Dog Unintentionally Recreating Famous Movie Scenes Hailed a 'Star' Online

The internet is filled with famous dogs. From Ollie the labrador to Maxine the corgi, there are few people in the world who don't enjoy watching a cute canine caught on camera.

But Leia the greyhound is the real star. Just like her namesake, Princess Leia, this pup knows how to pose, and has been delighting Twitter with her accidental film recreations.

Leia first went viral in a post shared on Wednesday, 30 March, when her owner Pablo shared a photograph of her yawning that eerily resembles a scene from 1988's Beetlejuice.

Directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice follows Barbara and Adam Maitland, a young married couple who are killed in a car accident.

Upon waking in the afterlife, they are told that they must remain in their house for 125 years, which would be fine—if their home wasn't purchased by the wealthy and obnoxious Deetz family. And, it's not long before the Maitlands try to drive them out.

In the scene Leia is unintentionally recreating, the Maitlands distort themselves to appear much scarier. Barbara stretches her face, opens her jaws wide and moves her eyes to sit atop her tongue, and the result is unsettling, to say the least.

The resemblance between Barbara and Leia was not lost on fellow Twitter users, with the image garnering 25,000 likes and over 4,700 retweets.

But it turns out this isn't the only time that Leia has unleashed her inner movie star. Pablo shared other examples of Leia accidentally recreating famous film scenes in their home in Ciudad Real, Spain.

Shots include legendary scenes from The Return of the Jedi (1983), Jaws (1975) and The Cable Guy (1996).

Pablo says he didn't set out to make film recreations with Leia and that the similarities between the images and the movies are entirely coincidental.

He explained: "I'm a cinema fan and sometimes certain photos remind me of certain movie shots.

"I thought about the Beetlejuice and Shining shots, and thought for sure I could review other photos and get some more."

Leia's imitation of the famous "Here's Johnny!" scene from The Shining was particularly popular, receiving almost 3,500 likes and 115 retweets. As was her recreation of Coraline (2009), which racked up over 2,800 likes and 100 retweets.

Twitter loved Leia's movie moments so much that it wasn't long before users started sharing images of their own pets being fabulous.

@eclipsemountain shared a snap of their dog recreating the iconic rose petal scene from American Beauty (1999), while @AlbertuchoSaez posted a picture of his dogs looking ready for action à la Men in Black (1997).

Even a Dobby look-a-like from the Harry Potter film series made an appearance.

Pablo adopted Leia from Somos Galgos, a shelter that specializes in rehoming greyhounds. Most of these greyhounds were formerly owned by hunters for hare chasing and then abandoned when they were no longer needed.

According to Galgos del Sur, a greyhound abandonment charity in the Cordova province of Spain (where hunting is particularly popular), between 50,000 and 80,000 greyhounds are left by owners each year across the country.

Pablo told Newsweek: "I adopted her three years ago, when she was one year old. The name is after Princess Leia, as I'm a huge Star Wars fan.

"Greyhound is a breed used for hunting, as they are really fast, but they have a huge abandonment rate here in Spain when they are not useful for that anymore."

Pablo took the opportunity to remind Twitter users that there are many other dogs waiting to be homed, tagging two local shelters.

He wrote: "I take advantage of the fact that this is spreading to remind you that in @somos_galgos, @SOSGalgos and many other shelters there are many skinny future movie stars waiting to be welcomed or adopted!

"I recommend 10/10."

Twitter user Stradvaria agreed, commenting: "She is a real movie star!

"Greyhound adoption is at a standstill right now. Like everything, they became fashionable and it is already seen that fashion has passed. The girls from Rescued pets, in Fuensalida (Toledo), know it well..."