The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)
Encyclopedia
The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney
film
about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed
into an Old English Sheepdog
by an enchanted ring of the Borgia
s. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten
. It is directed by Charles Barton
and stars Fred MacMurray
, Tommy Kirk
, Jean Hagen
, Kevin Corcoran
, Tim Considine
, Roberta Shore
, and Annette Funicello
. It was the first ever Walt Disney live-action comedy
.
Walt Disney Productions filmed a successful sequel in 1976 called The Shaggy D.A.
which starred Dean Jones
, Tim Conway
, and Suzanne Pleshette
. It was followed by a 1987 TV-movie sequel, a 1994 TV-movie remake and a 2006 theatrical remake (see Legacy section below).
Wilby and his self-centered rival Buzz Miller take a new French girl, Francesca Andrassé, to the local museum. Wilby gets separated from the other two, who leave without him. Wilby ends up in a new wing, where he encounters former acquaintance Professor Plumcutt (whose newspaper Wilby used to deliver), who tells him all about mystical ancient beliefs, including the legend of the Borgia family, who used shape-shifting as a weapon against their enemies.
On the way out, Wilby collides with a table of rings, ending up with one in the cuff of his pants which he finds later. It is the cursed Borgia ring, and when he reads the inscription on it, he turns into Chiffon, Francesca's shaggy Bratislavian sheepdog. Confused about what has happened, Wilby as a dog goes to Professor Plumcutt, who says he has invoked the Borgia curse upon himself, which can only be broken through a heroic act of selflessness. After getting chased out of his own house by his father (who hasn't realized the dog is actually his older son), Wilby has a series of misadventures, as he constantly switches back and forth between human and dog forms. Only Moochie and Professor Plumcutt know his true identity when he is a dog, as Wilby has spoken to them both in dog form. Finally, he goes to a local dance (as a human) and while dancing turns into a dog. He runs out quickly, and goes home.
The next day, Wilby (as a dog) and Moochie are talking when Franceska's butler Stefano comes out and drags Wilby into the house. Stefano and Dr. Valasky (Franceska's adoptive father), discuss plans to steal a government secret, and Wilby (still a dog) overhears. Unfortunately for him, he transforms into human Wilby right in front of the spies and is discovered, but not before he heard Dr. Valasky expressing his wish to get rid of his own daughter.
The spies capture him and force Franceska to leave with them, leaving Wilby (human) bound and gagged in the closet. Moochie sneaks into the house after Dr. Valasky, Stefano and an unwilling Franceska leave, and discovers Wilby, as a dog, bound in the closet. Wilby reveals the secret to his dumbfounded father, who goes to the authorities, only to be accused of being either crazy or a spy himself.
When Buzz appears at the Valasky residence to take Franceska on a date, Wilby (as a dog) steals Buzz's hot rod. Buzz reports this to Officers Hansen and Kelly, who are in disbelief until they see the shaggy dog driving Buzz's hot rod. Mr. Daniels and Moochie follow Buzz and the police, who end up chasing everyone. The spies attempt to leave via boat, but the police call in the harbor patrol
to apprehend Dr. Valasky and stop his boat. Wilby (dog form) swims up and wrestles with the men, as Franceska gets knocked out of the boat. He then saves her life and drags her ashore, breaking the curse. The final transformation occurs when a net drops over Buzz and Chiffon, who growls at Buzz. Wilby suddenly reverts to human form, shouting at Buzz, who is dumbfounded that Wilby suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Mr. Daniels and Chiffon are declared heroes, Franceska leaves for Paris without her evil adoptive father and former butler (both of whom have been arrested for espionage
; and she gives Chiffon to the Daniels family for them to keep as thanks. Since Mr. Daniels has gotten such commendation for foiling a spy ring due to "his love of dogs", he can no longer have his dog-hating attitude, and allows Moochie to care for Chiffon as he wanted a dog all along. Wilby and Buzz decide to forget their rivalry over Francesca and resume their friendship.
and even shocking in 1957 when AIP
released their horror film, I Was a Teenage Werewolf
, one of the studio's biggest hits. The Shaggy Dog betrays its successful forebear with Fred MacMurray's classic bit of dialogue: "Don’t be ridiculous — my son isn’t any werewolf! He’s just a big, baggy, stupid-looking, shaggy dog!"
The movie was originally intended as the pilot for a never-made TV series and advertised as "the funniest shaggy dog story ever told," although it is not in fact a story of that genre. The director was Charles Barton
, who also directed Spin and Marty
for The Mickey Mouse Club
. Veteran screenwriter Lillie Hayward also worked on the Spin and Marty serials, which featured several of the same young actors as The Shaggy Dog.
