Review: The Shaggy Dog (1959) (DMC #28)

Happy Friday, Disnerds! We hope you joined us last night in watching the 28th film in the challenge, The Shaggy Dog (1959). Our synopsis is below to catch you up to speed, or you can scroll down for our main review.

Synopsis

Wilson Daniels, a retired mailman, absolutely hates dogs because of running afoul of them during his career, and because they make him itch and his eyes water. He complains about this to his wife Frida, as well as about the dangerous inventions of his oldest song Wilbur “Wilby.” Wilby and his younger brother Montgomery “Moochie” accidentally launch Wilby’s latest invention, a missile interceptor through the basement and roof of their house. Meanwhile, a new family has moved in next door. Wilson is horrified by the family’s sheepdog, Chiffon. Wilby and his friend, Buzz, are taken in by the attractive daughter, Francesca, who distracts them from their rivalry over Allison, a girl across the street. The two boys volunteer to escort Francesca to the museum to run an errand for her father, Dr. Andrassy. While at the museum, Wilby gets separated from the other two (who leave without him) and meets a former acquaintance, Professor Plumcutt, who tells Wilby about medieval shape-shifters like the Borgia family. Wilby accidentally overturns a box of jewels on his way out and unwittingly leaves the museum with a Borgia ring stuck in the cuff of his pants. When he discovers the ring back at home, he tries to translate the Latin inscription, unwittingly reciting an incantation that turns him into Chiffon. Horrified, Wilby returns to the museum to ask Professor Plumcutt to help. The professor doesn’t know much but suggests an act of heroism might undo the curse.

In the morning, Moochie discovers Wilby’s transformation and helps hide him from their father, but Wilson sees dog-Wilby in the kitchen and chases him out. The neighbor’s butler, Stefano, recognizes dog-Wilby as Chiffon and brings him inside, where Francesca scolds him while someone named Mr. Thurm arrives to speak with her father. While Stefano tries to lock dog-Wilby in a closet so “Chiffon” won’t escape again, Wilby transforms back into a boy and is able to escape. Later that night, Wilby and Buzz go to the dance with Allison and Francesca, with Buzz trying to convince both girls they’re his date. While dancing, Wilby begins to transform back into a dog. Moochie notices and helps him escape, with Buzz and Francesca trying to catch the dog they believe to be Chiffon. Dog-Wilby calls home from a phone booth and asks his dad if it’s okay to stay the night at Buzz’s house to cover his absence from the house that night. He then returns to Francesca’s house where he uses his dog form to prevent Buzz from making a move on Francesca. Francesca, not wanting “Chiffon” to get out again, asks her father to keep an eye on him. While in Dr. Andrassy’s study, dog-Wilby overhears him talking about a missile plant and an undersea hydrogen missile—he’s a spy!

Dog-Wilby escapes through the laundry chute and tells Moochie about the spies. Moochie tries to tell their father about the spies but he doesn’t believe him. Moochie leads dog-Wilby into the house to talk to their father who upon seeing his son in his current state passes out. The boys try to tell the police, but the police don’t trust Wilby since the last tip he shared sent them after the innocent school dean, and are convinced Wilby is just wearing a costume as a prank. Stefano again finds dog-Wilby and drags him to the neighbors’ house. Now that Wilson is over the shock, he believes his sons, and goes with Moochie to the authorities, but they don’t believe him—instead thinking he must be the spy who’s created a fictitious dog to lay the blame on. Meanwhile, dog-Wilby is spying on Stefano and Dr. Andrassy discussing what to do about Francesca when he turns back into a boy and is captured by the spies. Dr. Andrassy forces Francesca to go with him, Stefano, and Thurm to the docks. Moochie, who denied knowing what his father was talking about in order to get away, watches the spies leave and rescues Wilby who has once more transformed back into a dog. Dog-Wilby steals Buzz’s car to chase after the spies. Buzz send the cops after dog-Wilby while Buzz and Moochie convince the recently-returned Wilson to follow after them. Meanwhile, the police chief sends additional cops to chase after the first unit after they report chasing a dog-suspect. After a hilarious chase, dog-Wilby makes it to the docks and jumps onto the spies’ boat. In the scuffle, Francesca is thrown from the boat and dog-Wilby jumps in after her. His heroic act turns him back into a human, and the real Chiffon appears on the beach, leading Francesca to believe it was her dog, not Wilby, that saved her. Francesca goes back to Paris and leaves Chiffon with Wilby’s family. Chiffon gets a medal for the rescue while Wilson (who now loves dogs) and Moochie are given credit for the tip to the authorities and are featured in a photo with the dog for the newspaper. Wilby and Buzz, attempting to renew their affections for Allison, instead discover that she’s found someone else to date in their absence.

