The Dog (franchise)
Japanese franchise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Artlist Collection: The Dog (formerly known as Artlist Collection: The Dog and Friends, better known as The Dog) is a media franchise created by Artlist in Japan in 2000.[1] The franchise began as collection of calendars and postcards of dogs photographed with a fisheye lens.[1] Afterwards, the franchise became so popular that new animals such as cats, pigs, rabbits, ducks, hamsters, and birds were added to the collection.[2]
| Artlist Collection: The Dog | |
|---|---|
 The Dog logo since September 2020 | |
| Created by | Artlist |
| Official website | |
| www | |
In 2003, 4Kids Entertainment bought the rights for this franchise outside of Asia.[1][3] In 2004, to celebrate 25 years of the McDonald's Happy Meal, toys of this franchise were sold as Happy Meals from April 2 to April 29.[4] Select locations featured dog adoption events.[5] They were sold once again the next year, but with "The Cat" plushes.[4]
In 2003, the series introduced its first video game, The Dog Master, which was released exclusively in Japan for the PlayStation and developed by Visit.[6] In 2006, The Dog: Happy Life was released, also exclusively in Japan, which was followed up by a 2007 adventure game, The Dog Island,[7] both developed by Yuke's. In 2009, the series also released a pet simulation game on mobile phones and smart phones.[8] In 2016, they were featured as themes for the Japanese Nintendo 3DS home menu.[9]
From 2003 to 2008, McDonald's sold "The Dog" Happy Meal toys in China, where they were called "BFF Big Head Dog".[10] They were brought back in July 2025, with it becoming popular online due to its nostalgia in the region.[10][11]