The Curious Case of P.H. Vazak: A Dog's Oscar Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay

The Unlikely Nominee

Of the many curious stories around the Oscars, one of the oddest is in regard to a dog receiving a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. With awards season already on the go, there is no better time to remember historical records, fun stats and facts, and great Oscar stories during the long wait for the biggest night in the film industry. The 2024 Academy Awards will take place on March 10, and as is usual, there is plenty of excitement ahead of the date. Even though the nominations won’t be announced until January 23, the Golden Globe nominations have already spawned speculations over possible nominations and, of course, potential fun facts and records.

Child Tarzan Being Protected By His Ape Mom in Greystroke

The Academy Awards have been celebrated since 1929, which means that the 2024 edition will be the 96th ceremony. Throughout its almost one hundred years of history, many films, movie stars, directors, and other members of the entertainment industry have been part of particular moments and stories. However, while nearly every year's predicted winners and nominees suggest someone will mark a new milestone in a different category, as is the case with some 2024 Oscars predictions, there is one particular event surrounding the 1985 Best Adapted Screenplay category that is unlikely to ever be repeated.

Christopher Lambert As Tarzan With Apes In Greystoke

A Dog Named P.H. Vazak

The Tarzan Movie Earned A Nomination For Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, the 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes was a rather complicated project that took several years to finish, but ended up receiving a total of three Oscar nominations. Ultimately, the film didn't win any Academy Awards; however, the Best Adapted Screenplay nomination placed it in history books. P.H. Vazak, who was actually a dog, was nominated for co-writing Greystoke.

The real writer behind the dog's credit was the pet's owner himself, Robert Towne, who was a writer involved in the project from its early beginnings. Towne started writing Greystoke in the late '70s and was, at one point, supposed to direct the film. At that time, he had already written several critically acclaimed movies, including two of Jack Nicholson's best films, Chinatown and The Last Detail. Despite being an extremely talented screenwriter, Towne had some trouble ending Greystoke's script. When Warner Bros.' leadership changed in 1980, they got Towne to release the script rights to the studio in exchange for financial help for his directorial debut Personal Best.

The Real Writer Behind the Dog's Credit

Once Personal Best was released in 1982 and turned out to be a box office failure, Warner Bros. decided to look for another director for Tarzan's adaptation project. At that moment, Hugh Hudson came into the picture. The new director worked alongside scriptwriter Michael Austin to reduce Towne's 170-page script in half, and to give the story a proper ending. Keeping that in mind, Towne decided that he didn't want to be credited in a film that he wasn't satisfied with and for which he didn't have control over the final product. For that reason, he decided to be credited under his dog's name, spawning one of the most curious events in Oscars history.