Canine-friendly casting news: Owen Wilson as comic-strip star 'Marmaduke,' Wilmer Valderrama as 'Dog Whisperer' Cesar Millan

What's hot in Hollywood?  Well, beyond just the vampire trend that, erm, will not die, we've noticed a definite surge in pet-related media lately.  (Evidence?  Look no further than the Fido Film Awards, in which animal-focused movies compete in categories like "historical hound," "rom-com rover" and "comedy canine.")

Even with that in the back of our minds, we were surprised by two recent bits of animal-themed-project casting: Owen Wilson (whose previous credits include another dog movie, "Marley & Me") as the voice of Great Dane Marmaduke in a film adaptation of the ages-old comic strip?  Former "That '70s Show" star and onetime Lindsay Lohan paramour Wilmer Valderrama as an animal trainer modeled on "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan in a forthcoming Fox TV series?  What gives, Hollywood?

The "Marmaduke" adaptation, from Fox and New Regency, "sees Marmaduke navigate a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woo the purebred of his dreams and overcome a fall from grace" and will combine live-action and computer-generated graphics, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch blog appeals to Wilson directly when it pleads, "Marley & Me was fun, if a little trite, but another 'fun' dog-centric movie sort of puts you in a box you might not want to be in. Branch out, voice a cat or a chimp or an animated race car, for pete's sake." 

It's like the Oscars, but not: Nominees for the Fido Film Awards are announced

Four-legged screen stars are vying for the Fido Film Awards, billed as the canine equivalent of the Oscars.

Nominees announced in London today include the animated dog stars of "Bolt" and "Up," the titular mutt in "Marley and Me" and -- in a rare non-canine choice -- the dapper, George Clooney-voiced "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

They are competing for prizes in categories including historical hound, rom-com rover and comedy canine.

Award organizer Toby Rose said the last year had seen "an unprecedented run of dog successes at the international box office."

The Fidos call themselves the world's first international awards for canine screen stars. The winners will be chosen by a panel of British film critics and announced at a Nov. 22 ceremony in London.

-- Associated Press

Photo: Dug the dog with his human and avian counterparts in the film "Up." Credit: Disney/Pixar

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 52: Stay tuned ...

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

As of last Friday, I am no longer a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. Ergo, this is the last chapter of "The Heidi Chronicles" for L.A. Unleashed. I'd like to thank the blog for unleashing an obsessed doggie stage mother, and providing a forum for documenting the approximate first year of Heidi's attempt to take Hollywood by storm.

I'd also like to thank Heidi's fans and her entourage of one, Layla the Labrador mix, for sticking by Heidi through thick and thin. However, I visited Layla and her parents, Jim and Irene Dorsey, recently and Layla seem thrilled to enjoy a little quality time without Heidi, just this once. Recently, the patient Layla has been somewhat taxed by the many canine guests at the Dorseys, including small and frequent visitor Kiki Newberg, a Norwich terrier cute enough to get away with murder one.

But I encourage Layla, Kiki Newberg and all of your dogs to be sure to tune in for "Don't Walk on the Grass," the Nov. 1 episode of "Desperate Housewives." Heidi and I are waiting to see whether our background appearance in a restaurant scene made the cut.

And despite my own recent career change, let it be said that Heidi fully intends to continue her pursuit of Hollywood stardom.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 51: Waiting on Wisteria Lane, Part 2

Last week, you read about our first day on the set of “Desperate Housewives,” cast as background actors, “Neighbor with Dog.”  As happens frequently in the TV biz, some of the extras called that day didn’t get used – but were asked to come back the next day. We learned that, for a background actor, everything is always is subject to change.

This time, instead of getting lost on the way to Wisteria Lane, a van picked us up at the parking lot at Gate 3. I had learned from our van experience the day before that, when nervous, Heidi turns into a very large lap dog -- so this time I was careful to get into the vehicle before the dog to make sure she didn’t once again surprise some other actor with a free lap dance.

