"Georgie's Wish" Part Final

At long last, here's my much-delayed final report on GEORGIE'S WISH, featuring what may be my favorite character in the film: The WATCHDOG!
Watchdog was the only character that was built from the ground up for GW, not recycled from another film, and I seriously debated having him in the film at all, since he presented a major design challenge. In my head I envisioned a doberman--sleek and muscular canine torpedo--which didn't leave a lot of room for hiding tie-downs and such, but I'd just had some practice building and animating a cat for the "Punding" video (glimpsed at the very beginning) so I decided to go for it.

A wire armature was constructed with super-sculpey used for the pelvis, ribcage, and skull. The bones of the legs and feet were made using sculpey-flex, which I've had mixed results with, but it worked in this case. Other moving parts included wagging tail, ears, and lower jaw. After baking the joints were filled in with a latex-cotton mixture and the whole thing painted to give it that instantly identifiable dobie-look, and on camera he went.

Animals are always a challenge, though I have to say I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out. Instead of recycling him, Watchdog now resides in my stop-motion shrine of coolness, where he guards the loot and drives away any pesky cat-burglars...