new benji

i agree with you re peter breck, patsy garrett and paul and cindy - they should have been in the movie too. my dog, molly, looks like daisy.

"Why wasn't the old Benji in this movie?" Probably because he was born in 1975, began his career in 1977's "For The Love Of Benji", and he acted until he was 12 years old-- appearing in his last film, "Benji the Hunted" in 1987.

If he were still alive today, he'd be 30. I've never heard of a 30-year-old dog, have you?

By the way, "Benji" was not even the original. The dog that starred in 1974's "Benji" was another dog named Higgins.

Both Benji and Higgins had striking similarities to one another, which is in itself remarkable, because they're both mutts. I guess the breeders tried the formula, and this dog is the closest they could come.

(However, I will add that both Higgins and Benji looked kinda like a Golden Cocker-Schnauzer hybrid-- whereas this Benji more closely resembles a Lhasa Apso. --and a white one at that.)

As fara s I know, the original Benji (real name Higgins as someone said) only appeared in the first film Benji. By that time Higgins had already appeared for some years in a TV series so was probably getting on in age by then. So the daughter of Higgins (real name Benji) took over and I think is the one that appeared in For The Love Of Benji (my favourite) and Benji the Hunted. We see Benji run towards the helicopter or something like that in that film so its safe to assume that Benji was rescued, these films are all about finding love and friendship so I doubt they'd leave him stranded. Wouldn't give a good message to the kiddies especially for a Disney film (which that one was) :)
I'm not sure why they didn't use another dog from the Higgins family line (if there are any left). But I think it may of been because they wanted to give another homeless dog a chance, which is what the movie itself seems to be mirroring.

Personally, I really preferred the look of the original Benji (and family). The "lizard-tongue" dog seems closer to him. But really I guess its teaching us that Benji isn't about appearance, but about talent born from the needy (homeless dogs). Sort of a symbol rather than a strict character. I kinda wish the films did stick to him being a character though... I didn't like it when I saw Benji the Hunted and suddenly Benji was an actor with that family that he/she had done so much for and done so much to be with, as it kidna spoiled the magic. Although I suppose that Benji could of been hired later to be an actor... (can't remember the story well enough to know if that would be so)

Because Benji was being played by a new dog I was hesitant to watch this, I thought I'd hate it. But actually I loved it. I think its a very touching and dramatic film that had me hooked. All the Benji films seem to really know how to pull at the heartstrings and get some of the best acting talent out of these abandoned dogs I've seen. So although I'll always love the original 'Benji's more, I certainly think this new Benji is very strong too.