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
