After Blake got peed on, the world lost Mimi LaRue, these Shepard Fairey rip-offs started popping up everywhere, and we learned that Gidget has a blog, it seems like DOGS may be having the best week ever! All of this got us thinking about the greatest dog movies ever. Yes, Old Yeller is the ultimate classic, but the location, not so much, so here’s our pick for a great dog movie with a travel inspiring location to boot, My Dog Skip.
My Dog Skip, starring Frankie Muniz and Kevin Bacon, is a heart-warming coming of age story about a boy and his dog. The movie is based on the best-selling memoir by the late Willie Morris and was filmed primarily in Canton, Mississippi not far from Yazoo City, where Morris was raised and the movie is set.
Canton, located about 30 miles north of Jackson, is the perfect backdrop for My Dog Skip because it is the essence of small town Americana charm. This town has it all, a quaint Main Street, a Coke Mural, an Annual Balloon Fest, and quiet tree-lined streets. All of this conjures up images of a different time when kids rode bikes safely around town and anything was possible, just like the movie. Canton even revels in it’s place on celluloid as the star of not only My Dog Skip but also A Time To Kill and O Brother, Where Art Thou. If you are travelling through Mississippi this summer, stop in for a spell and be reminded of how life is supposed to be.
Now, if all this has you feeling sentimental thinking about your own childhood dog, why not focus that energy on something positive? Take a look at the Petsmart Charities page featuring rescue and donation opportunities to really help make this a needy dog’s best week ever!
And don’t forget, today is “take your dog to work” day!!
Canton also has two enormous yearly craft fairs on the square: The Canton Flea Market, on the 2nd Thursday of both May and November. https://www.cantontourism.com/arts_crafts.html