Benji at Work

by Rita Golden Gelman

The Beloved Dog, Benji, that became a house-hold name! Everyone loved Benji! America's most huggable hero!! This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590315048
• ISBN13: 9780590315043
• Release Date: July 1980
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 77 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An intimate look at the dog behind the phenomenon

Anyone who has ever seen a Benji movie cannot help but wonder how in the world a dog can display a range of acting skills most human actors could never hope to rival. Benji at Work does much to answer such questions. Rita Golden Gelman takes us from the backyard training area of Benji's owner and best friend Frank Inn to the sets of his incredible movies, giving us an incredible glimpse into a remarkable relationship and great insight into Benji's training. Gelman explains in some detail just how Frank Inn goes about getting Benji to perform so many incredible scenes, introducing us to such special Benji assistants as Frank's wife Juanita, Jackie the cat, and Benji's niece BB, each of whom have an important role to play in Benji's success as an actor. Both dog and trainer work incredibly hard to get Benji ready; this includes acclimatizing the dog star to bright lights and crowds, learning new actions to perform, and establishing a level of verbal communication that allows Benji to run through a given scene blindfolded (literally, as Benji had his own custom-made blindfold for use in his training). This wonderfully rich book includes pages and pages of intimate photos of America's best-loved mutt and his best friends (both human and animal), including a special section of color photographs. In addition to shots from his movies, you get a number of photographs from Benji's extensive travels all around the world to meet and greet his fans. As an added bonus, you also get a section of special facts about the world's most huggable hero. The book focuses on the second Benji (the daughter of Higgins, the original Benji) who starred in For the Love of Benji and the third and fourth Benji movies that were made after this book was published. I would have liked to see a little more information about the original Benji in this book, but notwithstanding this Benji at Work is the best source I know of for information on the dog behind the worldwide phenomenon that is Benji.