice was created in the Lord of the Rings movie franchise?

Sampling Became Popular Due To Noisy Dogs (url included ---> https://youtu.be/MCBhQCCyhTo): Carl Weismann was a Danish sensation for his bird recordings. The only problem was that his records were interrupted by barking dogs. To produce a clear recording, Weismann went back to his studio and removed the sounds of the dogs from the tape. As this was the 1950s, Weismann still had the physical remains of the dog barks. So he put all those random barks on one track. Altering the pitches, he made the dogs appear to sing "Oh! Susanna." This song was an international hit. In the US, it reached No. 22 on the charts, making it the first hit song to feature sampling. The legacy of this novelty song is absurd. Its B-side launched "Jingle Bells," a holiday favorite, and its technological advancements became fundamental for the golden age of hip-hop. Did you know these facts about the singing barking dogs?