Legend, The Three-Legged Dog, Wasn't In The Original Strange World Script

At the presser, director Don Hall fielded a question from the audience about Legend and gave them more of an answer than they were likely bargaining for. He started by talking about Burny Mattinson, an employee of the Disney company for 69 years with extensive experience storyboarding some of their biggest animated hits. One day, in an early story meeting, Mattinson suggested Hall add a dog.

The director reported that he was initially skeptical, but, as Hall remarked, "the story crew heard that, and they all ganged up on me and said, 'we want a dog, we need a dog, we need a dog! We need a dog!' and then our head of story ... drew a version of Legend as a three-legged dog, and that was it."

The dog is named Legend in honor of Burny because, as Hall said, "[Mattinson] is a Disney legend. A bona fide Disney legend." Hall also added that the dog breed they modeled Legend after is a Bernedoodle (a cross between a Bernese mountain dog and a poodle), but they referred to him as a "Burny-doodle" behind the scenes while making the film.

"Strange World" opens exclusively in theaters on November 23, 2022.