PWOMC: Bob, tell us about your work as an animal handler for Back to the Future.
Bob Weatherwax (BW): First, as a matter of clarification, I am an animal trainer not an animal handler. They are distantly different jobs with different pay scales.
I had a dog, OJ, who I auditioned for the movie, just like any other actor has to audition. I got OJ from the pound and he was a great dog, a big shaggy dog and he was very intelligent. Spielberg knew of my family’s dog training work in the motion picture industry including my Uncle Jack (who trained Toto for The Wizard of Oz) and my Uncle Frank (Old Yeller). He asked which of the brothers was my father. When I told him Rudd Weatherwax he said, “Ah, the man who did Lassie. That man, your father, is a genius.” I thought it was pretty nice that he would actually tell me that. I went home and when I saw my father I told him that I showed OJ for a job and met Steven Spielberg. My father said, “Steven Spielberg? He’s a genius.” I said, “That’s what he said about you.” He didn’t believe it and walked out of the room.
When I began working on the film, Eric Stoltz was playing the role of Marty McFly. He had just completed the film Mask and seemed to be in that serious mindset. As a result, they decided to get another actor after a few weeks of filming. I had just worked on the film Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox and I remember saying to my friend that Michael would be perfect for that role. When I returned to begin shooting again, someone said that one of the actors wanted to say hello. It was Michael who came over and hugged me and asked, “So, Bob, what film are we going to do next?”
PWOMC: How did you get asked to work on the Back to the Future film?
BW: I met with Steven Spielberg in his office and I took OJ there. He said he liked his looks but asked if he is that smart. I told him he was real smart and he said, “Well if he’s so smart have him smell that flower.” The flower was at the other end of his office on a table. I told OJ to go on and OJ would go until I stopped him right by the table. I taught OJ to nudge things with his nose. I taught all my dogs to do that. When OJ got in position in front of the flower I said, “Smell it”, using the same voice inflection as when I want him to nudge something. This is similar to “nudge it” and he put his nose on that flower. Spielberg then said, “I’m going to move it and I bet he can’t do it again.” I told him that it’s easy now because the dog knows it. I had OJ go over there and smell the flower and he went over there again and touched it with his nose. Spielberg then hired OJ to play Einstein.
PWOMC: What was your favorite memory of working on Back to the Future?
BW: I really didn’t have a lot of fond memories because my father passed away during the filming. So it was tough in that respect. I did see some of the cuts when the film was competed and I could tell by that it was going to be a very good movie. And of course Michael was very good in the film and it really catapulted his career.
At the end of filming, the crew was given the opportunity to purchase the DeLoreans used in the film. They were going for about ten thousand dollars, which was pretty cheap. I declined and now I wish I didn’t!
PWOMC: Who would be your biggest influence for choosing to be an animal trainer for films and why?
BW: My father, Rudd Weatherwax, who was the best animal trainer who ever lived. A lot of people think that his only claim to fame was Lassie but, as I describe in detail in my new book Four Feet to Fame, he had a vast body of work long before Lassie. Film makers don’t just pick people off the street for projects like Lassie Come Home, and my father had many successful films before that project even came up.
I was literally raised with dogs. My father used to use me as one of the props to train Lassie. He would put baby food on my face, for instance, to teach him to lick an actor’s face. I was with dogs all my life.
PWOMC: Who in the film industry today is an up-and-coming animal trainer?
BW: I really don’t know of any. To be honest, with the advent of CGI, animal training as I learned it from my father, is becoming a lost art. Our dogs would do a complicated scene in one or two continuous takes without a cut. Today, everything is done either with CGI or a lot of cuts.
PWOMC: On what new projects are you working or planning to work?
BW: I have just competed my memoirs entitled Four Feet to Fame, A Hollywood Dog Trainer’s Journey, published by BearManor Media, which is expected to be available late October or early November of 2016.
We would like to thank Bob Weatherwax for his insight into his role in making the Back To The Future movie. Please visit www.weatherwaxtraineddogs.com for more information on his upcoming book.
