‘90s Stars Recall Working With the Charlie Chaplin of Dogs in This Forgotten, Award-Winning TV Show
Wishbone was a PBS series about a Jack Russell Terrier who daydreamed about being the lead character in classic stories. The series, which ran from 1995 until 1998, was meant for children-but it was a hit with teenagers and parents as well. There were also over 50 Wishbone books published, which were inspired by the show.
Recently, a documentary about the classic show was released called What's the Story, Wishbone? In it, the cast and crew spoke about working with Soccer, the dog who played the main character.
Rick Duffield, the creator of the show, said, "He was so amazing and charming when he did his little flip, and everybody was like, 'Oh my God, that dog did that flip,' and I said, 'That's cool.' And then his face, there was something about that dog. When it looked at you, you felt like it was thinking about you. There was an intelligence in the face of that dog. And so that was it for me. And so now I needed someone to talk for the dog, to be the voice."
Larry Brantley, who was the voice actor for Wishbone, spoke about the first time he met with Soccer. "Jackie [Kaptan] said, 'Hey guys, Soccer needs a break.' And I thought that meant he needed to go outside, but what happened was she reached into a pouch on her hip and she pulled out a rubber soccer ball, and she pitched it to him, and he lost his mind. I had never seen anything like it. He was bouncing around the study playing a game of catch with himself. And quite without thinking about it, I just began to vocalize what I thought must be going through the dog's head in that moment."
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Matthew Tompkins, one of the actors from the series, also spoke about working with the iconic pup. "He wasn't just a trained dog," he said. "I mean, he was a trained actor. He had this amazing range emotionally in all of his expressions, and physically, he could do anything - whether he would shade his eyes or fly around from one place to the next or cock his head and look at you like, 'Did you just say the right line?' He was Charlie Chaplin in a little white and brown dog's body."
According to PEOPLE, the documentary "will be available on TVOD/Digital across all platforms where you can rent or buy movies in North America on June 10, 2026, directly following broadcast."
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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 8:18 AM.