Veteran Disney voice actor Paul Frees
had a rare on-screen appearance in the film – for which he received no on-screen credit – as Dr. J.W. Galvin, a psychiatrist who examines Wilby's father (MacMurray). Frees also did his usual voice acting by also playing the part of the narrator who informs the audience that Wilson Daniels is a "man noted for the fact he hates dogs."
.
of the movie published by Scholastic eight years later in 1967 made some interesting changes to the plot. First, Funicello's character Allison was removed entirely, and her name is not listed among the movie's principal performers. As a result, the rivalry between Wilby and Buzz is greatly reduced. Also, Dr. Valasky is changed into Franceska's uncle, not her adoptive father.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
into an Old English Sheepdog
Old English Sheepdog
The Old English Sheepdog is a large breed of dog which was developed in England from early herding types of dog. The Old English Sheepdog has very long fur covering the face and eyes...
by an enchanted ring of the Borgia
Borgia
The Borgias, also known as the Borjas, Borjia, were a European Papal family of Italian and Spanish origin with the name stemming from the familial fief seat of Borja belonging to their Aragonese Lords; they became prominent during the Renaissance. The Borgias were patrons of the arts, and their...
s. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten
Felix Salten
Felix Salten was an Austrian author and critic in Vienna. His most famous work is Bambi .-Life:...
. It is directed by Charles Barton
Charles Barton
Charles Barton was a film and vaudeville actor and film director. He won an Oscar for best assistant director in 1933. His first film as a director was the Zane Grey feature Wagon Wheels.-Career:...
and stars Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, Tommy Kirk
Tommy Kirk
Thomas Lee "Tommy" Kirk is a former American actor, and later a businessman.-Disney years:Kirk was discovered by talent agents at the age of thirteen in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California...
, Jean Hagen
Jean Hagen
-Early life:Hagen was born as Jean Shirley Verhagen in Chicago, Illinois, to Christian Verhagen , a Dutch immigrant, and his Chicago-born wife, Marie. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was 12 and she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School...
, Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran is an American director, producer, and former child actor. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, frequently as an irrepressible character with the nickname Moochie...
, Tim Considine
Tim Considine
Timothy Daniel "Tim" Considine is a former American child actor and young adult actor who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
, Roberta Shore
Roberta Shore
Roberta Jymme Schourop , better known as Roberta Shore, is an American actress and performer, most famous for her youthful television and movie roles in the 1950s and early 1960s....
, and Annette Funicello
Annette Funicello
Annette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
. It was the first ever Walt Disney live-action comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
.
Walt Disney Productions filmed a successful sequel in 1976 called The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 film sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait, based on the original film and inspired by the long out-of-print Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.It starred Dean Jones as the adult...
which starred Dean Jones
Dean Jones (actor)
Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977, most notably The Love Bug.-Early years:...
, Tim Conway
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
, and Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
. It was followed by a 1987 TV-movie sequel, a 1994 TV-movie remake and a 2006 theatrical remake (see Legacy section below).
Plot
Wilby Daniels is constantly misunderstood by his father, Wilson. Wilson thinks Wilby is crazy half the time because of his elder son's often dangerous inventions. As a retired mailman who often ran afoul of canines, he has a hatred of dogs, and he can't understand why his younger son, Montgomery "Moochie" wants a dog so badly.Wilby and his self-centered rival Buzz Miller take a new French girl, Francesca Andrassé, to the local museum. Wilby gets separated from the other two, who leave without him. Wilby ends up in a new wing, where he encounters former acquaintance Professor Plumcutt (whose newspaper Wilby used to deliver), who tells him all about mystical ancient beliefs, including the legend of the Borgia family, who used shape-shifting as a weapon against their enemies.
On the way out, Wilby collides with a table of rings, ending up with one in the cuff of his pants which he finds later. It is the cursed Borgia ring, and when he reads the inscription on it, he turns into Chiffon, Francesca's shaggy Bratislavian sheepdog. Confused about what has happened, Wilby as a dog goes to Professor Plumcutt, who says he has invoked the Borgia curse upon himself, which can only be broken through a heroic act of selflessness. After getting chased out of his own house by his father (who hasn't realized the dog is actually his older son), Wilby has a series of misadventures, as he constantly switches back and forth between human and dog forms. Only Moochie and Professor Plumcutt know his true identity when he is a dog, as Wilby has spoken to them both in dog form. Finally, he goes to a local dance (as a human) and while dancing turns into a dog. He runs out quickly, and goes home.
