Cork investment brings canine hero Sgt Stubby’s tale to the big screen

By Caroline Delaney

The true story of a daring stray dog who followed his Irish-American owner to war would not have made it to the big screen without significant financial input from investors in Cork.

Sgt Stubby: An Unlikely Hero follows a dog from his days scavenging for food on the streets of Connecticut, through his army ‘career’, during which he ends up outranking his master and saving lives in France during the First World War.

The idea to make a film about Stubby came from businessman-turned- historical film-maker Richard Lanni, who has homes in Cork and Normandy, France.

Investors in Cork raised €3m to fund the movie, which represents 20% of the net production cost.

The funds were raised in early 2016, when €750,000 was given, and a second fundraiser in 2017 raised €2.25m.

The balance of the funds was raised in the US.

Indeed, much of the editing work on the movie, the post-production work, in addition to pre-production, was carried out in Kinsale.

Executive producer Tom Sheehan, from Cork, said it is a “rare thing to have the chance to be involved in something as heartwarming as Sgt Stubby, a movie that opens a new lane of family content; demonstrating that learning and entertainment need not be mutually exclusive”.

“I have known Richard Lanni for 25 years and he asked me to get involved with this movie in 2015,” said Mr Sheehan.

“When I heard the story of Stubby I was mesmerised.

It was a story of rags- to- riches, bravery, courage, friendship, loyalty — all of the values to which we aspire, and which we want to pass on to our children.

“We were just coming out of a terrible recession in Ireland, and I believed that this story would warm everybody’s heart, and offer hope.

“I wanted to be involved in telling the story, in telling something positive.”

Fun Academy Media Group, based at O’Connell St in Kinsale, was involved in post-production work on the film and the studio is planning to be an incubation centre where projects will be researched and selected to produce TV series and movies — creating up to 30 jobs.

“The Kinsale studio will be a research space, will be engaged in pre-production, storyboarding, post-production, and editing,” said Mr Sheehan.

It will employ talent from Ireland and particularly will be a base whereby animation graduates can be trained by the very best in the industry.[#embed3]

The film is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter and features the voice of Gérard Depardieu. It tells the story of Stubby, who is adopted in 1917 by Private First Class Robert Conroy, and shipped to Europe in an overcoat aboard the USS Minnesota to become the mascot of the 102nd Regiment, 26th Yankee Division.

Injured in a gas attack, Stubby used his super-sensitive nose to give troops early warnings of further chemical attacks.

Finding injured soldiers, he would stand by them and bark to alert medics, and he was credited with taking a prisoner of war when he found a German spy behind Allied lines, biting and holding him until help came. Promoted to the rank of sergeant, he became the first and most decorated dog in US war history.

Sgt Stubby will be released in Irish cinemas this Friday.