The original Rintintin, of Hollywood fame, was rescued from a bombed out kennel in Lorraine, France, with his mother and siblings in World War I . The American soldier who found them, US Air Corporal Lee Duncan, chose a male and female puppy. Others battalion members took the mom and remaining pups. Rintintin and his sister, Nénnette, were named after tiny French cloth dolls worn to ward off danger in 1918.