The 23 Greatest Movie Dogs

A true pooch tale, this is told from the point of view of Willie Morris, who was given the real-life Skip to serve as a companion for the lonely. Cue a succession of cute adventures, a little danger, a falling out, but ultimately an inspiring story of a boy and his dog. Fun fact: one of the dogs portraying Skip in the film is Moose, who became famous as Eddie on TV's Frasier.

Stephen King has a few killer animals in his stories, but few make such an impact as this rabid St. Bernard who terrorises a mother and son left stranded in their car in Castle Rock, Maine. The horror comes partly from knowing that even a dog from a breed traditionally seen as a boon to humanity can turn nasty following an encounter with a rabid bat. Looking at you, Bouncer from Neighbours.

Has any action hero ever been so dog-devoted as John Wick? The formerly retired assassin goes on a straight up murder-spree after thugs kill his adorable puppy – and ends up adopting a pitbull at the end of the first movie. His unnamed second pup mostly stays out of the action – instead being well look-after by the Continental hotel. How many hours of doggy daycare does one of those big gold coins get you? Bonus shout-out to Sofia's action dogs in John Wick: Chapter 3.

A golden retriever who can play basketball? Believe it. In the film, Buddy is an escaped circus dog who joins a school team and runs rings around the competition. His first film also has the best tagline: "He sits, he stays, he shoots, he scores." So inspirational was the idea that it has since spawned numerous sequels and the Buddies spin-off. He's practically a mogul.

This one is based on a heartbreaking true story and remakes the Japanese film Hachikō Monogatari. It's all about the title character, an Akita who waits patiently for his master to return home on the train every day. But when the man – played by Richard Gere, no less – dies unexpectedly at work, that doesn't deter Hachi, who goes to the station every day, rain or shine, for years. There's a statue of the actual dog up a Shibuya Station in Japan.

Itself a remake of 1963's The Incredible Journey, Disney's adventure film goes straight for the heartstrings with a string of pets-in-peril antics as two dogs and a Himalayan cat journey across the Sierra Nevada to make it back home. Despite the focus on Michael J. Fox's misbehaving Bulldog Chance, it's Don Ameche's sage golden retriever Shadow who provides the true emotional backbone, especially with his final return after we all worry that he's perished.

The pampered chihuahua belonging to Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods is her true love – and while he's a bit-player in the first movie, the search for his proper parentage becomes a big plotline in the animal rights-focused 2003 sequel Red, White & Blonde. Canine actor Moonie played Bruiser in both movies – and while a third Blonde film is in the works, producers will have to find a new Bruiser for reasons that we, er, won't explore here. Move along!

Voiced by Jim Varney (and Blake Clark following Varney's death), Slinky Dog is a tried and true veteran of the Andy's Room gang. He's loyal and smart, and that slinky central coil spring also comes in handy when you need to, say, stretch out of a window. Wise and fun, just try and tell us he's not as real as any other pooch on this list.

Wes Anderson's alt-world sci-fi tale of a bunch of dogs banished to Trash Island by a nefarious cat-favouring Japanese government features a full cast of good boys and girls (voiced by his regular astonishing cast members). But special mention has to be made for Oracle – a little pug voiced, of course, by Tilda Swinton, who dispenses wisdom and has the special power to, er, watch TV. Bless you, Wes Anderson.

Mouthy. That's the first thing that comes to mind when describing the chatty canine who is much more than he seems. An alien on Earth, Frank is always looking out for number one, even when he, er, has to go number one. Yet he has his uses – Will Smith's Jay shakes information out of him, and he's one of the very few characters to appear in all the movies.

The central relationship in OUATIH is between Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth and Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton – or is it? Cliff's other best friend is Brandy, the pitbull who – SPOILER WARNING – ends up being a key player in our heroes' brutal dispatching of the Manson murderers in the final act. Four-legged actor Sayuri became the latest recipient of Cannes' Palm Dog, and even got her own character poster. Stardom beckons.

The '80s was the ultimate era of mismatched buddy-cop movies – and Turner And Hooch gave us Tom Hanks' police investigator Scott Turner teaming up with a giant, slobbering beast of a dog. Thrown together when Hooch's owner (Turner's pal) is murdered, the pair team up to solve the case and, weirdly help get Turner's life back in shape. It's daft fun – until the final act does the unthinkable and – SPOILER WARNING – dares to bump off Hooch. How could they?