The next day, Wilby (as a dog) and Moochie are talking when Franceska's butler Stefano comes out and drags Wilby into the house. Stefano and Dr. Valasky (Franceska's adoptive father), discuss plans to steal a government secret, and Wilby (still a dog) overhears. Unfortunately for him, he transforms into human Wilby right in front of the spies and is discovered, but not before he heard Dr. Valasky expressing his wish to get rid of his own daughter.
The spies capture him and force Franceska to leave with them, leaving Wilby (human) bound and gagged in the closet. Moochie sneaks into the house after Dr. Valasky, Stefano and an unwilling Franceska leave, and discovers Wilby, as a dog, bound in the closet. Wilby reveals the secret to his dumbfounded father, who goes to the authorities, only to be accused of being either crazy or a spy himself.
When Buzz appears at the Valasky residence to take Franceska on a date, Wilby (as a dog) steals Buzz's hot rod. Buzz reports this to Officers Hansen and Kelly, who are in disbelief until they see the shaggy dog driving Buzz's hot rod. Mr. Daniels and Moochie follow Buzz and the police, who end up chasing everyone. The spies attempt to leave via boat, but the police call in the harbor patrol
Water police
Water police, also called harbour patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables or river police, are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organisation, who patrol in water craft...
to apprehend Dr. Valasky and stop his boat. Wilby (dog form) swims up and wrestles with the men, as Franceska gets knocked out of the boat. He then saves her life and drags her ashore, breaking the curse. The final transformation occurs when a net drops over Buzz and Chiffon, who growls at Buzz. Wilby suddenly reverts to human form, shouting at Buzz, who is dumbfounded that Wilby suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Mr. Daniels and Chiffon are declared heroes, Franceska leaves for Paris without her evil adoptive father and former butler (both of whom have been arrested for espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
; and she gives Chiffon to the Daniels family for them to keep as thanks. Since Mr. Daniels has gotten such commendation for foiling a spy ring due to "his love of dogs", he can no longer have his dog-hating attitude, and allows Moochie to care for Chiffon as he wanted a dog all along. Wilby and Buzz decide to forget their rivalry over Francesca and resume their friendship.
Production notes
In the late 1950s, the idea of an adult human turning into a beast was nothing new, but the idea of a teenager doing just that in a movie was considered avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and even shocking in 1957 when AIP
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
released their horror film, I Was a Teenage Werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager and Whit Bissell as the primary adult. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen, and was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures...
, one of the studio's biggest hits. The Shaggy Dog betrays its successful forebear with Fred MacMurray's classic bit of dialogue: "Don’t be ridiculous — my son isn’t any werewolf! He’s just a big, baggy, stupid-looking, shaggy dog!"
The movie was originally intended as the pilot for a never-made TV series and advertised as "the funniest shaggy dog story ever told," although it is not in fact a story of that genre. The director was Charles Barton
Charles Barton
Charles Barton was a film and vaudeville actor and film director. He won an Oscar for best assistant director in 1933. His first film as a director was the Zane Grey feature Wagon Wheels.-Career:...
, who also directed Spin and Marty
Spin and Marty
Spin and Marty was a popular series of television shorts that aired as part of ABC's Mickey Mouse Club show of the mid-1950s produced by Walt Disney. There were three serials in all, set at the Triple R Ranch, a boys' western-style summer camp. The first series of 25 eleven-minute episodes,...
for The Mickey Mouse Club
Mickey Mouse Club
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
. Veteran screenwriter Lillie Hayward also worked on the Spin and Marty serials, which featured several of the same young actors as The Shaggy Dog.
Veteran Disney voice actor Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
had a rare on-screen appearance in the film – for which he received no on-screen credit – as Dr. J.W. Galvin, a psychiatrist who examines Wilby's father (MacMurray). Frees also did his usual voice acting by also playing the part of the narrator who informs the audience that Wilson Daniels is a "man noted for the fact he hates dogs."
Cast
- Fred MacMurrayFred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
as Wilson Daniels - Jean HagenJean Hagen-Early life:Hagen was born as Jean Shirley Verhagen in Chicago, Illinois, to Christian Verhagen , a Dutch immigrant, and his Chicago-born wife, Marie. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was 12 and she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School...
as Frida Daniels - Tommy KirkTommy KirkThomas Lee "Tommy" Kirk is a former American actor, and later a businessman.-Disney years:Kirk was discovered by talent agents at the age of thirteen in a production of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California...
as Wilby Daniels - Annette FunicelloAnnette FunicelloAnnette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
as Allison D'Allessio - Tim ConsidineTim ConsidineTimothy Daniel "Tim" Considine is a former American child actor and young adult actor who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
as Buzz Miller - Kevin CorcoranKevin CorcoranKevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran is an American director, producer, and former child actor. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, frequently as an irrepressible character with the nickname Moochie...
