Chloe’s journey also takes her to the ancient city of Chihuahuas, ruled by Monte (Placido Domingo), where the diminutive dogs have created a canine utopia, complete with a catchy mantra. The wise leader of the ancient breed tells her she is “tiny but mighty” and gives her the kind of “find your bark” pep talk we’ve come to expect from a Disney film. But it’s done with a wink and nod and an endearing zaniness that will have audiences chanting “no mas!” with the little warriors.

They’re Tiny But Mighty

Lopez is the owner of three real-life Chihuahuas, one rescued, one bought, and one born to the other two. “Tiny but mighty” neatly summarizes the dogs in Lopez’s experience. “They’re small but they think they can take anyone on. I’ve seen my dogs in a dog park where I have to put them in a car because they want to beat up everyone in the park. They’re like, ‘Let me out there. Let me out there.’”

Working with dogs was a new experience for Piper Perabo. “I didn’t realize there would be more than one for each dog. You think there would be as many dogs as there are characters. The dog that played Chloe, Angel, she can’t do everything, so there has to be the swimming Chloe, the jumping Chloe, There’s five different Chloes, although there’s one main one.” Manolo Cardona agreed, “You have to be patient, working with dogs, you never know what they’re going to do. You have to be aware and you have to work for them. Actually, they’re the main characters. We’re just there to support them.”

The dogs brought their own attitude on set. Lopez described a photo shoot with Rusco, in which they were supposed to be at a spa. “He had his paws in water. He was getting a manicure and we were both sitting there with cucumbers over our eyes, kinda relaxing with cucumbers. After the take, they were looking for the cucumbers,” said Lopez, “He ate his cucumbers while they were resetting the camera.” Perabo remembered another example of canine mind-set. The crew brought in huge tubes to pump in air conditioning to the set. “Frank, the pug, would climb inside the air conditioning tube,” said Perabo, “One day Jamie [Lee Curtis] climbed in with Frank. It was much more comfortable.”

A Movie with Heart

The animals delivered pooch panache, and the director delivered an extremely child-friendly flick. The film avoids off-color wise-cracks that so often accompany supposed children’s films, not even giving in to the temptation of a pee joke. Although the movie does have a bad guy, the fear factor is dialed way down. When the dogs fight, they’re more bark than bite. There is a gentle human romance, but all the kissing is left to the dogs.

For a movie about talking Chihuahuas, the film does an excellent job tugging at viewer’s heartstrings. The plight of little lost Chloe, the constancy of Papi, and the faithfulness of Delgado add up to surprising amount of emotion. While it won’t win any Oscars, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is a movie with heart that parents can enjoy along with their kids.

Starring Drew Barrymore, George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis and Piper Perabo, Walt Disney Pictures' Beverly Hills Chihuahua releases in theaters nationwide on Friday, October 3, 2008.  Click here for more information.