How did they do that? Can you train a squirrel to run where you want it to? And get the dog to chase it? I think this must have been the hardest part of the movie to film. No GCI here it was 1944. Possibly the dog and squirrel were filmed at different times in some sort of traveling matt shot but I don't know.
"It costs extra to carve 'Schmuck' on a tombstone, but you would definitely be worth it."
I wonder if they bonded the dog and the squirrel somehow, as their scenes together are done remarkably well. They seemed like a team at play. I think that squirrels are normally trained by food reward. Usually a box of nuts is placed where they want the squirrel to move to. But the squirrel in this movie looks as though he is playing with the dog, egging him on to chase it.
shareBeing a dog owner in an area with a lot of squirrels, I can testify that a dog will enthusiastically pursue a squirrel no matter where it runs. All they had to do was lure the squirrel along the approximate path they wanted it to follow, and not even worry about the dog following. They might also have turned the squirrel loose multiple times, being prepared to keep the camera trained on it, and picked the take that came out best.
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