Joe Camp, the pioneering filmmaker who brought adorable live-action dogs to the public and created a groundbreaking franchise with the hugely successful film “Benji,” died Friday at age 84 at his home in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. .
His son, coach Brandon Camp, announced the death in a statement. He said his father passed away after a long illness, but gave no details.
Joe Camp began thinking about directing when he was eight years old, but initially faced decades of rejection. While attending the University of Mississippi, he attempted to transfer to the UCLA Film School but was rejected. After college, he worked in commercials for McCann Erickson's Houston office and the Dallas agency Norsworthy‐Mercer, while simultaneously writing unproduced sitcom scripts.
In 1971, Mr. Camp and cinematographer James Nicodemus founded their own production company, Mulberry Square Productions, in Dallas, far from the traditional centers of the television and film industry, Los Angeles and New York. I did.
The idea for “Benji” came to Mr. Camp in the late 1960s while he and his first wife, Carolyn (Hopkins) Camp, were watching the Disney feature-length animated film “Lady and the Tramp” (1955). Afterwards, Mr. Camp observed the facial expressions of his dogs and wondered if he could make a film starring real dogs and told from the dogs' point of view.
“I went to sleep with the distinct notion that dogs would talk if you really paid attention,” Mr. Camp told The Associated Press in a 2003 interview.
Mr. Camp, who had little professional experience, quickly and enthusiastically came up with a script about a beloved stray dog rescuing two children from kidnapping. It was his first feature-length screenplay. He raised $500,000 in 1973 and shot the film in 12 weeks.
He initially had trouble finding a dog trainer to work on the film before famed trainer Frank Inn agreed to come on board. However, Hollywood studios were not interested in distributing it. So Mr. Camp did this independently through his own production company.
“Making the first ‘Benji’ movie was like navigating a minefield of slammed doors, unplanned disasters, fatal mistakes and glaring gaps in money, knowledge and experience,” Mr. Camp said on his web. I wrote it on the site.
“Benji” premiered in 1974. The film grossed approximately $40 million (about $250 million in today's money) and shattered perceptions of what makes a successful film. It was one of the top three money earners of the year, just below “Jaws” and “The Towering Inferno.”
Mr. Camp produced several other “Benji” films, including “For the Love of Benji” (1977) and “Oh Heavenly Dog” (1980), starring Chevy Chase and Jane Seymour. “Benji the Hunter” (1987) and “Benji: Off the Leash!” (2004). There was also a 1983 CBS children's show, “Benji, Jax and the Alien Prince.”
Mr. Camp told the New York Times in 1975: “If you do it well enough, the money will take care of itself.
“Benji” was rebooted in the 2018 Nexis film, written by Mr. Camp and his son Brandon.
Inspired by Walt Disney's vision, Mr. Camp insisted on creative control over his own films, which he insisted did not contain profanity of any kind. He said “Benji: Off the Leash!” He recalled that during negotiations over distribution, a studio executive argued that sexual innuendo and pornography were what children increasingly wanted from their programming.
“I said to him, ‘Do you have kids?’” Mr. Camp said in a 2004 interview with The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Massachusetts.
After the executive said yes, Mr. Camp recalled saying: “'Do you give them what they want or what you think they should have?' And that ended the conversation pretty well.”
Joseph Shelton Camp Jr. was born April 20, 1939 in St. Louis. His father was an insurance company executive. His mother, Ruth Wilhelmina (Mclaulin) Camp, ran the household.
In addition to his son, Brandon, Mr. Camp is survived by his wife, Kathleen; another son, Joe; and his stepchildren, David Wolff, Dylan Wolff, and Allegra Wolff. His first wife, Carolyn, whom he married in 1960, died of heart disease in 1997 at the age of 58.
“Benji: Off the Rishi!” After it failed to do well at the box office, Mr. Camp turned to a new love: horses. He has written several books about his journey to becoming a jockey, including his 2009 memoir, “The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd.”
However, the work that Mr. Camp remembers most is the ‘Benji’ series. For decades, he ignored Hollywood's costumes and told heartwarming stories the way he wanted to.
“The point of it is to say, ‘If this dog can do it, I can do it, this idiot from the South can do it, anyone can do it.’ 'If you try hard enough and don't give up,' Mr. Camp told The Associated Press in a 2003 interview. ‘That’s what the ‘Benji’ movie is all about.”