Benji

For other uses, see Benji (disambiguation).

Benji
Benji (portrayed by Benjean) in 1979
First appearance	Benji (1974)
Last appearance	Benji (2018)
Created by	Joe Camp
Portrayed by	Higgins, Benjean, Moochie, Fairfield, Sally Sue, Odola
Voiced by	Chevy Chase (Oh! Heavenly Dog)
In-universe information
Species	Dog
Gender	Male

Benji is a fictional canine character created by Joe Camp. He has been the focus of several feature films and other media, beginning with the independently produced 1974 film. Benji is a small golden mixed-breed dog with a knack for being in the right place at the right time, usually to help someone overcome a problem.

Casting

The character has been portrayed by several different dogs over the years, all of them mixed-breed rescue dogs of unknown origins. Higgins, the veteran animal actor who originated the role, was found in a Burbank, California, animal shelter. Higgins passed away in 1975. His daughter was named Benjean ("Benji" for short), and she appeared in several Benji sequels. Three different dogs acted in 2004's Benji: Off the Leash!. In that movie, the adult Benji was played by Moochie, while Sally Sue played 8-week-old Benji, and Odola played 4-month-old Benji. A dog named Ginger played Benji's Mom.

Cooper, who played Benji in 2018's Benji, was adopted from the Humane Society of South Mississippi, after the movie creators searched shelters across the country to find a dog that had a perfect look. Cooper is a mixed-breed female who was found wandering the streets of Pass Christian, Mississippi.

After the release of Benji: Off the Leash!, Joe Camp told an interviewer that he decided from the beginning to use only rescue dogs in his movies to bring attention to the millions of unwanted and abandoned dogs in American animal shelters:

The original Benji came out of a shelter, which stimulated the whole shelter issue because the American Humane Society reported that over a million dogs were adopted around the country because the original Benji had come out of a shelter. So this time around we decided this was the thing to do. In the fall of 2001 we struck out, started in Chicago, and started touring shelters and dragging media along with us because we had found that everywhere you mix Benji and media, adoptions go up. So we began there and we went to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. And we were down in Gulfport, Mississippi at a PetSmart meeting this other dog named Jody, when the director of the shelter walked in and said, "What do you think of this one?" And I was in love immediately. I knew we were done. She was so bright and so intuitive. I took a picture of her ten minutes after meeting her. Just being able to do that with a dog that has been on the streets and put in a shelter, and having gone through whatever she went through, is remarkable. In fact, it's that questioning of why would anybody abandon such a wonderful dog, and how long was she on the streets, that really bubbled up the entire story of this movie, because it is in effect her story out there on the streets. We had a Christmas script that we were actually pointing toward doing, and then this thing started coming up through the surface and I said, "No, this is what we have to do." So we put that aside and wrote a new screenplay for her.

Breeds

All of the Benji dogs are mutts. Higgins, found as a puppy, had a shaggy, golden-tan coat adorned with white markings. He was labeled a Border Terrier, but his handler/trainer, Frank Inn, believed he was a mix of Miniature Poodle, Cocker Spaniel, and Schnauzer.

The creators of the 2018 Benji, Joe and his son, director Brandon Camp, claim that Cooper displays characteristics of both a Spaniel and a Tibetan Terrier.

Training

It was actually Frank Inn who discovered Higgins (who was three years old) in 1960, adopted him from the Burbank Animal Shelter, and brought him home to be a pet and show business dog for himself and his wife Juanita. Inn had already trained Higgins for roles in such TV shows as The Beverly Hillbillies (10 episodes), Petticoat Junction (all episodes), and Green Acres (3 episodes). After a couple of episodes of Lassie, Inn retired Higgins, but brought him back at age 14 in 1974 to star in Benji.

Inn, also a dog breeder, bred Higgins for more offspring that resembled him. These included daughter Benjean. Higgins passed away in 1975. Joe's wife, Andrea Carolyn Hopkins Camp (who also served as producer and assistant director on the 1974 Benji, Benji the Hunted, and Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince), ran a training "Benji boot camp" whenever her husband and son came home from the animal shelter with multiple likely candidates. For Benji: Off the Leash!, for example, three dogs were adopted and trained: one dog was given away, Moochie became the new Benji, and Shaggy became his sidekick, nicknamed "Lizard Tongue."

Several animal handlers worked with the various Benjis across the years.

Filmography

Films

• Benji (1974)
• Hawmps! (1976; cameo)
• For the Love of Benji (1977)
• The Double McGuffin (1979; cameo)
• Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980)
• Benji the Hunted (1987)
• Benji: Off the Leash! (2004)
• Benji (2018)

Television

• Benji's Very Own Christmas Story (1978)
• Benji at Work (1980 - short)
• Benji Takes a Dive at Marineland (1981 - short)
• Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince (1983 - series)

Documentaries

• Benji's Life Story (1976)
• The Phenomenon of Benji (1978)

Video games

• Benji: Space Rescue (1983) for C64

Collections

• Benji's Film Festival (2001)

External links

• Official website