Rusty: A Dog's Tale
Encyclopedia
Rusty: A Dog's Tale is a 1997
family film
directed by Shuki Levy
, starring Hal Holbrook
and Rue McClanahan
.
) and Tess (Danielle Keaton
). Their cousins Bart (Charles Fleischer
) and Bertha (Laraine Newman
) try to take them away from their grandparents because the two kids have trust funds from their dead parents. When Bart and Bertha kidnap the newborn puppies, Rusty the dog (Matthew Lawrence
) decides to save them.
Voices
and Haim Saban
easily trumps their more bombastic children’s fare (like the Power Rangers
).
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
family film
Family film
A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...
directed by Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy is a music composer and television writer, director, and executive producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the...
, starring Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
and Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
.
Synopsis
The film is about two orphans named Jory (Blake FosterBlake Foster
Blake Anthony Foster is an American actor and martial artist.Foster was born in Northridge, California, the son of Patricia and John Foster.Foster was the Huggies baby at the age of sixteen months in 1986...
) and Tess (Danielle Keaton
Danielle Keaton
Danielle Wiener Keaton is an American actress from Pasadena, California. She is sister of the singer and actor Josh Keaton.- Filmography :-External links:...
). Their cousins Bart (Charles Fleischer
Charles Fleischer
Charles Fleischer is an American actor, stand-up comedian and voice artist.-Life and career:Fleischer was born in Washington, D.C. As a child, he is reported to have spent several summers at Kamp Kewanee in La Plume, Pennsylvania, where he started practicing his stand-up routine at age nine...
) and Bertha (Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...
) try to take them away from their grandparents because the two kids have trust funds from their dead parents. When Bart and Bertha kidnap the newborn puppies, Rusty the dog (Matthew Lawrence
Matthew Lawrence
Matthew William Lawrence is an American actor known for his leading role in the movie Cheats with Trevor Fehrman and his role of Jack Hunter on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World from 1997 to 2000, and his roles in movies such as The Hot Chick, The Comebacks, and Mrs...
) decides to save them.
Partial cast
- Hal HolbrookHal HolbrookHarold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
as Boyd Callahan - Rue McClanahanRue McClanahanRue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
as Edna Callahan - Laraine NewmanLaraine NewmanLaraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...
as Bertha Bimini - Charles FleischerCharles FleischerCharles Fleischer is an American actor, stand-up comedian and voice artist.-Life and career:Fleischer was born in Washington, D.C. As a child, he is reported to have spent several summers at Kamp Kewanee in La Plume, Pennsylvania, where he started practicing his stand-up routine at age nine...
as Bart Bimini - Blake FosterBlake FosterBlake Anthony Foster is an American actor and martial artist.Foster was born in Northridge, California, the son of Patricia and John Foster.Foster was the Huggies baby at the age of sixteen months in 1986...
as Jory - Danielle KeatonDanielle KeatonDanielle Wiener Keaton is an American actress from Pasadena, California. She is sister of the singer and actor Josh Keaton.- Filmography :-External links:...
as Tess - Beau BillingsleaBeau BillingsleaBeau M. Billingslea is an American actor and voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Jet Black from the popular anime Cowboy Bebop. In addition to voice acting, Billingslea has appeared in many popular TV series as a prolific guest actor...
as Sheriff Wilson - Michael J. PaganMichael J. PaganMichael Jamon Pagan is an American actor and screenwriter.-Biography:Pagan attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach and West Los Angeles College in Los Angeles. He has received training at the Tasha Smith Acting Studio and the Ivanna Chubbuck Studio...
as Dylan Wilson - Vincent SchiavelliVincent SchiavelliVincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...
as Carney Boss - Ken KerchevalKen KerchevalKen Kercheval is an American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television series Dallas....
as Carl Winthrope - Gigi GoyetteGigi GoyetteGigi Goyette-Jeffers is a former child actress.Goyette claimed in interviews to have had a brief fling with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1975 when she was sixteen. They reconnected in the late-1980s, she said, and carried on a once-a-year affair, usually at an Ohio annual fitness convention he hosted...
