The Ugly Dachshund

I first saw The Ugly Dachshund before I owned or shall I say a longhaired dachshund owned me. After seeing the movie the second time, I realized the dachshunds did not need extra training to totally upset a household. A delight to all dog lovers and dachshund enthusiasts in particular. Although the title pooch is a great dane, it is a "doxie" movie delight.

Here it is, forty years later, and I could talk about Disney's minor effort in The Ugly Dachshund, a bland little quickie of a family movie that features not a single fresh idea or character. It does have cute dachshunds (which I appreciate) and a great dane (two votes from my wife and daughter; no taste there!), Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, and Charlie Ruggles.

The story is unimportant and, unfortunately, is not very well pieced together; usually live-action features from Disney in the 60's and 70's were pretty tightly plotted. The movie just has one opportunity after another for the dogs to destroy the best efforts of humans. It's all so dumb and gentle and uninvolved that you'll want to slap a blue ribbon for mediocrity on the side of your TV--Blandest in Show!

But who cares, anyway? It has Suzanne Pleshette. I watched the whole movie and griped about the dozen minutes or so lopped off by Hallmark for a two hour time slot. That meant there was footage of Pleshette missing! Throughout the movie, she appears in one lovely outfit after another, looking like a gift from Heaven (and she falls on a Japanese fellow at one point--he's laying on his back after collapsing from his fear of the great dane--and she's got these tight pants on and . . . ).

Wooeee . . . was I gone long?

Just leave it to me to smut up a review of a Disney movie!

By the way, when Pleshette falls on the Japanese guy, he has this little grin on his face that made me think he went to the director and told him to forget paying him for the day--it was all worth it.

Disney films always have an animal, a child or someone suffering. This film was no exception, as it's another dog movie. This is a very wholesome film too, starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. It's also a very comical film too.

One of the more memorable scenes I remember that makes this a very 60s film and more wholesome is a scene in the couples bedroom, depicting two single beds. You don't see that anymore, but it was prevalent in that era of morality.

The ugly dachshund that the title refers to is Brutus, a great dane who gets into all sorts of mischief while growing up with a litter of dachshunds. Great fun for the entire family, without provocative situations, language or violence.

A little too repetitive at times, but 'The Ugly Dachshund' still entertains to a suitable level.

The plot is somewhat nonexistent, all of this film's perks come with its silliness, humour and acting - all of which are more than decent. Dean Jones & Suzanne Pleshette are fun in their respective roles of Mark & Fran. Charlie Ruggles (Pruitt) & Kelly Thordsen (Carmody) are alright too.

The animals are as cute as you would expect, everything involving them is very silly and even nonsensical in moments. If you just switch your brain off and enjoy the madness that ensues then you'll have a fine time.

If this was on for longer than 93 minutes then I would've certainly rated it lower. However, as it isn't, I feel it's right to class it as good.

Dean Jones' second film for Walt Disney came via this minor but lively family comedy co-starring another Disney regular, the late Suzanne Pleshette (as his wife) – plus veteran comic Charlie Ruggles (appropriately cast as their vet {sic}) and soon-to-be popular Asian actor Mako (as a cowardly caterer). Although the plot sticks strictly to formula, dog lovers should be able to get a satisfactory amount of enjoyment out of this lightweight farce about a Great Dane, who being raised with a litter of dachshunds, creates all manner of chaos when he grows too large for their company and, besides, suffers from identity crisis at the most inopportune moments (namely a competitive dog show). In fact, apart from the likable pair of leads, the film's trump card is the various slapstick sequences that involve the naïve but fiercely protective Great Dane chasing the amiably anarchic dachshunds around the house (especially during an all-important garden party). Apart from the Asian caterers, a regular victim of the Great Dane's harmless ferocity is an overzealous cop who, in the film's most amusing non-canine incident, gives Jones the mother of all tickets.