Friday, February 2, 2018

Dear Abby - Favorite Dog Movies: The Shaggy Dog (1959)

Dear Friends,

Today I would like to share an older Disney movie called The Shaggy Dog.  This movie, from 1959, was Disney's first live action comedy.  It was based on a novel called The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten, who also wrote Bambi.



The movie starred Fred MacMurray (later seen in My Three Sons) as the father of a boy named Wilby.  Wilby, played by Tommy Kirk, is a boy who loves inventions.  Wilby finds a mysterious ring belonging to the Borgias at a museum and it transforms him into a dog!  Wilby the dog is adventurous -- just like Wilby the teenage boy.  He even enjoys driving an old jalopy!  After a number of fun-loving misadventures, Wilby turns back into a boy ... and his family ends up adopting a dog.  It seems they discovered they loved dogs when he was one!

Here is a photo of Fred MacMurray and Wilby the sheepdog:


This photo shows Tim Considine (who also later appeared in My Three Sons), a dog friend, and Tommy Kirk (Wilby).


Some fun trivia about this movie:

The Shaggy Dog was originally imagined as a TV pilot.

The producer of The Shaggy Dog liked to joke that perhaps The Shaggy Dog inspired My Three Sons:  "Same kids, same dog and Fred MacMurray!"  

The movie was later the inspiration for a Scholastic book for children (1967) and a comic book.

There was a sequel in 1976 starring Dean Jones as a 45 year old version of Wilby.

It was also remade in 2006 with Tim Allen.

Here is a clip from the movie:



Have you seen The Shaggy Dog or the remake?   I would love to hear from you in the comments, below.

I enjoyed visiting with you today and look forward to catching up again next week!

Love,
Abby xoxoxo

9 comments:

Jerry Marquardt said...

I love those Old English Sheepdogs! This movie, although it has been years since I saw it, is most excellent.

RedefiningHERstory: One Blog Post at a Time said...

I used to love this movie when I was a kid! This movie brings back so many wonderful childhood memories!

Brandy Ellen said...

I have heard of this movie but I honestly don't think I've watched it. I will admit, I love those old classics. They were a completely different mentality than the movies (or even shows) you see today!

julie Wunder said...

Ohhhh I used to love this movie when I was a kid. My parents had it on a VHS tape. So fun!

Cristina said...

Oh, never heard of this movie before. It sort of reminds me of Scooby Doo.

mary jingjing lopez said...

This would be fun to watch I havent heard of this movie not even once. I love how they used the cute dog it made the show more fun to watch!

Carrie E Rundhaug said...

I haven't heard of this movie before. It sounds like a really good movie to check out.

Annemarie LeBlanc said...

I have not seen this movie, not even the latest one with Tim Allen. It does look like a nice, heartwarming family movie. I will look for a copy of this!

Abby said...

Thanks, friends! I enjoyed reading your comments.

Abby xoxoxo