February 9, 2012

Martin Scorsese says he suspects rumours about Blackie, the canine star of his film Hugo, are part of a smear campaign to deprive the pooch of a Golden Collar Award.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed director appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and addressed the gossip that CGI had been done on Blackie to improve the dog's reactions in the film.

Scorsese says he knows for a fact that the dog's performance was real and says he's even checked with the film's visual effects creator, who confirmed there was no computer enhancement of the dog's expressions.

The controversy began when Blackie wasn't included in the initial list of nominees for Dog News Daily's inaugural Golden Collar Awards, reportedly over concerns that big parts of the pooch's performance had been created digitally.

Scorsese lobbied for Blackie to be included on the list of nominees and, following a successful lobby effort on Facebook, Blackie was added.

Last week Rob Legato, Hugo's visual effects creator, told THR the director's admiration for the dog is real.

"At first we could not get her to do a darn thing," Legato says. "Marty was like, 'I'll never work with another dog!' But then the French trainer Mathilde de Cagny came in and solved all our problems. Now Marty loves the dog and really wants her to get the recognition she deserves."

During his appearance on Ellen, Scorsese hinted that he suspected the allegations were part of a smear campaign to discredit Blackie's work, perhaps by supporters of Uggie, the scene stealing pup from The Artist.

The Golden Collar Awards are set for February 13.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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