Sure, the human stars of the Oscar-tipped silent movie The Artist might be getting a lot of attention in the press, but the real hero of the movie is their canine companion, Uggie.
We're not the only ones to think that way, of course. Realising the easiest way to get publicity for their movie, the producers of The Artist have been touting the happy hound around to get his photo taken and do a few tricks too.
For proof, check out this photo of the little fella standing with his paw on a Golden Globe award and this video (above) of US chat show host Ellen Degeneres playing with him live on-air.
Arriving on a skateboard, the cute tyke then walks on his hind legs, dances (in a way) with Ellen and eventually gets a little shy when his trainer kisses him on the nose.
Afterwards, Uggie gets "shot" and "dies" - which reminds us of a video gallery we did recently...