Uggie, who plays Jack the dog in Hazanavicius’ 2011 film The Artist, is a constant companion to his master, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). Frequently filmed in close-up looking out to the camera, and often playing the key protagonist motivating the plot, Jack is a significant character in the film. Throughout the narrative, the spectator is led to believe that the dog cares for the man's welfare, and that he instigates romantic encounters between George and the female love interest in the film, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). Not only does Jack appear as a loyal and devoted friend to his owner, but at one point he rescues him from a burning house, thus saving the man's life.

As expected, the success and press coverage of the film resulted in huge acclaim for its canine star: Uggie received a special mention for his performance at the Prix Lumiere Awards in France, won the Palm Dog Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and the golden collar award in LA. He shared the Best Animal Performance prize awarded by the Seattle Times with Cosmo, who performed as Arthur in Mike Mills’ film Beginners (2011). In addition, fans mounted a campaign entitled ‘Consider Uggie’ to enable the dog's nomination for an Acting Academy Award in his own right, although he was not eligible – the award is only appropriate for humans. Accordingly, Uggie might be perceived as a star through his various accolades, and is indubitably afforded this status by the press and the industry. Also, arguably he produces a stellar performance through his heroic activities. While star studies has made a significant theoretical contribution to film studies over the past thirty years, and has been important in offering a variety of methods for understanding what constitutes a star, nonetheless, rarely, apart from critical reviews contemporaneous to the release of the films, has the animal been mentioned or awarded judicious attention in academic publication. Furthermore, invariably, the analysis of stardom in film is confined to the study of humans and, by extension, human performance. Using Uggie in The Artist as a case study, this chapter introduces the notion of animal as star, and analyses the ways in which media, publicity and the film language promote the animal to what Emmanuel Gouabault, Annik Dubied and Claudine Burton-Jeangros (2011) term ‘superindividual’ status.