Thoughts Before Watching

Kevin: I’ve heard of The Shaggy Dog but I could never quite remember what it was supposed to be about. I think I kept confusing it with a Disney Channel Original Movie called You Lucky Dog. I also know that The Shaggy Dog was remade by Disney in 2006, but I’ve never seen either version, so I’m not really sure what this is about. It’s interesting that this is apparently all black and white, though, after the promotional image made it seem like it was in color.

Megan: I’ve never seen any of the films in this franchise before, so I’m not sure what to expect other than it stars the same boys as Old Yeller and Fred MacMurray, whom I’ve seen before (he actually kind of reminds me of my grandfather…).

Thoughts After Watching

“There’s nothing wrong with girls. They’re character-building.”

Megan: By this point I’m not really surprised when these older films are sexist, like how Frida in this film is portrayed as somewhat clueless about her sons’ missile interceptor project. However, I did appreciate the small moments in this film that had a feminist hint. For example, when Frida tells Wilson “There’s nothing wrong with girls. They’re character-building.” In the context of this film and this time period I found her comment hilarious! For one thing, studies today show that when an organization has a mix of men and women on a leadership board, the organization performs better economically than organizations with only men (usually white men at that). In simplistic terms, adding women makes things better. It could almost be said that in this instance in the film, Frida is implying that having more interaction with girls and women would not only benefit her boys, but perhaps her husband as well. It’s hard to say if the girls in this film really help change the character of any of the boys, but I still appreciated that line, even while disliking the implication that men need to rely on women to “improve” them—it’s not our job, guys!

Disney's The Shaggy Dog 1959 Wilby Buzz Francesca Allison go to the dance.png

Megan: I say this film has a “feminist hint” because really that’s all it has. It nearly passes the Bechdel test because both Allison and Francesca talk to each other. Initially their conversation is about the “tradition” of the tap-out dance as they fight over Wilby, but then Allison genuinely tells Francesca she hopes she finds her dog—the two of them united in their dislike for Buzz. Of course, Chiffon is also a boy, so technically the girls never talk about anything that isn’t a boy or in reference to a boy, which means it fails the Bechdel test, but this small exchange about the dog felt like such a rare moment in films of this time that I wanted to call attention to it. Throughout the rest of the film, the two girls are unfortunately portrayed as objects of desire in the eyes of both Buzz and Wilby, with Buzz coming off as the creepier and more misogynistic of the two (especially with his “harmless prank” of tricking both girls into thinking they’re his date for the dance when they both clearly prefer Wilby, though Wilby is not blameless here as he goes along with deceiving the girls). However, I greatly appreciated that by the end of the film Allison found a boy who would (we presume) treat her better than Wilby or Buzz while Francesca credited her dog for the rescue, not Wilby or Buzz. But seriously, why did Francesca have to give up her dog? She loved that dog! In her mind, Chiffon saved her life! Why would she give him up? And to Wilby’s family no less? It seems more like a convenient plot device to wrap up Wilby’s family’s male storylines than anything else, with Wilson suddenly liking dogs and Moochie getting the dog he always wanted.

Disney's The Shaggy Dog 1959 Moochie Chiffon Wilson pose for newspaper photo.jpg

Who’s story is this, really?

Megan: While the bulk of the action in this story happens to Wilby, it’s hard to truly identify him as the protagonist since his character doesn’t really undergo a significant change. As Kevin points out later in this post, Wilby’s character development is a little shoddy since his inventiveness is never utilized beyond the introductory scenes. It’s easy to see that his father undergoes a change—he starts out vehemently against dogs and finally ends up cuddling one—but other than constantly changing from boy to dog throughout the film, Wilby’s ultimate transformation is hard to pin down. At best you might say that his relationship with his father has been repaired, but we never really see that moment on screen. We can only infer the repaired relationship based on how Wilson suddenly believed his son and did everything to help Wilby stop the spies. However, the beginning of the film doesn’t really establish that the relationship was all that bad to begin with. Sure, Wilby was basically grounded by his father, but Wilby blew a hole in the roof of the house, so I’m pretty sure most in the audience felt that punishment was justified. On the whole, it seems to me that the entire adventure didn’t teach Wilby anything, which might explain why the film, while funny, hasn’t made a lasting impression like other Disney films.

The Perplexing Professor Plumcutt

Megan: This is a small thing, but it really bothered me that Professor Plumcutt seemed so nonchalant about Wilby’s transformation. He had just told Wilby that this was his life’s work, and that he was one of very few people to believe in shape-shifting. Why is he not more excited to study Wilby’s case?! He’s seriously just going to tell the boy-now-dog to run along and enjoy the spell while it lasts? He’s not going to figure out how Wilby managed to transform? He’s not going to do more to help him change back? He wasn’t even shocked when a dog started talking to him. I guess I just wanted a bit more enthusiasm for someone who’s declared himself a fan of shape-shifting magic.

