Wilby Daniels, a successful lawyer running for District Attorney, suddenly finds himself being transformed into an English sheepdog. Somehow he has to keep his change a secret and find just what is causing it, all the while eluding the local dog catcher.
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Powerful
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Typical Disney 70's fare with the usual cast (Jones, Conway, Wynn) associated with the studio at the time, here focusing on the kid from the original "Shaggy Dog" 1959 movie, all grown up (Jones) and still having issues with his canine transformations. Crooked senator Wynn is determined to get his hands on the magic ring that will enable the metamorphosis, but predictably, the old dog has a few new tricks up his sleeve to counter every attempt.Conway plays the ice-cream vendor caught up in the calamities, Vic Tayback as a racketeer in cahoots with Wynn, and Dick Van Patten has a minor role as Wynn's chauffeur. The sultry Suzanne Pleshette plays Jones' domestic retreat, despite having little to offer the film, still adds a much needed spark.No surprises, it's inoffensive (a bit of gun-play, but no actual violence) slapstick comedy that would appeal to the young family audience.
When his house is repeatedly robbed, Dean Jones (as Wilby) receives no assistance from the local authorities; so, he decides to run for District Attorney. Complicating his run is the reemergence of a magical ring from his teenage years - which turns him into an on again/off again shaggy dog.This movie is the first sequel to Walt Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" (1959). Wilby Daniels, the teenager from the first film (Tommy Kirk), has grown up, and has a family of his own: Suzanne Pleshette (as wife Betty) and Shane Sinutko (as son Brian). None of the original film's leading actors appear in either flashback or cameo. "The Shaggy D.A." attempts to explain more about the reasons for the change, raising more questions than it answers.This movie has a few funny moments, helped immensely by Tim Conway - there are a lot of other 1970s TV performers to pick out, which can be fun. But the film is a dog, compared to the original. The "special effects" from the first Shaggy progress surprisingly little, and look worse in color. The charming interacting performances of Mr. Kirk and the original's young characters is gone. *** The Shaggy D.A. (1976) Robert Stevenson ~ Dean Jones, Tim Conway, Suzanne Pleshette
Dean Jones and Tim Conway make this the most thrilling and hilarious Shaggy Dog movie of all time. Some of it is a bit wacky, but not ridiculous and that just adds to the fun and humor. It's not exactly a direct sequel to the original 1959 Shaggy Dog, but that doesn't hurt it at all. Personally I find the original one to be rather boring, frustrating, and confusing, but this movie is all out fun. Some parts are so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. I haven't seen any of the latter Shaggy Dog movies except for the new one with Tim Allen, which is OK, but not as good as this one, I can't see any Shaggy Dog movie being better than this.
Just kidding (As if anyone could not figure out-- whether they've seen the movie or not-- how it will turn out).Like one of the other people who commented above, I was a kid (6) when this movie came out, and for some reason this is one of the movies that sticks in my mind along with Gus, Boatniks, and the '66 Batman, when I think back on the movies I saw at that age. So Shaggy DA has a built-in nostalgia factor as far as I'm concerned, and maybe for others my age, but anyone else would probably be bored to tears. The pie-fight had a little spark of energy, but watching this now mainly just serves to remind what low standards "family entertainment" had in the 70s. It's really amazing, today, to look back on this kind of stuff-- Shaggy DA, Pete's Dragon, that "Goin Cocoanuts" thing the Osmonds put out-- and think: Good Lord, was that really the best they could do?