as Montgomery 'Moochie' Daniels - Cecil KellawayCecil KellawayCecil Lauriston Kellaway was a South African-born character actor.Cecil Kellaway spent many years as an actor, author, and director in the Australian film industry until he tried his luck in Hollywood in the 1930s. Finding he could get only gangster bit parts, he got discouraged and returned to...
as Professor Plumcutt - Alexander ScourbyAlexander ScourbyAlexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
as Dr. Mikhail Valasky - Roberta ShoreRoberta ShoreRoberta Jymme Schourop , better known as Roberta Shore, is an American actress and performer, most famous for her youthful television and movie roles in the 1950s and early 1960s....
as Franceska Andrassy - James WesterfieldJames WesterfieldJames A. Westerfield was an American actor.Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he starred in more than 50 films during his lifetime...
as Officer Hanson - Strother MartinStrother MartinStrother Martin was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."-Early life:Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo,...
as Thurm - Forrest LewisForrest Lewis-Career:In the mid-1950s, Lewis appeared briefly as a deputy in the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield. He also guest starred with Maudie Prickett in the episode "Brief Glory" of the syndicated western series 26 Men...
as Officer Kelly - Ned Wever as Security Agent E.P. Hackett
- Gordon Jones as Police Captain Scanlon
- Jacques Aubuchon as Stefano
- Paul FreesPaul FreesPaul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
as Opening narrator/Dr. J.W. Galvin, the psychiatrist
Reception
The Shaggy Dog was one of the top movies of 1959, and actually grossed higher than Ben-HurBen-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
.
Novelization
While the movie itself is based on Salten's The Hound of Florence, a novelizationNovelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
of the movie published by Scholastic eight years later in 1967 made some interesting changes to the plot. First, Funicello's character Allison was removed entirely, and her name is not listed among the movie's principal performers. As a result, the rivalry between Wilby and Buzz is greatly reduced. Also, Dr. Valasky is changed into Franceska's uncle, not her adoptive father.
Sequels
- The film was followed in 1976 with a theatrical sequel, The Shaggy D.A.The Shaggy D.A.The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 film sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait, based on the original film and inspired by the long out-of-print Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.It starred Dean Jones as the adult...
, starring Dean Jones as a 45-year-old Wilby Daniels. - In 1987, a two-part television movie set somewhere in the 17 years between the events portrayed in The Shaggy Dog and The Shaggy D.A., entitled The Return of the Shaggy DogThe Return of the Shaggy DogReturn of the Shaggy Dog is a 1987 two-part television movie midquel to the 1959 feature film The Shaggy Dog, but the character timelines are before that of the 1976 film The Shaggy D.A., all produced by The Walt Disney Company....
, presented a post-Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
Gary KroegerGary KroegerGary Kroeger is an American actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985.Born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kroeger attended Northern University High School and graduated from Northwestern University in 1981. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during Lorne Michaels' hiatus...
as a 30-something Wilby Daniels.
Remakes
- In 1994, the first remake of the film was a television movieThe Shaggy Dog (1994 film)The Shaggy Dog is a comedy television movie. Released in 1994 for ABC's Saturday night Disney Family Movies series , it is the first remake of the original 1959 film.-Plot:...
, with Disney regular Scott WeingerScott WeingerScott Eric Weinger is an American actor, television producer and writer, best known as the speaking voice of Aladdin in Walt Disney's eponymous feature film. Weinger would reprise the role in two direct-to-video sequels, for the Disney Channel television series, and the Kingdom Hearts Series. He...
as a teenaged Wilbert 'Wilby' Joseph Daniels, and Ed Begley, Jr.Ed Begley, Jr.Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...
playing a part similar to the one originated by Fred MacMurray in 1959. - In 2006, Disney released a remake of the movieThe Shaggy Dog (2006 film)The Shaggy Dog is a 2006 film by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the second remake of the 1959 film of the same name, which was first remade as a television film in 1994....
with Tim AllenTim AllenTim Allen is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his role in the sitcom Home Improvement...
as a 50-something Dave Douglas. This film has an entirely different story, characters, and transformation plot device unrelated to the original trilogy. To tie-in with the theatrical release of the 2006 remake, the original 1959 movie was re-issued in the USA as a special DVD labeled "The Wild & Woolly Edition," which featured the movie in two forms: one in the original black and white, the other a colorized version. In the UK, however, the 1959 movie has only ever been made available on Disney DVD in black and white.