Page last updated at 15:17 GMT, Friday, 22 May 2009 16:17 UK

Pixar pooch picks Up Cannes prize

Characters from Up
Dug (centre) is given the power of speech by a special dog collar

A talking dog named Dug from animated Pixar film Up has won the Palm Dog, a comic alternative to the Cannes Film Festival's main prize, the Palme d'Or.

Voted by British film critics, it has been presented since 2001 to the best canine performance seen at the event.

Dug, given the power of speech by a human voice collar, was the runaway winner of the unofficial prize.

But it faced competition from a black poodle seen in Quentin Tarantino's war film Inglourious Basterds.

'Cone of shame'

The rules were bent this year to allow the talking fox who appears in Lars von Trier's horror film Antichrist to compete.

Moses, a dog represented by a chalk outline in Von Trier's drama Dogville, won the prize when it was presented at the 2003 festival.

The makers of Up will receive the traditional trophy - a leather collar bearing the name of the quirky award in silver letters.

Last year's collar went to Lucy, the dog who went missing in US film Wendy and Lucy.

This year's jury also handed out a "cone of shame" to Filipino thriller Kinatay, in which a dog is seen being hit by a car.

Up is out in the US on 29 May but does not open in the UK until 16 October.



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