Fact Sheet

  • Benji Off the Leash, Benji's fifth motion picture, was released thatrically during the summer of 2004, and on video in January, 2005. The film has won the 2005 Genesis Award for Best Family Film and is a Readers Digest Family Favorite.

  • Variety reported that the original Benji movie was the #3 picture of the summer.

  • Three of Benji's movies have scored in the top 10% of all movies for the year of release.

  • 73,000,000 people – more than half of them adults – have watched Benji in movie theaters.

  • Benji television specials have twice topped the night in ratings, one receiving a phenomenal 39% share.

  • Over one billion people worldwide have watched Benji on television.

  • Benji properties (motion pictures, television, publishing, product licensing) have cumulatively grossed (at retail) over $235,000,000 (unadjusted dollars).

  • Two of Benji's television specials have been nominated for Emmys.

  • The title theme of the film Benji was nominated for an Oscar, and won the Golden Globe Award.

  • Benji has twice been awarded AGVA's Animal Entertainer of the Year award. Benji has been a frequent visitor to various top ten popularity lists, including Performer Q.

  • A Young Miss magazine poll ranked Benji #5 among all males.

  • Benji is partnered with Pets911.com, the nation's largest web shelter adoption service, to promote the adoption of pets who desperately need homes.

  • Benji was the second animal ever to be inducted into the Animal Actors Hall of Fame (Lassie was first).

  • USA Today ranked Benji the Hunted third best among all of the summer's hot movie releases.

  • In 2002, People placed the original Benji movie in their Top-twenty All-Time Must-See Family Movies.

  • In 2001, the Chicago Tribune named the original Benji movie one of the best family films of all times.

  • Video sales of Benji’s original productions have surpassed 3,000,000 units in the most recent fifteen year period, and are still selling well some thirty years after initial release (of the original).

  • Benji is the subject of the web site www.Benji.com which features extensive information on Benji's new movie Benji Off the Leash and Benji's history along with fun and education for kids, and a forum where parents and teachers can discover strategies to help kids maximize their chance for success in school and life.

  • The American Humane Association has reported that because the original Benji was rescued from an animal shelter, more than 1,000,000 dogs were adopted from shelters across the country. The current Benji was also adopted from a shelter in order to stimulate even more adoptions.

  • Since the last quarter of 2001, the search for the new Benji in shelters across the country, the ultimate introduction of the new Benji, and promotion of Benji Off the Leash has cumulatively generated more than a billion media exposures for the adoption efforts of animal shelters and rescue groups everywhere.