Ah, Benji. Beloved scruff of the big screen, he was also an eventual TV star too thanks to bonkers '80s kids show Benji, Zax And The Alien Prince (no, really). With his uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time, Benji enjoyed an enviable run on screens of all sizes (most recently in cinemas thanks to a 2018 remake), and seems likely to still be around when human civilization has ended in a Twitter-provoked war. Robo-Benji, anyone?

He's a smooth-talking street dog (courtesy of Larry Roberts' vocals) who charms and woos privileged pooch Lady. A diehard romantic, he's a loveable scamp from the wrong side of the tracks who falls head-over-paws as soon as he sets sight on the pristine cocker spaniel. If he weren't a dog, he might be the perfect man – tough and protective, with a spring in his step and a gooey soft centre. And he'll let you share his spaghetti.

A multilingual little gentleman who wears his own set of pyjamas (and headgear) to bed, Ron Burgundy's sidekick is quite literally the man's best friend – which makes it all the more (hilariously) heartbreaking when the little guy ends up butt-kicked off a bridge by Jack Black's mean motorcyclist. Thankfully he survives unscathed, just in time to return and save Ron and Veronica from a family of bears. He also, as far as we understand it, pooped in the refrigerator and polished off an entire wheel of cheese. Swings and roundabout.

Look, Marley & Me is as emotionally manipulative as dog movies get. But if you disregard the crassness of the film itself, Marley is undeniably a top dog, a gooey-eyed golden Labrador who goes from tiny tearaway to family friend, helping Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston's couple navigate married life, miscarriages, and post-natal depression, right til the very end. His real talent? Fetching cash – the film holds the record for the highest ever Christmas Day box office, earning nearly $15 million on the big day in 2008.

The St. Bernard at the heart of Brian Levant's family comedy, co-penned by John Hughes, is the anti-Cujo. In a classic canine caper, the Newton family takes in a cutesy puppy who inevitably grows into a hulking great hound, much to the despair of Charles Grodin's work-obsessed dad George. But he proves a formidable family member, helping teenager Ryce bag a date, fending off boy Ted's bullies, and saving young Emily from drowning. A very big, very good boy.

He may technically be more "human" than most of the mutts on this list, but Gromit is truly man's best friend. Or at least Wallace's companion in adventures, inventions and cheese. Smarter than the average dog – and certainly with more wits about him than his scatterbrained pal. Gromit is always there to fix the messes that Wallace gets them into – or at least devote a devastating raised eyebrow or eyeroll at them.

There are plenty of talking dog movies out there – but The Artist, an ode to silent cinema, isn't one of them. Still, 'Jack' the Jack Russell shines in the film, saving his movie star owner George Valentin from going up in flames during a nitrate-film blaze in the film's closest thing to an action sequence. Best of all, it gave us pup-actor Uggie – who won the Palm Dog at Cannes – hitting all the red carpets in a bespoke bowtie.

Squirrel! Dug has only just met you, and he loves you. The enthusiastic pooch from the most emotional Pixar film is, along with big bird Kevin, its comedy highlight. Voiced by studio veteran Bob Peterson, Dug is the least capable dog owned by Christopher Plummer's scheming Charles Muntz (the rest can literally fly bi-planes in a dogfight with actual dogs) but Dug is clearly the most loveable.

Two of Disney's biggest stars, this matched pair have seen their stories told in both animated and live-action form, the latter arriving long before Disney's current drive to convert its entire 'toon back catalogue. They're the proud parents of a wealth of puppies, who become the target of nefarious Cruella DeVil, who has designs – literally – on their skins. The animation is a classic, but the live-action version features some genuinely great pooch performances.

One of the true originals, Lassie is a hero in every sense of the word. Someone's trapped down the well? Call Lassie. Bad guys causing trouble? Lassie to the rescue. Need someone to set up a retirement account for you? Yeah, she could probably do that too. But in an early account of the lack of representation, "she" was played by a "he" in the early films, including the original Lassie Come Home.

Over 80 years later, Toto remains cinema's most iconic dog – brave, smart and loyal, nipping mean old ladies in Kansas and later pulling back the curtain on the so-called 'great and powerful' Oz. He was played by Terry the Cairn Terrier, who nearly died when one of the Winkie guards stepped on her foot and broke it, and spent weeks recovering at Judy Garland's house. Oh yes, and she was paid more than most of the human performers in the film.