There’s a little bit of Haliburton County in the recently-released A Very Jonas Christmas Movie.
Fresh off their appearance in Frankenstein, the canines of Winterdance Dogsled Tours make an appearance in the Disney+ flick.
Tanya McCready said the connection to the latest movie came out of Frankenstein – with many familiar faces on set.
They filmed for the Christmas movie in January 2025.
Asked about the difference between the two, she said, “as opposite as it could be. In Frankenstein, they’re trying to create this outdoor world and they want the epic landscapes of a frozen lake in North Bay and sunsets and all this stuff.
“And this set, it was like we were recreating winter, which, of course, last winter we had an epic winter. There was snow everywhere, but yet they created their winter indoors so it was very controlled.”
She said the first thing they wanted was to ensure the dogs could pull a sled on fake snow. They went the first day to a Toronto studio and Michaela McCready-DeBruin did a test run with no problems. There was a practice day as a stunt double, then a filming day at Heritage Studios.
“They were awesome. We literally drove the truck right in through the stage door and parked right outside the big room they turned into a winter wonderland. The dogs just stayed on their carpets and met everybody going in and out of the stage.” She said people took selfies with the dogs. “It was a great day for everyone.”
When it comes to choosing the dogs, she said they select the best leaders. Piper and Stirling were lead dogs in both movies. Also, they knew the dogs from Frankenstein would be comfortable on the Jonas Brothers set. The others on this one were Sydney and Tolkay. McCready said the caterers offered the dogs anything they wanted to eat, including bacon and steak.
As to future projects, McCready added, “you just never know what’s coming.”
