Synopsis
"I was a Teen-age boy!"
Through an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at inopportune times and the spell can only be broken by an act of bravery....
1959 Directed by Charles Barton
Through an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at inopportune times and the spell can only be broken by an act of bravery....
Soltando os Cachorros, Quelle vie de chien !, Geremia, cane e spia, Der unheimliche Zotti, El extraño caso de Wilby, Кудлатий пес, Лохматый пёс, Ένας Μαλλιαρός Σκύλος, El perro humano, Felpudo, O Cão Feiticeiro, 섀기 독, Na psa urok, Shaggy ä'de'du de'?
a dog literally drives a car in this film, actually steals a police car and drives off in it
Film #24 of my 100 Day Disney Marathon
letterboxd.com/martinjacob49/list/100-day-disney-movie-marathon/
Before Tim Allen came and devored this project up with a crappy remake, Walt Disney's original Shaggy Dog movie featured a cursed ring, Tommy Kirk of Old Yeller fame becoming the Shaggy Dog, an identical Shaggy Dog owned by an attractive French girl, Annette Funnicello, the other old Yeller kid, Lena Lamont who's sadly underused in this, and Fred MacMurray as a psychotic father who's hatred for dogs goes to the point of willing to shoot them on the spot, even if the dog is his own son.
Also. whever Tommy Kirk turns into the dog, he still talks like a human being for some weird reason. I know that makes…
Plenty of good gags and a quality that seemed to only be present in the live action Disney pictures when Walt was alive. This felt like a classic 50’s sitcom and I’m into it, even if it is a little bloated.
I can't be entirely sure, but I do believe this was the very first movie I ever saw in a theater. I would have been 7 years old, and it was a total thrill. Of course, I went with my mother, which made sitting in the dark theater among strangers bearable. I don't remember much about the movie except it starred one of my very favorite Mouseketeers ... Annette Funicello. I also recall laughing a lot, and it left me with a lasting positive impression of going to the cinema.
Fred MacMurray had two careers. In one of them, he starred in biting Billy Wilder movies and noirs and all kinds of cool shit. But when I was growing up, I only knew his other career: bewildered father/professor/whatever in Disney movies.
"The Shaggy Dog" finds MacMurray as a mailman who is allergic to dogs. He won't allow them in the house, naturally, but he seems upset with the very existence of them even outside his home. One gets the sense that, if he could, he would snap his fingers and rid the world of every canine. But not only does MacMurray not have Thanos powers, his new neighbors own a big, rare dog. This neighbor is also the new curator…
Aptly summarized as a classic boy-meets-girl, boy-turns-into-sheepdog, dad-fires-shotgun-at-sheepdog story, Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" is a mildly amusing fantasy. Starring Fred MacMurray and a cast of other Disney stalwarts, the story layers on a spy ring and car chases to the above narrative. While the story veers toward the preposterous, the production is sound and sometimes spry. A black and white escapade about a white with brown-patches dog, the film offers capable fun.
Whether its better or not at this point the Tim Allen version of The Shaggy Dog is probably the one most people remember, but this is the original version.
I found The Shaggy Dog to be reminiscent of a TV pilot. There is a nuclear family at the centre of the movie and I think the music reminds me a lot of popular TV series from that time.
In the Tim Allen version of the film a middle aged man turns into a dog, but in this version the guy who transforms is a teenager. There are some special effects in order to signal the transformation into the dog. They were probably impressive in their era, but nothing special now.…
85/100
Bro really turned into a dog and then stole a police car. Wild ass movie right here.
W film. Wanted something simple and fun and this definitely delivered, and was actually a legitimately enjoyable film to watch. About 15 minutes too long, but still highly recommend this.
First act is a gothic horror film.
Second act is a coming-of-age story.
Third act is an espionage thriller.
Mind you, this is all in a movie about a talking dog.
1959 Ranked
"I'm not gonna be your dog!"-Tommy Kirk, the anti-Iggy
An almost-Popcorn Classic (sorry Gregg that it's not The Shaggy D.A.) that features an extremely violent Fred MacMurray on an absolute rampage against any and all dogs. It's also a 1959 film with several eerily similar plot machinations as North By Northwest, except replace Cary Grant with a sheepdog with opposable thumbs.
The dog is also a surprisingly good actor.