The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney movie about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed into a Old English Sheepdog by a spelled ring of the Borgias, and was the first ever Walt Disney live-action comedy. It starred Fred MacMurray, Tommy Kirk, Jean Hagen, Kevin Corcoran, Tim Considine, Roberta Shore, and Annette Funicello. 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".
The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten, who also created an earlier Disney film icon, Bambi.
The Shaggy Dog was one of the top movies of 1959, and actually grossed higher than Ben-Hur.[citation needed]
Walt Disney Productions filmed a successful sequel in 1976 called The Shaggy D.A. which starred Dean Jones, Tim Conway, and Suzanne Pleshette. In 1987, a made-for-TV movie called The Return of the Shaggy Dog continued the adventures of the now-adult Wilby Daniels; although also a sequel to the original film, it did not share any continuity with the Dean Jones version. The Shaggy Dog was also remade as a 1994 TV movie.
In 2006, Disney released a "remake" of the movie with an entirely different story and characters, unrelated to the original trilogy. To tie-in with the theatrical release of the 2006 film, the original 1959 movie was re-issued in the USA as a special DVD labelled THE WILD & WOOLLY EDITION, which featured the movie in two forms; one in the original black and white, the other a colorized version. However, in the UK, the 1959 movie has only ever been made available on Disney DVD in black and white.
Tagline: The Funniest Shaggy Dog story ever told! Hello Dad... the funniest thing happened!
Cast
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, Franceska Andrassy, 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 YET 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 the 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.
Wilby steals Buzz's car and pursues the spies. Mr. Daniels, Buzz and Moochie follow him and the police end up chasing everyone. The spies attempt to leave via boat, but 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.
Mr. Daniels and Chiffon are declared heroes, Franceska leaves for Paris without her evil adoptive father and former butler (both of whom have been presumably 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.
Novelization
While the movie itself is based on Salten's The Hound of Florence, a novelization of the movie published by Scholastic in 1967 made some surprising changes to the plot. First, Funicello's character Allison was removed entirely, and her name is not even listed among the movie's principal performers, despite her status as a Disney icon. 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; this was no doubt done to make the plot more suitable to young readers.
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