Disney's The Shaggy Dog 1959 Professor Plumcutt.jpg

Some amusing and comical moments…

Kevin: The Shaggy Dog has some cute and funny moments. The comical timing is on point, and the jokes aren’t totally reliant on the decade in which the film is made, so they don’t feel dated.

Megan: Well…there is one joke I recall that is both dated and racist. When the boys first bring Chiffon back to Francesca and introduce themselves, they think she only speaks French and thus speak in overly simplified cave-man-like English. Francesca, speaking perfect English, tells her butler that these “two nice Indian boys” brought her dog back. While I loved Francesca using the joke to indirectly call out the boys’ ridiculous and offensive behavior, calling them “Indians” felt like adding racism on top of racism. I don’t think that joke would fly in a film today. Oddly enough, portraying Dr. Andrassy as the villain probably would still be acceptable today, even if it is still racist to continually place non-American characters in villainous roles. But anyway, continue…

Kevin: If anything, the film has more of a sitcom feel to it and plays out a lot more like a television series. I’ve heard of Fred MacMurray (who plays the role of Wilby’s father, Wilson) from my parents, but I am not familiar with any of his work. I understand that he’s considered a comedy icon. I can see where that’s coming from; the character Wilson has some of the best and funniest moments all through the film, all from his initial passionate dislike of dogs to the way he coddles up to Chiffon at the end. The other actors/character play off so well together, such as the scene at the police station where Moochie doesn’t confirm the story he told his father, or how Frida chides her husband for his aversion to dogs by insisting it’s all in his head. There’s also just the fact that Wilby’s turning into a dog doesn’t seem to bother anyone or really cause inconvenience. Wilby is hardly unnerved, going about his day in dog form by brushing his teeth and getting into pajamas without any trouble, and Moochie is simply adorable for telling Wilby that he’s better as a dog (I mean, what little boy wouldn’t prefer a dog over an older brother that mostly just annoys you?) and that he intends to keep Wilby as his pet. Outside the dialogue, the movie also delivers humor via action. There’s one particular humorous shot of Wilby jumping behind some plants as he starts transforming into a dog, and the way he jumped was so silly! I swear Tommy Kirk had to have been connected to cables or he had some impressive jumping ability, because that arc was incredible. Additionally, the moments when Buzz is trying to catch “Chiffon” (really Wilby at the time) for Francesca results in an amusing chase scene that leaves Buzz the worse for wear. The humor, clever dialogue, gags, and fun character interactions are what make the film entertaining.

… but a clunky plot and forgotten elements.

Kevin: The drawback, however, is the plot. I really don’t know what identity this movie is going for. It’s trying to be both a comedy and a spy film, and I know that these two genres have often been mixed together with great results. I’m just not sure if I like how it was done here. Dr. Andrassy’s illegal activities just suddenly turn up out of nowhere and aren’t given much explanation. He wasn’t exactly a likable character from the start, so I suppose that may have been the film’s way of setting up his role as the antagonist, though it still happened just a bit too quickly. There are also elements of the film that are pretty much thrown by the wayside, such as Wilby’s inventions and the nature of the spell and how to break it. We are told that Wilby is a scientist in the making, a young man who loves to invent things. I really thought this trait was going to carry over throughout the film, but that didn’t happen. The film set up Wilby’s inventions as dangerous and the result of a boy who is misunderstood by his father, but I think it was a missed opportunity to not have Wilby try to invent something to break the spell, or to help take down the spies even while being trapped in dog form. As for the spell, Professor Plumcutt describes methods to break the spell, none of which are given any further development except for the suggestion that Wilby perform a selfless act. At the film’s climax, Wilby rescues Francesca from her father, and this act finally breaks the spell. It’s true, but only initially, that Wilby was acting heroically here; the moment is punctured as soon as Wilby decides to attack Buzz for trying to take credit for saving Francesca. This ruins the selflessness of his act. All throughout the film these two boys have been fighting over the affections of Francesca and/or Allison, and here at the end they are still doing it. Quite frankly, the two boys never earn the respect from either girl, and they don’t deserve it. I give Allison kudos for her “neighborhood children” quip when referring to Wilby and Buzz, because that’s exactly what they act like despite being young men on the verge of adulthood. Yes, teens act immature, but a little bit of character growth really would have been nice here.

Kevin: Earlier I said this movie played out like a television sitcom; I don’t know if the source material had enough to turn it into a mini-series, yet I think doing so could have kept the comedy and spy genres intact. It could allow both elements to breathe just a little bit more and function independently, thus allowing for some better character growth for Wilby.