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| “ | It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor. | „ |
| ~ Stephen King about Cujo and his tragic fate. |
Cujo is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Ace Merrill) of the Castle Rock Saga in the Stephen King Mythos.
He was once a friendly and playful companion, but when he was bitten by a bat and contracted rabies, he went insane and was turned into a vicious killer that attacked anybody who came near him.
He was portrayed by at least five separate dog actors, two of which were known as Moe and Cubby, and his vocal sound effects were provided by Frank Welker.
Biography[]
Cujo was once the beloved St. Bernard of the Camber family who only wanted to be a good dog, but was bitten by a rabid bat in the nose when his head got stuck in a bat cave while chasing a rabbit (which was shown at the beginning of the movie).
Cujo then went mad with rabies and killed any person he came across including one of his own owners, conducting a murderous reign of terror on Castle Rock.
In the end of both the book and movie, Cujo was seemingly killed by Tad Trenton's mother named Donna (who also tried to save her son from dying of heat stroke), by being shot by the sheriff's gun. In the novel, he was killed after being hit by a baseball bat.
Defeat (novel)[]
When Sheriff Bannerman came, Cujo comes and attacks him, Donna who's desperate to save her son she grabs a baseball bat and attacks Cujo with the bat killing him in the process, however it's too late for her to save Tad as he died of dehydration and heatstroke. After Vic came Donna was rushed to the hospital, and Cujo's head is extracted for a biopsy to check for rabies before to the cremation of his remains.
Defeat (film)[]
Cujo smashes through the Camber window, and turns over to Donna in the kitchen, who had successfully revived Tad, and Cujo makes one more attempt to kill her before she shoots him directly in between the eyes and kills him.
Pet Semetary[]
Although Cujo does not physically appear due to his death, he is mentioned by Jud Crandall during his conversation with Louis Creed, with Jud saying that in downstate Maine, they had a "Saint Bernard that went rabid", referring to the events of the novel.
Needful Things[]
While still dead, Cujo was mentioned by the town of Castle Rock. Polly Chalmers, while at the now-abandoned Camber home, encounters Cujo's malevolent and restless spirit, which chases her out of the farm.
Cat's Eye[]
Cujo among with Christine have a cameo in the anthology film "Cat's Eye" where he chases the titular cat: General in the opening of the film. General escapes from Cujo by hiding in a barrel and Cujo seemingly gives up until he chases General who came out of hiding. He chases General all the way to a rowboat that was flip over, unaware General manages to escape from him and runs in the back of the pickup delivery truck. Cujo arrives but gives up going after General and then looks at a man.
Personality[]
Cujo is given some more insight in the novel while the film portrays him as merely a dog gone mad due to rabies. It is said in both versions that Cujo was a friendly dog that loved to play with the local children. After being bitten by a bat and unknowingly infected by the virus, he was afraid his master would be mad and think that he was a bad dog showing how much he thought of his owners and their opinions. When infected, Cujo starts to slowly lose his mind to where he could no longer recognize even his owners (the young Brett Camber) as humans, seeing them akin to actual monsters barely recognizing their voice and he fights off the urge to kill the boy by leaving.
Based on Cujo's perspective, he seemingly only identifies them through small descriptions in all caps like: "THE BOY" and "THE MAN" when thinking of them. As the book progresses, we see that he does not kill for pleasure but due to some of their loud noises and other habits which intensifies his pain thus making him lose what little restraint he manages to retain. Cujo wants to be left alone after being infected to the point he is willing to kill those around him if needed. As his mind continues to deteriorate, Cujo becomes more violent and insane from the pain and starts to believe it is the people around him causing him to be sick.
It should be noted that Cujo isn't a villain by choice, or does he enjoy hurting these people. This makes Cujo one of the most tragic Stephen King villains if not the most tragic. One who wasn't even in control of his actions.
Victims[]
- Gary Pervier: Neck bitten out.
- Joe Camber: Face ripped off.
- George Bannerman: Knocked off of catwalk and mauled to death.
- Tad Trenton (book only, indirectly): Sunstroke and dehydration due to being trapped in the car for too long.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- In some scenes of the film, a painted Rottweiler was used since actual St. Bernard's were not capable of performing convincing simulated attacks. The Rottweiler's tail was strapped to its leg to prevent it wagging and undermining the sense of fear.
- To make the dogs attack the car in the film, their favorite toys were placed in the car so they would try to get them.
- There was an early draft where Cujo was also going to be possessed by a spirit of a serial killer, but it was scrapped because it was seen as too outlandish and would detract from the fear the writers wished to portray in the film.
- However, it has still been theorized that Cujo was possessed by Frank Dodd, from another Stephen King book, The Dead Zone.
- The dogs featured in the film would often have their tails tied down to their legs, because the dogs would be enjoying themselves so much that they would wag their tails during filming. This tactic was missed once in the editing where they show Cujo from behind ready to attack and his tail is wagging energetically.
- Although It showed that Cujo murdered four people, (including Tad in the book only), he likely killed more people, although it is not clear whether if that is the case.
- A rumor has circulated that "Cujo" is an ancient Indian word meaning "unstoppable force". In reality, Stephen King made it up himself when writing the novel.
- Cujo is one of the far more tragic of Stephen King's villains. The normal Cujo was a gentle giant, without a mean bone in his body. But he was infected with rabies, and the poor creature had lost his mind, not in full control of his actions. Killing him was actually a kindness as to end his suffering.
- Five different St. Bernards were used to portray Cujo in the film. In addition, several mechanical dogs, a black Labrador-Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume, and a stuntman in a costume, were used to portray Cujo.
- Reportedly, the dogs would also lick the fake rabies that was put on their faces.
- The dog actor known as Cubby accidentally bit off the tip of the nose of stunt double Jean Coulter. Cubby was trained to lurch forward whenever Jean lunged towards him, and after they finished a scene on the first take, Jean accidentally leaned forward, causing Cubby to act on his training and unintentionally bite her. Thankfully, she was brought to the hospital where the small piece of her nose was reattached.[1]
