Great Danes. Rachel Cawley
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train, saves the girl from a fortune hunter, and reunites her with the right man in time for the closing credits.
• Seven Chances (1925). In this Buster Keaton silent feature, Keaton finds he will inherit a fortune if married by 7 P.M. that day. The leading lady owns a Harlequin Great Dane who steals the ending of the film. Of note, the Great Dane is played by different Harlequins, some cropped and some uncropped!
• Six of a Kind (1934). A couple beginning their second honeymoon invites another couple along to save money. The new couple (famed comedians George Bums and Gracie Allen) bring their Fawn Great Dane, Rang Tang Tang, who insists on sitting in the front seat and causes constant commotion on the trip.
• Blondie in Society (1941). This is one of the features based on the popular Blondie comic strip. Dagwood is given a Fawn Great Dane in lieu of money owed. Blondie decides to enter the Dane in a dog show, hoping to win a monetary prize. Meanwhile, it seems everyone wants the Great Dane, who is Champion Chin Up White Tie for Dinner.
• Hollwood or Bust (1956). In the duo’s final film, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis drive across the country with Jerry’s Fawn Great Dane, Mr. Bascomb. On the way Mr. Bascomb sings with Jerry, drives the car, falls in love with Anita Ekberg’s Toy Poodle, and attends a Hollywood premiere. This is a fun film and a great showcase for the breed.
• The Ugly Dachshund (1966). This Disney live-action romp has a married couple (Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette) raising a Great Dane puppy with a litter of Dachshunds. As the Fawn Great Dane, called Brutus, grows, he creates mischief around the house but wins the day when he wins at a dog show.
• Live a Little, Love a Little (1968). Elvis Presley falls for a free-spirited young lady who owns a Fawn Great Dane. In a dream sequence, Elvis sings a song while an actor in a Great Dane costume dances around him.
• Oliver and Company (1988). This Disney animated feature tells Dickens’s Oliver Twist with animals. Oliver is a cat with a gang of pickpocket dogs. One of the canine gang members is Einstein, a Great Dane voiced by Richard Mulligan. Einstein’s cartoon color leads one to believe he is closest to being a Blue.
• Head Over Heels (2001). An undercover agent walks a neighbor’s dog (Fawn Great Dane) that seems overly interested in human females. The Great Dane is sometimes played by a large puppet.
• Chestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004). In this family film, orphaned sisters find a Fawn puppy in Central Park. They try to keep him a secret from their new parents, who live in a posh New York apartment that does not allow dogs.
• Marmaduke (2010). Based on the popular comic strip, the story has Marmaduke and his family moving from the Midwest to a new home in a trendy Southern California city. There he falls in love, surfs, and takes on a dog-park bully. Marmaduke talks in the film, though he does not in the comic strip.
On the small screen, Great Danes have appeared in several series. Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo is one of the longest-running characters in cartoons, having appeared in a variety of animated series and movies since his debut in 1969. The Jetsons starred Astro (whose real name is discovered to be Tralfaz) as the family pet. Diana Rigg had a Great Dane as her pet in the series Diana. Great Danes have also been guest stars on such series as Two and a Half Men, Bewitched, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, ALF, Judging Amy, Walker, Texas Ranger, and The Honeymooners.
FYI: The Dane in Print
The Great Dane’s size and royal appearance have made him popular with authors and cartoonists. Here are several books that feature the breed:
• The Ugly Dachshund (1938). Written by Gladys Bronwyn Stern and first published in 1938, the book tells of a Great Dane raised with a family of Dachshunds. In the book, the animals talk to each other (unlike the Disney film of 1966). The Dane wonders why he is treated differently from the other Dachshunds in the house … and why “the great dog” in the mirror comes to look at him.
• The Great Dane Thor (1966). Written by Walter Farley, of Black Stallion fame, the story follows the struggles of a young boy and his father’s Great Dane. The dog has killed wildlife around the farm, and the boy fears it. However, the father insists that the boy rehabilitate the dog.
• The Invisible Dog (1995). Written by Dick King-Smith, the story follows a young girl who creates an imaginary, invisible dog, Henry. Henry is a Harlequin Great Dane … that seems to be coming to life.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997). Fang, Hagrid’s dog, is described in the book as a “Boarhound,” or Great Dane. It is only in the movies that he is portrayed as a Neapolitan Mastiff.
• The Pinkerton Series. In 2002 Steven Kellogg debuted his first illustrated story about Pinkerton, the Harlequin Great Dane—Pinkerton, BehaveI The series includes such titles as Prehistoric Pinkerton, A Penguin Pup, and A Rose for Pinkerton. Pinkerton is based on an actual Harlequin Great Dane that Kellogg owned.
• The Guardian (2004). Written by Nicholas Sparks, this is a suspenseful tale of a widow with a gift of a Great Dane from her late husband. When a suitor shows interest in the widow, the Great Dane senses danger and does his best to protect her.
• Return to Howliday Inn (2007). Part of the popular Bunnicula series by James Howe, this recent installment has the cat-and-dog detecting duo of Chester and Harold meet up with a Great Dane named Hamlet while solving another mystery.
They even pop up in music videos. Lady Gaga has featured Harlequin Great Danes in several of her music videos. Two of the Great Danes frequently used have been Lava (CH. PCH It’s What’s Shakin) and her son Rumpus (CH PCH Start the Commotion). A Harlequin Great Dane is also seen in Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” music video.
Great Danes have also proved to be great TV commercial icons. In 2007 a Harlequin Great Dane became official spokes-dog for Pergo (a flooring company), appearing in print and on TV. The dog was portrayed by Shine (registered name: CAN/UKC/INT Champion Morning Star’s Walkin’ on Sunshine), a Harlequin that had been painted to match the corporate logo. A few other nonpet-product companies using Great Danes have been Thomasville Furniture, Saturn, Hallmark, and Taco Bell.
Tall Tails
The Guinness Book of World Records is no stranger to Great Danes, as to date four have held big titles with them. Each one, interestingly enough, hails from the United States of America.
In 2004 an uncropped Harlequin Great Dane from California by the name of Gibson was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s Tallest Living Dog. Gibson was 42.2 inches tall at the top of his shoulder and weighed 170 pounds. In 2009 Gibson had a leg amputated because of bone cancer and, sadly, succumbed to the disease a few months later.
In 2009 another dog residing in California was awarded the Guinness Book of World Records title of world’s Tallest Living Dog. This was Titan, an uncropped White Great Dane who measured 42.25 inches at the top of his shoulder. This 190-pound rescued Great Dane was blind, deaf, and epileptic.
In 2010 an Arizona dog named Giant George became the title holder of the Guinness Book of World Records’ Tallest Living Dog. George did more than that, though; he was also certified as the Guinness Book of World Records Tallest Dog Ever. Giant George is an uncropped Blue Great Dane who weighs 245 pounds and stands 43 inches tall at the top of his shoulder.
In 2011 the Guinness Book of World Records added a new title, separating the world’s Tallest Living Dog category by sex. An Illinois-residing uncropped Mantle Great Dane bitch by the name of Nova was the first bestowed the title of world’s Tallest Living Female Dog. Nova measured in at 35.51 inches from the floor to the top of her shoulder and weighs 160 pounds.