By FilmInk Staff
2011’s Red Dog was a true delight: an Aussie heart-warmer boasting vivid characters, gorgeous visuals, a bawl-inducing denouement, and a one-of-a-kind canine star. Red Dog also gave the box office a real rattle, and the film still stands as one of this country’s biggest hits.
And now the follow-up, Red Dog: True Blue, is set to release on Boxing Day. The prequel (that’s right…we all know how the first film ended) follows eleven-year-old, Mick (Pan’s Levi Miller), who is shipped off to his grandfather’s (Bryan Brown) cattle station in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. The young lad steels himself for a life of dull hardship, but instead finds myth, adventure, and friendship with a scrappy, one-of-a-kind dog that will change his life forever. The two become inseparable…except for when Red Dog is in the mood for a little female company.
A bit of a ladies’ man, Red Dog actually has two female friends in the film, played by Heidi and Kowa. Both first time actors, the dogs were surrendered into the care of WA’s largest volunteer-based animal rescue and rehoming organisation, SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia Inc.), prior to becoming movie stars, Heidi with her littermates as an undernourished puppy, and Kowa when her owners could no longer care for her. “When we first met Heidi, she was on death’s door,” says the founder of SAFE, Sue Hedley (pictured above with Heidi and Kowa). “Heidi and her littermates were critically underweight and were surrendered along with their mother. We cared for the little family around the clock until they were fit and healthy enough to find permanent homes,” Ms. Hedley says.
SAFE is a re-homing organisation that cares for animals in need via a dedicated team of foster carers. “As a re-homing organisation, we want people to realise that just because a pet finds itself homeless, it doesn’t mean that they won’t make a good pet…usually pets are given up simply because the owners can no longer care for them. Being homeless is temporary and these pets go on to achieve great things,” Ms. Hedley says.
Red Dog: True Blue is released in cinemas on December 26. Click through for our review. For more on SAFE, head to the official website.
