Somerset canines featured in upcoming Disney movie

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February 12, 2006

By KECIA BAL The Tribune-Democrat Sun Feb 12, 2006, 11:38 PM EST

SOMERSET — Move over, Lassie.

There are new canine stars in town, and these high-strung Siberian huskies are Somerset County born and raised.

Disney chose four huskies bred at Dale and Lorri Barron’s Lauradale Kennel for the film “Eight Below,” a story about eight huskies left to survive in the Antarctic wilderness. The feature is to premiere Friday.

“It really surprised me,” Lorri Barron said.

“Here we are in this rural setting. Disney found us and loved our dogs.”

The Somerset dogs’ tale of stardom began more than a year ago, when trainers contacted Barron after a look at her Web site.

Trainers took eight or 10 of her prized huskies to the Oakhurst Tea Room to see how they reacted to a strange setting.

“I never expected to hear back from them,” Lorri said.

She did, and they wanted two of her 21/2-year-old pups.

Mojo and Sir Prize, both with red markings, won a place in the movie.

Trainers picked another two Siberians from nearby Ravenwood Kennel, Chase and Dakota, who also were bred from Barron’s huskies.

The four joined 36 other similar dogs and spent about six months in training and filming.

Animal trainer Sally Jo Sousa remembers them well.

Mojo and Chase were backup dogs to the film’s leading role of Truman, a Siberian with red markings.

“There is one specific scene where Mojo is Truman capturing seagulls to eat,” said Sousa, a trainer with Los Angeles-based Birds & Animals Unlimited. “We trained him to snarl for the scene, a ‘get-away-from-my-bird’ kind of thing.”

Prize and Dakota spent a lot of time sledding, Sousa said.

“Chase was this round fluff ball,” she said.

Like Mojo, Chase did his share of seagull snagging.

“He was a major, major action dog,” Sousa said.

Mojo and Chase traveled to Greenland as well as Smithers, British Columbia, to shoot the movie.

Because the film doesn’t use computer animation to make the dogs talk, their behavior must tell the story.

“Basically, it’s all about the plight of the animals,” Sousa said.

In the movie, the troupe tries to survive more than 100 days before researchers return to save them.

“It’s about the dogs and their compassion for each other and what develops, who takes the lead,” Sousa said.

Back in Pennsylvania, Lorri and her 14-year-old daughter Laura were thrilled to hear that Mojo helped portray the film’s leading role.

When the two noticed a preview for the Disney film on television, it was a moment of celebration.

“There was one dog bouncing around, and it had to be Mojo,” Laura said. “I know it was him.”

Lorri Barron and her daughter can’t wait to see their dogs in action on the big screen.

“We want to go the first night we can find it anywhere,” Lorri Barron said.

“We are just so proud,” she added. “This started as a hobby.”

She and her husband started breeding huskies in 1994 and now they have dozens of dogs.

“It really is a family thing,” she said. Laura does her part, too, by keeping up the kennel’s Internet presence.

The dogs even get a serenade every once in a while when Laura and her mom feel like a little country music.

For now, the huskies are getting used to being back at home.

“They wanted to buy Mojo,” Lorri Barron said. “I told him he will be here if they want a sequel.”

Kecia Bal can be reached at 445-5103 or kbal@tribdem.com.

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