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You're a very foolish man, Mr. Newton. You should've left well-enough alone!
~ Dr. Varnick threatening George's life after he stops him from shooting Beethoven.

Dr. Herman Varnick is the main antagonist of the 1992 family comedy film Beethoven. He is a dognapper who took on the disguise of a vet while secretly performing cruel and illegal tests on them. Dr. Varnick was also employed by a weapons-dealer to test new bullets and sought out Beethoven as he required a dog with a large skull to discover the efficiency of the bullet. He is also the archenemy of Beethoven and the Newton family.

He was portrayed by the late Dean Jones.

Biography[]

Dr. Varnick is introduced in his testing chamber disguised as a pet supply center called "Dandy Pup Pet Supply". There, Dr. Varnick holds all the animals he conducts said tests on and demands that his two henchmen, Harvey and Vernon, bring him puppies for his experiments. This culminates in their robbery of the "Docktor Pet Center" where they kidnap Beethoven and a multitude of other puppies. However, Beethoven and Sparky the Jack Russell Terrier manage to escape to safety.

Afterwards, Dr. Varnick is asked by a weapons-dealer to find a canine test subject with a thick skull to uncover how much damage some bullets can do. He searches for a candidate through his day job as a veterinarian and eventually sets his sights on Beethoven, now adopted by the Newton family.

In order to take Beethoven from the Newton family, Dr. Varnick gives false information by claiming that St. Bernards are naturally aggressive (in reality, they are the opposite) so George would have Beethoven removed for his and his family's safely. Subsequent to the vet visit, George tells Alice that "any kinda weirdness and he's gone" but Alice makes light of it by saying, "What should I watch for hon, wearing my clothes around the house?"

Dr. Varnick then visits the Newton home on the premise of a follow-up on Beethoven's rabies shots and tricks them into believing that Beethoven had bitten him by using scissors to cut and tear his shirt sleeve and applying fake blood to both his arm and Beethoven's snout. He then hits Beethoven repeatedly to provoke the dog into lunging at him. Emily, who saw Dr. Varnick hit him, protests that the attack was fake, but George, fearing for his family's safety, takes Beethoven to Dr. Varnick's office. It is on the way there that George shows his own affections for Beethoven; he remembers that his father had to take their dog to the vet to be put down and he hates him for it. George fears that his family will hate him now, too. Sure enough, when George returns home with the empty leash and collar, his family looks at him and leaves the dinner table rather than eat with him (with Emily calling him a "Dog Killer").

Dr. Varnick then threatens to take legal action unless Beethoven is taken into his office to be put down. However, Dr. Varnick soon has Harvey and Vernon take Beethoven to the testing area.

Dr. Varnick later gets into a confrontation with the Newtons after he claims that Beethoven has already been put down. The children are distraught, but George is upset and reminds him that he had been told that this would not happen until the next morning. George then notices that Dr. Varnick has no bite marks on his arm after George refrains Dr. Varnick from grabbing his older daughter, Ryce, therefore proving that Emily was telling the truth about the attack being fake. Realizing that he has been tricked and betrayed by the vet, George furiously demands Dr. Varnick to tell him where Beethoven is, but Dr. Varnick refuses, saying that he ordered Beethoven to be destroyed and threatens to have George arrested for assault and battery if he gets physical. Ignoring this threat, George punches Dr. Varnick in the face before the Newtons leave to find Beethoven. George and Alice call the cops, but they show no interest in intervening — they proceed to follow Dr. Varnick to his testing area.

By the time they arrive, Dr. Varnick is already preparing to shoot Beethoven but is distracted when George smashes into the area through the glass roof. However, Dr. Varnick proceeds to try to shoot him for interfering with a sad look on his face, but before he can, Sparky (who had been chosen for a horrible chemical test) bites him in the crotch causing him to scream in pain and misfire.

At this point, Ted, who heard the gunshot, smashes into the area driving the family car, and during the chaos, launches numerous syringes of chemicals into Dr. Varnick's chest, sedating him. The Newtons free Beethoven and the other dogs, and Ted orders them to chase Harvey and Vernon, who try to escape. They desperately try to get away, knocking people and objects over in their haste. Eventually, Harvey and Vernon reach a junkyard gate and climb over it, taunting Beethoven and the other dogs. However, much to their horror, Harvey and Vernon realize that they made a near-fatal mistake when they discover four vicious Dobermans guarding the junkyard, and Harvey and Vernon both scream with terror as the Dobermans viciously attack them.

In the end, Dr. Varnick and his accomplices are arrested and indicted for their crimes. As Dr. Varnick is led away, he protests that his heinous activities were scientific investigations.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Ironically, Dean Jones would replace Charles Grodin for the role of George Newton’s voice in the short-lived 1994 Beethoven animated series.
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