as Gladys the Waitress - James Mathers as Man at Carnival
Voices
- Rodney DangerfieldRodney DangerfieldRodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
as Bandit the Rabbit - Bobcat GoldthwaitBobcat GoldthwaitRobert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
as Jet the Turtle - Doug E. DougDoug E. DougDouglas Bourne, better known as Doug E. Doug is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and film director. He started his career at age 17 as a stand-up comedian...
as Turbo the Turtle - Suzanne SomersSuzanne SomersSuzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
as Malley the Dog - Patrick DuffyPatrick DuffyPatrick George Duffy is an American character actor of stage and film. He is best known for his role on the CBS television drama Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991, Duffy returns to reprise his role as Bobby in a new up-to-date Dallas currently scheduled to...
as Cap the Dog - Matthew LawrenceMatthew LawrenceMatthew William Lawrence is an American actor known for his leading role in the movie Cheats with Trevor Fehrman and his role of Jack Hunter on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World from 1997 to 2000, and his roles in movies such as The Hot Chick, The Comebacks, and Mrs...
as Rusty the Dog - Charlie Adler as Agent the Snake
- Mary Kay BergmanMary Kay BergmanMary Kay Bergman was an American voice actress and animation voice over teacher, who was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's 1997 debut until her death and was best known as the official voice of Snow White for the Walt Disney Company starting in 1989 with the Snow White...
as Myrtle the Duck - Jennifer DarlingJennifer DarlingJennifer Darling is an American actress and voice actress. While her body of work as a voiceover artist greatly eclipses that of her on-stage career, she is, perhaps, nevertheless known best to most people as Peggy Callahan, the secretary to Oscar Goldman in the television series The Six Million...
as Mrs. Cluck - Melissa DisneyMelissa DisneyMelissa Disney is a voiceover artist, actress, singer/songwriter, writer, and film producer. She is the daughter of Louise Gallagher and granddaughter of silent actress Tara Gallagher, and is a distant relative to Walt Disney. She voices the title character Ginger Foutley in the animated cartoon...
as Boo the Cat - Tony OliverTony OliverRafael Antonio Olivier , better known as Tony Oliver, is an American voice actor best known for voicing Rick Hunter from Robotech and Arsène Lupin III from Lupin The 3rd...
as Rebel the dog - Nick JamesonNick JamesonNick Jameson is an American actor and voice actor, as well as a songwriter, composer, musician and producer. He has appeared in the television series The Critic, 24, Lost and, vocally, in Star Wars: Clone Wars as Palpatine , the radio adaption of Dark Empire, and several other productions of Star...
as Ratchet the Raccoon - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Boss Duck
- With additional voices by
- Steve KramerSteve Kramer (actor)Steven M. Kramer is an American voice actor for many anime titles. He has also done voice acting for various Power Rangers series in the past, with the best-known of those roles being the voice of Darkonda in Power Rangers in Space. His wife, Melora Harte, is a voice actress...
- Jim CummingsJim CummingsJames Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...
- Wendee LeeWendee LeeWendee Lee is an American voice actress. While she has done voice work for many video games as well as several episodes in the Power Rangers franchise, she is particularly prolific in the dubbing of anime. As of April 2009, with 223 credits to her name, she has more credits in this medium than any...
- Julie MaddalenaJulie MaddalenaJulie Lynn Maddalena is an American voice actress, sometimes credited as Julie Kliewer.-Anime Roles:* 3x3 Eyes - Ken-Ken * Battle Athletes Victory - Tanya Natdhipytadd...
- Brianne SiddallBrianne SiddallBrianne Siddall is an American voice actress. She is usually cast in the short kid role of a timid young boy. She was also a voice actress during the Power Rangers era who was active in the franchise until it moved to New Zealand in 2003...
- Michael SorichMichael SorichMichael John Sorich is an American voice actor who is also a screen actor, writer, director and voice director.- Biography :...
- Steve Kramer
Reception
Of the film's 2006 re-release on DVD, Andre Dursin of The Aisle Seat offered that the film, a "very cute, impossible-to-dislike tele-film from Shuki LevyShuki Levy
Shuki Levy is a music composer and television writer, director, and executive producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the...
and Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...
easily trumps their more bombastic children’s fare (like the Power Rangers
Power Rangers
Power Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
).