The list of movies in which an Australian Cattle Dog appears is lengthy, and some of those roles have been iconic (say, “Dog” from Mad Max?), but in our opinion, the best role an ACD ever had in a movie was only a cameo that lasted for a split-second in pickup truck. If this sounds familiar, you must be a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles fan. As it happens, the film is included on Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies” list, and it’s said to be John Candy and Steve Martin’s favorite film, too.

It took John Hughes only three days to write the first-draft of the screenplay, but he filmed over six hundred thousand feet of film, almost twice the industry average. This made the original cut of the movie three hours and forty minutes long, and eventually it was edited it down to one hour and thirty-three minutes for the theatrical release.

Much of the movie was filmed in Batavia, Erie, and Cattaraugus counties in New York, but night scenes of the infamous highway car fire were shot in central California (fake snow was put on the sides of the roads to make it appear like a Midwest winter). Many of the other highway scenes were filmed on a stretch of the then-unopened U.S. Highway 219 between Buffalo and Springville, New York. The taxi scene was filmed on a stretch of road in Madison, Ohio.

This fun site shares what the actors from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles have been up to in the 30 years since the movie came out, but try as we might, we couldn’t find any information about that Cattle Dog. Still, we thought the movie worth mentioning for anyone who hasn’t seen it and is an ACD owner.