Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I just learned that Kevin Corcoran ("Moochie") died in 2015 in his middle 60's. He was a Disney child actor that played in several notable Disney Movies including "Pollyanna", "Swiss Family Robinson", this film and many others. He was also a regular on the (original) Mickey Mouse Club, "Spin and Marty" and (surprisingly) many non-Disney productions as well. He quit acting at age 15 and became a respected film and TV director for many decades. Yes, he even directed "Murder She Wrote" episodes. Not standing on nostalgia, both this film and "The Absent-Minded Professor" were well-colorized and are more enjoyable because of it. Readily available from Amazon and "the usual" mail-order companies, bundled with the "Shaggy D.A." sequel. Annette steals the show. She was "dressed down" to make her look younger and less grown-up. It didn't work. I had a "crush" on her, too. The well-known plot involves awkward foreign intrigue and teenage romance as Annette completes with new girl on the block who even doesn't look remotely French and has a beautiful shaggy sheep dog. A magical "Borgia Ring" is involved along with a "real" sheepdog that disappears every time the "trans muto" dog transformation occurs. A silly sub-plot involves foreign spies. The best scene involves Moochies' brother (Tommy Kirk) in shaggy sheepdog fur, leading the police on a wild-goose car chase. (yeah, the dog is driving.) Note: "The Shaggy D.A." with Dean Jones is quite good, also. (I don't care for the 2006 Tim Allen remake at all.) A priceless classic Walt Disney Production.

I saw lots of Disney animated films from different eras as a kid, back in the '90s, but never heard of this particular live action flick from Walt Disney Productions. I remember when the remake starring Tim Allen came out in 2006 and I saw a trailer for it, but I didn't know that film was a remake at the time. I still haven't seen that version, and have known for sometime now that it's not all that popular, but now I have finally seen the original 1959 version of "The Shaggy Dog", with a cast featuring Fred MacMurray and several cast members of "The Mickey Mouse Club". I didn't think this movie would be amazing family entertainment, since it doesn't seem to have that kind of reputation, but I was expecting it to be a 7/10 for me, which it is.Wilby Daniels is a teenager who likes to conduct experiments in the basement, but his father, Wilson, does not like this, and after Wilby accidentally launches a missile from the basement, Wilson tells him to clear out all his experiments. A new family moves into the neighbourhood, and Wilby and his friend, Buzz Miller, soon meet the daughter of the family, Franceska Andrassy. They also meet the family's sheep dog. Wilby, Buzz, and Franceska go to the museum together, but Wilby is separated from the other two. He meets Professor Plumcutt, a man he used to know, who tells him about his beliefs in ancient magic, including shape-shifting. Wilby ends up accidentally bringing home a mystical ring, which turns him into the Andrassy dog! This is not a good thing, since his father hates dogs! He sneaks out to tell Plumcutt what has happened, and learns from him that he is now under a spell, which will turn him back and forth from human to dog, and the only way to break this spell is through a selfless act of heroism! As a comedy, this 1959 live action Disney flick is far from consistent, but I did laugh a number of times, starting around the beginning when Wilby has his missile in the basement and accidentally launches it from there, obviously putting holes in every floor above! More laughs come after Wilby turns into a dog, including the scenes where Officer Hanson hears the teenager talk to him while in dog form. I didn't usually laugh that hard, but those parts were definitely exceptions, and were not the only ones! The acting in "The Shaggy Dog" is mostly not that impressive, and the plot isn't the most interesting, but in both cases, I've certainly seen worse. The dance sequence is maybe a bit tedious, and during parts like that, it was somewhat of a struggle for me to stay into it, but eventually, that changed, as the story gets better and the suspense builds up! For the rest of the film, I had no trouble staying into it, even if it wears out its welcome just a BIT towards the end. So, while by no means a masterpiece, this original "Shaggy Dog" probably still has enough to please the family.

This one had me laughing so hard,, i seriously cannot remember laughing so hard at a movie in a long long time,, for starters,, the look on the cop's face throughout the movie was priceless. Fred MacMurray was great a the dad,, as he had all of those years on My Three Sons. Anette Funicello was also pretty darn good in this,, i loved the dog driving through town and waving at the police officers, as he went by,, then you got the dog telling his dad that he really is his son,, and the shaking the hand bit,, just put me on the floor laughing,, i kinda wish that Hollywood would make something more like this in the future,, even if it's only once a year,, go black and white,, get back to old school, this movie was just a pure heartfelt joy to watch, and i think that everyone should at least watch this once for some good natured laughter.

There seems to be some confusion about exactly what place in film history The Shaggy Dog has. First and foremost it is not Walt Disney's first live action film, but it is the first live action big screen comedy that he did. It is also the first film that Disney did with Fred MacMurray starring.For MacMurray this was a big film. His career was in the doldrums at that point and this film brought him to his final phase of his career as the star of family oriented comedies. He got a television series, My Three Sons, after this and that together with the Disney films kept him steadily working for the next fifteen years.Though MacMurray is the star along with Jean Hagen as his wife, the film's title role is played in part by Tommy Kirk. Kirk is a young teenager with a lot of angst and an abiding interest in the space program. So much so he constructs his own rocket in his basement and it has an unscheduled launch to open the film. A generation later, this bit was copied in Family Matters by Steve Urkel.Anyway he's got a healthy set of hormones as well and a rivalry with the smooth talking Tim Considine down the street. Both are hot to trot for Annette Funicello, but when Roberta Shore shows up with father Alexander Scourby, both go after her as well.Roberta's the only weakness in the film. For someone who is foreign, she has one cheesy accent and at times just drops it altogether. She's also got a large shaggy dog named Chiffon.Anyway while at a museum young Mr. Kirk gets a hold of an enchanted ring and repeats a spell that causes him to enter the body of the neighbor's shaggy dog. And he discovers that in fact Scourby and his confederates are spies. What follows after as Kirk periodically changes from talking dog to teenager is still pretty hilarious. Fred MacMurray gets a lot of laughs as the man who gets the credit for exposing the spy ring which son Kirk can't really claim.James Westerfield, one delightful character actor in everything he does, makes the first of three appearances as Officer Hanson, the much put upon patrol cop in this, The Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber. Best moment in the film is when Kirk as The Shaggy Dog steals Westerfield's police vehicle in pursuit of the villains.I'm still amazed at how well the ancient special effects still work in this film. Disney took some meticulous care in doing the scenes with the dog. You really do think The Shaggy Dog is driving those vehicles and not some guy dressed in a dog costume. Good thing it was a large Shaggy Dog though, a Chihuahua would not have worked as well.Still working well today.