Skip to Content

One Of The Best Characters In Strange World Wasn’t Always A Part Of The Story

© 2022 Disney

Splat, the glowing and voiceless character in Strange World, was clearly intended to be their merchandising moment. The film even contains a very unsubtle nod to that when a character says, “I want to merchandise you,” in the second act of the film. The cuteness of the film couldn’t be contained in one amorphous blob, however. Enter Legend, the three-legged Bernedoodle.

© 2022 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Burny Mattison, a storyboard artist, animator, and director of Mickey’s A Christmas Carol, told Strange World director Don Hall that the film was missing a dog. Hall’s initial response was, “We got Splat. He’s kind of a dog. I don’t know if we need a dog.”

Hall reports that the story crew quickly agreed. “They all ganged up on me and said, ‘We want a dog. We need a dog! We need a dog! We need a dog!’ I’m like, ‘All right. There’ll be a dog in the movie.'”

© 2022 Disney

Lissa Treiman, head of story on the film, drew the first version of three-legged Legend and, according to Hall, “That was it. It stuck.” The name Legend was selected to honor Burny Mattison, who is the longest-serving employee of the Walt Disney Company. He was officially inducted as a Disney Legend in 2008.

You can meet Splat and Legend for yourself when you watch Strange World, in theaters now.

About Strange World

The feature film introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob, a three-legged dog and a slew of ravenous creatures. “Inspired by classic adventure stories,” said director Don Hall, “‘Strange World’ is an original animated adventure/comedy about three generations of the Clade family who overcome their differences while exploring a strange, wondrous and oftentimes hostile world.”

As The Bunny Hops®