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