Why not just make a fictionalized story? Why keep a few details and change others-especially when this Japanese dog inexplicably shows up in Rhode Island! This leads me to wonder WHY the film did a semi-remake. In fact, I did some reading and found several other similar accounts throughout the world. One thing that set him apart from most dogs was that Hachi would meet the professor at the train station after work each day! But, even more unusual is that after the professor's death, Hachi CONTINUED this routine-waiting patiently for his master every day! In many ways, the story is like that of the very famous Scottish dog, Greyfriars Bobby-who is memorialized in Edinburgh outside the pub and church where the do would do its daily ritual (lying at his master's grave and then visiting the pub). Oddly, however, this American version keeps SOME of the original Japanese story (such as the breed of dog, the dog's name and SOME of the events in the dog's life) and completely changes so much-especially since "Hachi-Ko" is based on a real life Japanese occurrence, not in America.īack in the 1920s and 30s, the real Hachi was a dog owned by a Japanese professor. "Hachi: A Dog's Tale" is a remake of a Japanese film, "Hachi-Ko" (1987). Reviewed by MartinHafer 7 / 10 It's hard to hate a cute doggy film.
The story is told in flashbacks as class assignment 'my hero' by Michael's teen son Robbie, who also gets an Akita puppy. Hachi refuses to accept this, being moved to Michael's home as Cate moves out, waiting for a master who can never come home again, by now collectively adopted by sympathizing town-folk. Hachi makes a habit of waiting for his equally doting master at the station every evening, but after a cardiac crisis, Parker dies. Parker's Japanese college friend Ken inspires naming the pup Hachi(ko), and is pleasantly surprised when Parker successfully tackles the challenge to get it to fetch, which Akitas don't usually do. His bossy, jealous wife Cate initially makes Parker swear it won't stay, but by the time its' clear nobody will claim him and an adoption candidate is found, she agrees to keep the dog, who won over their daughter Andy and her fiance Michael at first sight. Commuting by train, music professor Parker Wilson finds an Akita puppy, whose cage broke unnoticed during shipping, leaving his destination unknown, and since the station can't care for it and the dog catcher warns even such cute ones may not be adopted in the two weeks allowed, he kindly takes it home.