The Dalmatians from Dalmatia

on summer, dogs and horses

I can’t stop thinking about Dalmatians. If I had to speculate as to why, I think it’s because the summer is coming. During the summer months I talk a big game about rewatching Beethoven, but I can never find it on the streaming services.

My desire to watch it is many folded, much like the folds of a Saint Bernard.

Reason 1: Emily is my summer style icon for both her outfits, and how her time is spent in said outfits.

a. with bouncy ball by pool

b. with puppies

c. belly down with a sketchbook and a full sized dog

Summer goals indeed.

Reason 2: There is a character called Ryce. As a child I dreamed of this being my name too. Her summer energy also cannot be ignored:

Reason 3: It is a quintessential 90s movie because it follows the plot of an animal companion, surrounded by people in iconic 90s outfits. To name but a few:

Fly Away Home

Free Willy

Dunston Checks In

Andre

And the ultimate: Monkey Trouble with Thora Birch

A more extensive list here.

My desire to experience the summer in cycling shorts and oversized t-shirts, riding my bike around town, is many folded this year (like the folds of a Saint Bernard).

1. We are all potentially on strike:

• The WGA of course (watch this iconic 90s movie if you haven’t already)

• If you are in SAG you can vote yes to approve a strike authorization here)

• If you are in the animation guild … we’ll get ‘em next time?? :s

If you’re getting in the striking spirit, may I recommend this brilliant summer read “Our Members be Unlimited” - a comic about workers and unions :

2. Raviv and I have just got married (!!) and free from wedding planning and just having experienced all my friends in a room dancing in a big pile, I truly feel like a kid who has just finished their finals. This was our wedding invitation made by our dear and talented friend Dante Zaballa:

Anyway - I realize Beethoven is a Saint Bernard and not a Dalmatian, and perhaps a more elegant link could be made between the movie 101 Dalmatians and my thought loop on this gorgeous spotted dog, but brains don’t work that way, so here we are, let’s get down to business.

Dalmatians come from Dalmatia (storybook sentence) - a historic region of Croatia. They come in a range of colours and get your heart ready for just how charming those naming strategies are:

• A dog who is dominate black is defined as being BB, a dog who is black spotted but carries liver is Bb and a liver dog is bb. Black spotted dogs always have black noses, and liver spotted dogs always have brown noses.

This means if you walk past any Dalmatian on the street and you say ‘Hi Bb!’ you will be both cute and correct.

• Other Dalmatian variations are orange and lemon.

I’ll save you your inevitable follow up google, they cute:

And I will save you the follow up follow up google and put the iconic nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ here. I’m not sure if this is a well known nursery rhyme in the states but in England we sung/played this in the playground almost daily. According to wikipedia, the intonation of each line is said to correspond with the distinct sounds of each church's bells. Love.

The game would be played by two people forming a steeple arch with their arms and the other players running underneath. Graphic content below.

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells at Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,
Say the bells at Shoreditch.

When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,
Says the great bell at Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!
 Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead^[1]

When it gets to the final line of the nursery rhyme, the two people making the steeple bring their arms down, gesturing to chop off the players heads. The players who get ‘chopped’ then have to form another arch next to the existing one. The arches become a steadily lengthening tunnel through which each set of two players has to run faster and faster to escape in time.

Various theories have been advanced to account for the rhyme, including: that it deals with child sacrifice; that it describes public executions; that it describes Henry VIII's marital difficulties

British children, we do love a bit of suffering.

But we’re not here to talk about British children, we’re here to talk about Dalmatians.

The rarest Dalmatian colour variation is the BLUE DALMATIAN which has ink blue patches (gorg). I could not find a picture but I did find an extensive Dalmatian variation (great name for a hardcore band) website, which I presume is from the 90s, so it fits our theme. At a certain point she just starts riffing:

I bought the original 101 Dalmatians novel as research, which looks very nice next to my Dalmatian ceramic book holder which I did not buy as research, but as a little treat for me.

After a failed career as an actress, the author Dodie Smith started working as a toy buyer at a furniture shop, until she wrote her first play Autumn Crocus which was a literary success. She married a man who worked at the furniture shop, and they moved to America during World War II as conscientious objectors. Homesick for England, Dodie wrote her first novel I Capture the Castle (which I had no idea was written by the same author as 101 Dalmatians). She also wrote a play called Dear Octopus which I hope is about 101 Octopuses.

Her portrait would not be out of place in the line up of 90’s movie posters above:

Dalmatians are long associated with firefighters and now often serve solely as their mascots:

This sweet little angel called Twenty was named in memory of the FDNY Firefighters who died in 9/11.

But they originally were dogs with jobs, back when firefighters got around by horse drawn carriage. Horses are gregarious and feel the need for company (same) and Dalmatians would run alongside them on the way to fires - keeping other animals and people from spooking the horses and generally calming them down. Horses are rather unfortunately afraid of fire, and so a Dalmatians' presence could distract and comfort the horses as they pulled the wagon closer to a blaze.

The friendship between Dalmatians and Horses goes back long before firefighters. In ancient times, the Dalmatian was a war dog and Dalmatians and horses learned to work together while charging into battle. As we’ve established, Horses LOVE companionship, and because Dalmatians were around fighting the same battles they were, and because they could keep pace with them like no other dog could, they naturally fell in love. According to the internet there are few animals bonds as strong as that of a Dalmatian and a Horse. To me, it sounds a lot like when you start dating someone at work just because you see them every day.

Donkeys, like horses, also crave companionship, but mostly from each other.

Donkeys are extremely sociable animals and very sensitive.  They form strong bonds with each other and often become best friends. 

Blow me down with a feather.

This quote was found in an article entitled ‘All Donkeys Need a Companion’ which my brain immediately changed to:

Brain = firmly in 90s animal kids movie world.

The article goes on to say (and you can almost hear them sighing as they say it):

Yes, there are plenty of stories about donkeys befriending miniature ponies and goats or even a cat as has happened on occasion but their best companion will always be another donkey.

Nevertheless they are often put into pastures with livestock animals as companions and protectors because:

Donkeys make great companions for lonely farm animals. Donkeys need at least one friend in any pasture so that they do not get lonely as well.

Loneliness, it’s on the menu for horses and donkeys alike. For all of us I suppose!

I don’t mean to brag but we got married on a farm in London and there WAS a newborn baby donkey there and he is fully perfect:

And I would say he’s giving Sara Rose Karr in Beethoven energy:

Good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.