We were whisked straight to the costume and makeup-and-hair trailers.  There, we met one of our new friends from the day before –  Lauren Hicks, who had won out over the competition for the “Busty Waitress“ role and had brought along the requested assortment of fancy bras to complement her low-cut white top.

My more conservative outfit – and Heidi’s bandanna – met with approval, but I had to leave Heidi in the care of another actor while I went into the trailer for a hair makeover. I sat one chair away from series star Marcia Cross as hairdressers fluffed her long red locks, and super-glued mine into a chignon that could withstand El Niño.

Then it was back into the van – today not headed to Wisteria Lane, but to a different set, an upscale outdoor cafe.  Apparently, “Neighbor with Dog” was about to become “Restaurant Guest with Dog.”

Shelter dogs turned stars in '101 Dalmatians' musical

Rescue shelter dogs now can hope for more much more than just being placed into safe, happy homes -- they can hope to be stars.

The cast of the musical "101 Dalmatians," which our Culture Monster blog recently wrote about, includes 15 Dalmatian dogs that animal trainer Joel Slaven oversees. Most were brought from shelters to Slaven’s ranch home in Florida.

And there is nothing but star treatment for these pooches: During the tour, they are transported in a rock star-style tour bus, and rehearse just like the rest of the cast for their very own time in the spotlight -- sans any upstaging humans -- at the end of the show.

That's because this musical, which begins its national tour this month in Minneapolis, finishes with a three-minute finale of all dogs and only dogs. Composer Dennis DeYoung, a founding member of the band Styx, wrote the song-and-dance finale for the four-legged stars.

Slaven began looking for the Dalmatians in shelters and rescue groups in January.  "The toughest thing I've ever done is finding the dogs," he said.

"When [Disney's "101 Dalmatians"] movies came out, they were overbred and that made the breed, which already has some health problems, even worse. People got the dogs, couldn't afford vet bills, found the dogs untrainable, or didn’t get along with kids. Shelters, Humane Societies and rescue groups don’t want anyone to use these dogs for entertainment, and they don’t want to help someone who’s going to do this again."

Playboy pets Charlie and Ambrocious are the new dogs in town

Some might call them the luckiest dogs in the world. Say hello to the Playboy pets.

Hugh Hefner split about a year ago from former girlfriends Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson, who starred in the E! reality show "The Girls Next Door."  Since then, he's ... erm ... befriended three new blond-bombshell girlfriends, Crystal Harris and twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon, who are the show's new stars.  And with Hef's new set of girlfriends come a new pair of puppies.

Not content with sitting still on the couch with Hefner and his lovely ladies, Crystal Harris' new pooch, Charlie, sniffed around the Playboy Mansion library last week during our interview. You can see him roaming around the set during the filming of The Times' interview with the new "Girls Next Door" costars, which is shown above.

"Charlie wants to work behind the camera," Hefner quipped.

"That's his calling," joked Karissa Shannon, while twin sister Kristina stroked the fluffy ear of their dark-furred rescue dog, Ambrocious. (Note the unusual spelling, which we confirmed thanks to the mansion dogs' MySpace page.)

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 50: Waiting on Wisteria Lane

On a recent Monday, the dog and I got the call we'd been waiting for: We were to report to Universal Studios on Wednesday afternoon as nonunion background actors to portray "Neighbor with Dog" on an upcoming episode of  "Desperate Housewives." "Background actor" is just a fancy way of saying "extra."

I have no show biz aspirations, but since you can't send a German shepherd to a major studio by herself, I am resigned to doing what I must for the dog. I'm not an actor; I'll just play one on TV. We eagerly agreed.

The process is rather complicated:  Much like citizens on jury duty, background actors are given a special call-in number to check in the night before. A recorded voice details where to report, where to park and what to wear. At about 9 p.m., I learned that the "neighbors"  would be required to look "very conservative, very wealthy, very Republican" -- no black clothing, pastels preferred.  And bring several sets of these very conservative Republican clothes to provide a choice. Those cast as "younger people" (yeah, thanks a lot) could wear somewhat sexier duds, but should still attempt to look like preppie college students home for the summer.

