HomeWhy Lassie’s Lessons?
Lassie’s Lessons is a series of essays dedicated to making sure that the truth of the history of Lassie is told the way it really happened. The rich history of Lassie and all that the image embodies did very well for itself from 1943 to 2004. During that sixty-one year period, the most famous dog in the world was Lassie. By Lassie, this author means the Weatherwax line of official Lassies, owned first by Rudd Weatherwax, and then passed down to his son, Robert Weatherwax.
Under the ownership, tutelage, and training of the Weatherwaxes, Lassie became an international celebrity and icon, earning more awards and accolades than any other animal star in history and probably more than any human Hollywood star. Under the care and management of the Weatherwaxes, Lassie starred in nine movies and was the star of a television series for twenty years. There were countless newspaper and magazine articles, appearances on many different TV variety shows, parades, and personal appearances all over the USA. Lassie was truly the most recognizable star in the world. To this day, whenever people see a sable and white collie, they always call it “Lassie.”
In the mid-1990’s, a cadre of two women, calling themselves lassie.net and Colliewoode Productions, emerged and took it upon themselves to worm their way into the Weatherwax Lassie world. They volunteered their fan club and website services to Bob Weatherwax, who was working with Golden Books and then Classic Media. It must be noted that the two women volunteered to work “with” Bob Weatherwax and the Lassie corporate entities, not “for” them. They were fans and erstwhile friends but nothing more. They were not paid by Bob for their services.
In the beginning, their activities seemed innocent; they appeared to want to work for the good of Lassie, but they did so with the attitude that no one else could ever do anything for Lassie without their permission, introduction, and intervention. They set the tone that the Weatherwaxes were off-limits to everyone else, and that anyone – individual or corporate - wanting to contact Bob Weatherwax had to go through them first. This was wrong as they were not Bob’s managers. They also presented themselves as Lassie’s spokespersons, and they let it be known that they were the reason for everything good about Lassie and everything happening for Lassie.
Eventually, Bob Weatherwax discovered their true purposes were ego-driven. He cut off all contact with the two and has had nothing to do with them for several years now. They now delight in bashing Bob whenever the opportunity arises.
In 2004, Bob Weatherwax and Classic Media had a disagreement that was not resolved. Bob was no longer happy with the way the corporate world was using Lassie and the plans they had for the future. Classic Media wanted to limit Bob's input in the business he knew best. With no one to mediate between the two sides – interesting that the two women didn't offer their services in this instance – the Lassie trademark remained with the corporation while Bob kept his dog, 60 years of professional and personal/family history, and the duty to continue the Weatherwax heritage and its line of collies.
Classic Media responded by substituting a different collie for the official Lassie IX - a pet-quality son of Lassie VIII. This dog was never meant to be Lassie and was owned by a former employee of Bob Weatherwax’s. Carole Riggins was given Hey-Hey as a pet, with the collie possibly doing distance doubles for Lassie. In fact, the dog had been brought on a Lassie series as a temporary substitute during a contract dispute between the television production company and Bob with Lassie VIII.
Carole Riggins was a part-time bookkeeper for the Weatherwaxes, who asked Bob to teach her about dog training. She became one of his assistants. She was eventually fired by Bob because she took her pet collie and paraded him as Lassie at a commercial shoot. She was fired for insubordination. This was now the trainer and collie that Classic Media put in place Bob's Lassie IX.
From that point on, the lassie.net duo has promoted the substitute Lassie and his owner, still portraying themselves as the official voice for the Lassie world. Fortunately, the public pays little attention to them, having learned the truth about these women from a variety of reliable sources. They continue to fantasize about their own value to Lassie, being the only ones to recognize the substitute Lassie's son as the new and next substitute icon.
My goal is to make sure the truth is published – not the “truth” as lassie.net sees it through smoke and mirrors. They omit many facts and twist everything around. The Lassie Lessons herein presented confront many of those “untruths”. I will continue to present my essays as long as there is a need. A copy of this document goes to lassie.net's unusually named attorney, I. M. Cumming.