{"id":3665,"date":"2018-12-17T16:23:39","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T21:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=3665"},"modified":"2018-12-17T16:23:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T21:23:39","slug":"lessons-wwis-sgt-stubby-much-teach-children-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2018\/12\/lessons-wwis-sgt-stubby-much-teach-children-today.html","title":{"rendered":"The Lessons of WWI\u2019s Sgt. Stubby Have Much to Teach Children Today"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fun<\/a>
Fun Academy Motion Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stories of canine courage normally involve dogs who saved their owners from house fires or protected them from attack. People may also think of the dogs who sniff out bombs and drugs for police officers and soldiers alike. Most people, however, do not think about dogs fighting on the front lines beside their masters, much less in the blood soaked trenches of World War I. That, however, is exactly what the four-legged hero, Sgt. Stubby, did just over a century ago.<\/p>\n

Sgt. Stubby was found on the streets by a doughboy who smuggled the dog into Europe when he was shipped out to fight in World War I. The boy\u2019s commanding officer was amused by the fact that Stubby could salute, so the dog was allowed to stay. Stubby, however, came to be essential at far more than simply raising moral. Stubby could detect gases and shells before humans and warn soldiers to take cover. He also successfully captured a German spy singled-pawed and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.<\/p>\n

Richard Lanni was working on a series for PBS about World War I when he came across the story of Sgt. Stubby. \u201cI was totally inspired by this little dog\u2019s zero to hero journey,\u201d said Lanni. \u201cI had never encountered anything like it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

After digging into the tale of Stubby further, Lanni decided to take Sgt. Stubby\u2019s story to the silver screen. \u201cThe Stubby story was just begging to be made into a feature length movie,\u201d Lanni said. \u201cIt had all the ingredients of a real family tale; it was true, it had the potential to be truly cinematic,\u00a0 it was full of heart and it gave me the opportunity, wearing my documentarian’s hat, to take viewers back to a long forgotten period of American history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unusual for a war film, the story of Sgt. Stubby was produced using animation and aimed at children and families. \u201cWe wanted to make this an intergenerational family movie [and] animation was the only way to do it. WWI was the bloodiest and cruelest of wars, and we needed to soften it for younger audiences without dumbing it down too much for adults. Animation also gave us the opportunity to control the emotions and expressions of Stubby so that little kids could just focus on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to telling a good story, the movie \u201cSgt. Stubby: An American Hero\u201d exposed children to an important period in history that few schools linger on. In fact, many children and teens today probably could not even name the years during which World War I was fought. What little of the war is discussed in schools usually focuses on dates and leaves children too bored to remember even the broad strokes of the conflict. Lanni hoped to change that with \u201cSgt. Stubby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do entertainment and education need to be mutually exclusive?\u201d Lanni asked. \u201cI believe that telling stories in animation is a perfect way to engage children with history and major events in our world. Through the rich visual environment, we can tell real\u2026stories while maintaining the attention of kids. \u2026 In the immediate sense, we want to open children\u2019s eyes and minds to a period in history that is often neglected in schools and popular media. In a broader sense, we want to make a point of showing that historical filmmaking is more than documentaries and inaccessible prestige dramas for adults; these events actually happened in our collective past, [so] let\u2019s get kids excited about exploring other eras through a visual language, animation, that they can understand and appreciate. \u2026WWI shaped America and the world, and through the eyes of our hero [Sgt. Stubby], we were able to take kids back to a time they had never heard of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling Sgt. Stubby a hero does not simply refer to his role in the film either. Sgt. Stubby was essential on the battlefield and is the only War Dog to have ever been nominated for rank and then promoted through combat. He was also the forerunner of the modern War Dog program. When he returned to the United States, he was treated as a celebrity, and when he died he was given a longer obituary in the New York Times than many human celebrities. His ability to inspire, however, did not end with his death.<\/p>\n

Lanni noted that Stubby and his master, Corporal Robert Conroy, relied on each other in the war. \u201cI am sure from my research that neither one would have come without the other,\u201d Lanni said. \u201cThey kept one another alive.\u201d That does not, however, mean that Sgt. Stubby\u2019s story only serves as motivation for those interested in pursuing a military career. \u201cStubby is a tremendous role model for young people,\u201d said Lanni. \u201cHe demonstrates that even a scrappy little street dog can become somebody. Also, it’s a story of compassion and camaraderie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lanni\u2019s work with the story of Sgt. Stubby is not over either. \u201cSgt. Stubby\u201d ends with the conclusion of World War I, but the street-dog-turned-Sergeant\u2019s story still has further lessons to impart to modern viewers. As such, Lanni is planning to make a sequel to \u201cSgt. Stubby.\u201d \u201cThis [first] film ends with the conclusion of World War I in 1918, but Sgt. Stubby lived until 1926 and had a long career as spokesdog and celebrity around the country! He led parades, raised awareness of veterans\u2019 issues, met three sitting presidents, and appeared on vaudeville stages,\u201d said Lanni. \u201cHis owner, Robert Conroy, also became a government agent during Prohibition, which opens up another avenue to explore. By following Stubby\u2019s continuing real-life adventures, we\u2019re able to present the first quarter of the 20th century and all its growth and upheavals through a \u2018dog\u2019s eye view\u2019 of history for all ages to enjoy!\u201d The second movie will likely also touch on issues such as PTSD, then called shellshock, which continues to affect veterans today and has led to a suicide epidemic among servicemen and servicewomen.<\/p>\n

A date the sequel to Sgt. Stubby has not yet been announced, but the DVD and Blu-ray of the first film was released on December 11, 2018, and is now available online. (https:\/\/funacademystudios.com\/product\/sgt-stubby-dvd\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stories of canine courage normally involve dogs who saved their owners from house fires or protected them from attack. People may also think of the dogs who sniff out bombs and drugs for police officers and soldiers alike. Most people, however, do not think about dogs fighting on the front lines beside their masters, much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,879,15],"tags":[913,911,912,358],"class_list":["post-3665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courage-and-strength","category-heroes-and-she-roes","category-military","category-watch-it-this-weekend","tag-history","tag-inspirational-movie","tag-inspirational-story","tag-movie"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Lessons of WWI\u2019s Sgt. 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