| Artlist Collection: The Dog and Friends | |
| Creator: | Artlist |
Artlist Collection: The Dog and Friends (better known as The Dog and Friends or simply The Dog) is a franchise created by Artlist in Japan in 2000.[1] Initially known as Artlist Collection: The Dog, the franchise began as collection of calendars and postcards of dogs photographed with a fisheye lens.[1] Afterwards, the franchise became so popular that new animals such as cats, pigs, rabbits, ducks, hamsters, and birds were added to the collection.[2] In 2003, 4Kids Entertainment bought the rights for this franchise outside of Asia.[1] [3] In 2004, to celebrate 25 years of the McDonald's Happy Meal, toys of this franchise were sold as Happy Meals from April 2 to April 29.[4] Select locations featured dog adoption events.[5] They were sold once again the next year, but with "The Cat" plushes.[6] In 2006, the series introduced its first video game, . The game was released exclusively in Japan. It was followed up by a 2007 adventure game, The Dog Island.[7] In 2009, the series also released a pet simulation game on mobile phones and smart phones.[8] In 2016, they were featured as themes for the Japanese Nintendo 3DS home menu.[9]