Rin Tin Tin Trivia Quiz

Answer: A soldier found him and brought him back after the war

Corporal Lee Duncan, a soldier in the US Army Air Service, found a German shepherd bitch with a litter of puppies in an abandoned French town on September 15 1918. He took two puppies and other soldiers took the remaining ones. Only Duncan's two survived.

Answer: He was named after a small puppet

The small puppets were given to American soldiers as good luck charms by French children, and were named Rintintin and Nénette. The story of the puppets the children told were that they represented two lovers who survived the bombing of the village they lived in. The two puppies rescued by Duncan were named Rin Tin Tin and Nanette to reflect this story.

Answer: True

German shepherds were a new breed, having only been created in 1889. They were largely unknown outside Germany at the time. The first German shepherd shown in America was in 1907, but the breed didn't garner much interest in the United States until Rinty, and another dog named Strongheart, hit the movie theaters.

Answer: True

Rinty's owner began contacting movie studios after meeting Darryl Zanuck, who would soon be writing scripts for Rin Tin Tin. It was by chance that the day he came to Warner Bros., they were having trouble filming with their dog. After a quick demonstration of Rinty's abilities, Warner Bros. replaced the original dog with Rin Tin Tin.

Answer: Where the North Begins

The film turned out to be a huge success for Warner Bros. Rinty became enormously popular, with Warner Bros. getting requests to use him in many ads and commercials for various dog-related products. Legend has it that Rinty's popularity saved Warner Bros. from bankruptcy.

Answer: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Rinty's star can be found at 1627 Vine Street. According to the Hollywood Walk of Fame website, he was inducted to the Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.

Answer: The Wonder Dog

The name of the show was eventually changed to "Rin Tin Tin". Each episode was about 15 minutes long, and featured Rinty saving the day in death-defying action that made Lassie saving Timmy from the well seem too soft.

Answer: France

Rinty was initially buried in the backyard of Lee Duncan's house. When Lee had to sell the house during the Great Depression, he made arrangements to have Rin Tin Tin buried in the Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques, a pet cemetery near Paris.

Answer: The others have deteriorated or were thrown away in the 1930s

Unfortunately, many of the earliest movies, including Rin Tin Tin's, no longer exist. The film itself was made with nitrate at the time, which is highly flammable. Many other silent films were simply thrown away by the studios themselves once talking films became successful.

Answer: Anne Frank

In the entry for June 15, 1942, Anne Frank said about her birthday party the previous day that "The Rin Tin Tin movie was a big hit with my classmates." In another entry she said she wished she had a dog like Rin Tin Tin and could bring him to school with her.