A shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi with the help of his beloved dog, Skip.A shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi with the help of his beloved dog, Skip.A shy boy grows up in 1940s Mississippi with the help of his beloved dog, Skip.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 4 nominations
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Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsDink says that Willie's father got a purple heart in the Spanish Civil War, but there were no U.S. military in that war - only volunteers - so no military awards of any kind were made.
- Quotes
Narrator: Old Skip was 11, and feeble with arthritis, but he never lost that old devilish look in his eye. He made my room his own. Came across an old photo of him not long ago. His little face, with the long snout sniffing at something in the air. His tail was straight out, pointing. Eyes were flashing in some momentary excitement. He always loved to be rubbed on the back of his neck. And when I did it, he'd yawn and he'd stretch, reach out to me with his paws, as if he was trying to embrace me. I recieved a transatlantic call one day. "Skip died," Daddy said. He and my mama wrapped him in my baseball jacket. "They buried him out under our elm tree," they said. That wasn't totally true. For he really lay buried in my heart.
- ConnectionsEdited into Doggiewoggiez! Poochiewoochiez! (2012)
- SoundtracksMoonlight Promenade
Written by Ib Glindemann (as IB Glindemann)
Published by Carbert Special Accounts (BMI)
Courtesy of APM
Based upon the memoirs of writer Willie Morris, `My Dog Skip' stars the wonderful child actor Frankie Muniz (the delightful star of TV's `Malcolm in the Middle') as a friendless nine-year-old misfit whose mother buys him a puppy for his birthday to help assuage his loneliness. More fond of reading than of football, young Willie becomes the hapless target of the town bullies and Skip provides him with just the right note of friendship to help him through his trying times. The cast of characters also includes Willie's well meaning but overprotective war hero father (sensitively played by Kevin Bacon), his loving and supportive mother (the fine actress Diane Lane), the boy-next-door town hero (Luke Wilson) who turns out to be less than one on the battlefield, and a band of moon shiners who figure into the climactic activities of the film's final half.
`My Dog Skip' is less noteworthy for its plotting which often seems forced, obvious and melodramatic than for its overall tone of laid back charm. Muniz in particular brings such an aura of subtle naturalism to his role as Willie that we easily overlook the film's overall lack of originality. Actually, the fact that Willie seems like such a likeable regular kind of a kid undercuts the film's credibility a little. We find it hard to believe that he would really be such an outcast from his peers. The writer, Gail Gilchriest, and director, Jay Russell, manage to keep the sentimentality down to a minimum, though the film does get a bit goopy once in a while. The moonshining subplot seems especially weak and unconvincing, a pale but underdeveloped echo of `Huck Finn,' a book Morris obviously worshipped as a child (we see him receiving a hardbound copy of it for his birthday). On the positive side, the filmmakers resist the temptation to gussy up the narrative with either highbrow humanitarian messages (though the narration does become a bit portentous at times) or insulting lowbrow comic slapstick. The issue of race relations is dealt with in somewhat glossy and unrealistic terms, but that is probably the appropriate choice for a film aimed at such a young audience.
`My Dog Skip' needs to be viewed on two levels as a beautifully acted but unsurprising version of a tale adults have seen countless times before and as a sweet, heartwarming and edifying film for young children who will be able to identify with many of the simple themes found in the narrative. On that level alone, `My Dog Skip' scores high as ideal family viewing.
- Buddy-51
- Mar 3, 2001
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $34,134,641
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $56,943
- Jan 17, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $35,547,761
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1