What movies have the song who let the dogs out

Who?! Who?! Who?! Who?! Who?! Right, now that we’ve got that out of our system… Many movies rely on songs to set mood, and there are some songs that are probably relied upon too often – what we like to call soundtrack staples.

We just couldn’t go past the Baha Men and their party anthem that has nothing to do with dogs that go woof. Not that this has stopped several soundtrack compilers from going the completely literal route, as in most of the examples down the page that all feature the song.

What may surprise some is that it’s actually a feminist anthem decrying male catcallers, which was originally released in 1998 under the title Doggie by Trinidadian artist Anslem Douglas. He stated in an interview on his website that “It’s a man-bashing song”.

As well as movies, Who Let the Dogs Out (which really should have a question mark after it) has also been a TV staple, from The Simpsons to South Park and beyond. Then there are the simple references to or riffs on the titular phrase, and… look, we’ll stick to movies here, OK?

As for the song itself, Who Let the Dogs Out was a huge worldwide hit, topping the charts in Australia and New Zealand and even winning a Grammy and a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award.

Here’s the original video:

…and here’s the ‘Barking Mad Mix’ video that Australians saw:

Here are the movies in which WLTDO has made an appearance:

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000)
Arguably ground zero for the spread of Who Let the Dogs Out, the song featured both in a scene involving Tommy’s best animal friend Spike’s lust for a poodle and over the end credits, just to drum it home further. Not surprisingly, it also made it onto the soundtrack album.

Bubble Boy (2001)
Written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, who went on to write most everything Illumination have done from The Lorax through to the Despicable Me flicks, this silly rom-com about a boy, a girl and a bubble wouldn’t sit atop Jake Gyllenhaal’s CV, but it was a good vessel for letting the dogs out again.

Men in Black II (2002)
Well, this is our favourite movie use of the song, as doggy-like Agent Frank can’t help having a bit of a singalong while waiting in the car for J.

The Shaggy Dog (2006)
Dang, we’d forgotten that this Tim Allen remake of the 1959 Disney thing even existed. Who knows, maybe he has too? Anyway, it’s the tale of a bloke who periodically turns into a sheepdog. It’s fair to say that the stretch to include Who Let the Dogs Out wasn’t a particularly big one.

The Hangover (2009)
Whoa, it was actually used more in the right context here!

Wyjazd integracyjny (2011)
A Polish production, this comedy’s title translates roughly as “Integration Trip”, and is a tale of a corproate retreat at a spa hotel that gets somewhat out of control…

The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)
This sequel to the 2018 made-for-home movie that you can possibly guess the title of saw Goldie Hawn join Kurt Russell as Father Christmas in a tale that, at some point, let the dogs out…

Check out our other Soundtrack Staples here.