Cool Runnings Inspired Dog Names

When it comes to characters from Cool Runnings, few were as popular as Sanka Coffie, likely the film’s most lovable and humorous character — it didn’t hurt that on top of his comedic acting, he was also given some of the movie’s funniest and most iconic lines. It was a role that helped launch his career and played right along with some of his earliest work, as he joined the industry ranks as a stand-up comedian at only 17 years old (and was even first discovered by none other than Russell Simmons). 

But Doug E. Doug isn’t the only Disney-based “Doug” to gain that kind of popularity either. In recent years, Dug the Dog from Disney/Pixar’s Up! may just be the most lovable and his character has nearly just as much backstory. 

Originally belonging to the legendary explorer Charles Muntz, who is idolized by the film’s main character Carl Fredricksen, Dug is actually able to speak English thanks to a special collar that translates his thoughts into words (an invention of Muntz’s). Fredricksen and his accidental stowaway, Russell, a Junior Wilderness Explorer looking to get his “Assisting the Elderly” badge that will move him up in the Explorer ranks, end up with Dug after he flees from his original owner, taking to the pair of them. 

But outside of his position in the film, Dug quickly became loved by audiences all over largely thanks to the translations that come out of his collar. While most of the sentences he speaks are elementary, they seem that much more believable coming from a dog. In fact, the writing team did a fantastic job developing Dug’s canine lexicon and writing lines that seem to perfectly depict the types of things we assume dogs think, from the simplicity of their structure to their easily-distracted nature (exemplified by Dug’s frequent and immediate head turns accompanied by the word “Squirrel!”). 

Although Dug’s thoughts were largely written to give him enough personality to be featured as a main character, he also acts as a unique examination of the human-dog dynamic that exists between dogs and their owners, as well as an insightful look into what we assume they must be thinking about. Because of it, Dug allows viewers to enjoy the narration of a dog’s normal actions with his own narration, proving as much entertainment as he does perspective, from the intertwining language of English and dogspeak (“Yeah! Get off the ‘roof’!”) to experiencing the “cone of shame”.