The Dog (franchise)

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]

Artlist Collection: The Dog and Friends
Artlist Collection: The Dog and Friends
Created by	Artlist
Official website
www.thedogandfriends.com/en/

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.^[4]

In 2003, the series introduced its first video game, The Dog Master, which was released exclusively in Japan and developed by Visit.^[6] In 2006, The Dog: Happy Life was released, also exclusively in Japan, which was followed up by a 2007 adventure game, The Dog Island,^[7] both developed by Yuke's. 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]