I pawed through my wardrobe for summer suits, and managed to scrape up some suitably Brooks Brothers tops and shoes. But I wondered whether to attempt to tame my very curly hair, which definitely voted for Obama. I decided to sleep on it.

New ad campaign aims to dispel myths about shelter pets

Sure, some people say that Super Bowl ads are the best commercials out there (though PETA might disagree).  But for our money, a new advertising campaign called the Shelter Pet Project gives those high-profile, often-high-concept commercials a run for their money.

The ads -- which were created through a partnership between the Humane Society of the United States, Maddie's Fund and the nonprofit Ad Council -- are designed to dispel common myths about animals in shelters, and Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle describes them as part of the largest advertising campaign ever launched by the animal protection movement.  "There is a nagging perception on the part of some Americans that there is something wrong or defective with animals in shelters," Pacelle wrote on his blog. "But nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the animals in shelters would make great pets, and they are often well socialized, vaccinated, sterilized, microchipped, and primed for a wonderful new home."

It's easy to say that shelter pets aren't defective at all, but the new ads make the point with humor -- and they're all the better for it.  In one (above), an innocent-looking terrier mix plays against type by calling his owner a "total loser" after being abandoned -- and then makes a mess of the man's dropped wallet.  In the other (which aired for the first time on Animal Planet last week -- if you missed it, you can see it after the jump), a Boston terrier owned by a finance wizard accused of fraud laments that he's about to end up in a shelter because "I like tennis balls; he likes insider trading" before confessing to having once stolen a cheeseburger.

In wake of Tweet the giraffe's death, PETA calls on Adam Sandler to forgo the use of animal actors

Adam Sandler is, by most accounts, a good-natured funnyman whose only known offense against animals is a scene from "Billy Madison" in which he pursues a hapless penguin while driving a golf cart.  (In Sandler's defense, it's actually a human in a giant penguin suit.)  Silly, sure.  But it certainly doesn't represent cruelty to animals.

So why is PETA so upset?

Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, is producing the comedy "Zookeeper" (for which Sandler will also provide the voice of a monkey character).  The film features talking animals that interact with star Kevin James, so, predictably, a bevy of animal actors is involved in the filming.  One of those, a giraffe named Tweet whose previous credits included "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and commercials for Toys R Us, collapsed and died in his enclosure at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo this month after wrapping his scenes in the film. 

Although Tweet's scenes in "Zookeeper" were filmed at Franklin Park, the giraffe belonged not to the zoo but to a Florida company called Animals in Motion, which supplies exotic animals for film and television shoots.  According to Patty Rivers, a co-owner of Animals in Motion, Tweet's death was sudden and shocking.  Veterinarians "said he was in excellent shape and everything looked good," Rivers said in an interview with the Gainesville Sun. "We think he had a brain aneurysm or a stoke or something because it happened so quick."  Tweet was 18 -- not elderly by giraffe standards, but definitely getting on in years (giraffes typically live up to 25 years in the wild).

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 49: Video of Heidi as the 'Mean Dog'

In a previous chapter, you read about Heidi's first "webisode" role as the "Mean Dog" for the Web series "Sir Glen of Glenwood" -- starring Glen Poehlman as a middle-aged man who thinks he's a brave knight living in the Middle Ages, doing good deeds in the 'hood -- for Performing Arts Studio West, which trains and manages the careers of actors with developmental disabilities. The series will launch on the PASW website this fall (Heidi will keep you posted). 

In this chapter, the dog and I are excited to present not one but two "Sir Glen" videos: The first (above) features Heidi in her brief but moving role in the series' opening credits. The second (watch it on the next page) is a special video PASW created for its first dog star: "Behind the Scenes With Heidi the Dog."