Trailer
Plot summary
Wilson Daniels, a retired mailman who has run afoul of canines, keeps no dogs at home, to the disappointment of his younger son Moochie. Wilbur, called Wilby, the other boy in the house, creates inventions that are often dangerous. Wilby and Buzz Miller, rivals, both court Francesca Andrassy; at a museum she and Buzz go off without him. Wilby meets Professor Plumcutt, whose newspaper he once delivered, and hears the Borgia legend of shape-shifting. A display table of jewelry topples and a Borgia ring lodges in Wilby's cuff; reading the inscription turns him into Chiffon, Francesca's Old English Sheepdog. Plumcutt says only a heroic act of selflessness breaks the curse, and Wilson, not recognizing him, chases him out of the house.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Shaggy Dog (1959)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In June 1955 Walt Disney had no plans to film The Hound of Florence, but when ABC wanted a new TV series he pitched The Shaggy Dog; the network turned him down flat and a hopping-mad Disney told Bill Walsh to make it as a feature instead.
- To make the dog appear to talk, dialogue was written to match the animal's mouth movements, and when the dog would not move its mouth, beef jerky was used.
- Disney producer Bill Walsh called The Shaggy Dog the direct inspiration for the television series My Three Sons, noting they shared the "same kids, same dog and Fred MacMurray".
- The Shaggy Dog was Disney's most profitable film at the time, and it steered the studio into a run of supernatural "gimmick comedies", films that dropped fantastical forces into everyday mid-twentieth century American life, a term used by Disney historian and critic Leonard Maltin.
- Star Tommy Kirk later said the film was meant to be a two-part television show, and that only at the very last minute was it decided to splice the two parts together and release them as a film.
Stills
Similar movies
