The Shaggy D.A.

I saw this back in 1976 and thought it was the funniest movie ever. Of course, I was only 7 at the time. I saw it again recently and of course noticed several things I didn't see the first time. The story is about a young lawyer/family man (Dean Jones) who runs for DA against the corrupt DA currently in office (Keenan Wynn) but the latter gets ahold of a ring which has an inscription that when read, can turn Jones into a sheepdog. The same gag (of Jones becoming a sheepdog at the worst possible time) is repeated a bit too much and most of the gags are obvious and dependant upon banana peel-like slapstick/humor. Dean Jones is a fine actor but he kept playing the same character over and over in the Disney comedies of the 70s. (He never seemed to know what was going on and was constantly the butt of the joke). Not surprisingly, the Disney slapstick films soon wore out their welcome. The Shaggy DA though is one of Disney's better offerings. It features a pretty good cast. Tim Conway as an ice cream man is especially in good form and Vic Tayback adds some life as a mobster who is in cahoots with Wynn. The humor is dated and certainly not aimed at intelligent kids but for the most part, it does deliver with the laughs.

Attorney Wilby Daniels (played by Dean Jones) and his wife Betty (played by Suzanne Pleshette) return to their home and find out that it has just been robbed. After the robbers return a second time to take everything else that they had left, Wilby decides to run for District Attorney so he can clean up the town and lock up the criminals for good.

Meanwhile, the same robbers who broke into his house have also stolen the famous Borgia ring from the local museum. Unfortunately for Wilby, every time someone reads the inscription, he turns into a sheepdog again. This of course, happens at the most inconvenient times, and the result is a silly, family-friendly comedy.

The Shaggy D.A. is a sequel to the 1959 Disney film, the Shaggy Dog. Though it's not quite as funny as the original, there still is a lot to like about this version of the story. The acting is pretty much on par with what we've come to expect from these Disney films, and the characters are pretty interesting, even if they are one-dimensional. The transformation from human to dog doesn't seem to work as well here as it did in the 1959 film, for some reason, but it's fine. If I had a complaint about this movie, it's that it goes a bit long and the same gags are used a few times too many. Other than that, it's nice to find a film that doesn't resort to 7th grade humor that seems to be in every "family" film these days.

The bottom line is this is a decent movie if you'd like to have a good time with the kids, but adults will be a bit bored from it fairly soon. It's not as good as some of the other Disney comedies from the 1960s and 1970s.

Typical Disney 70's fare with the usual cast (Jones, Conway, Wynn) associated with the studio at the time, here focusing on the kid from the original "Shaggy Dog" 1959 movie, all grown up (Jones) and still having issues with his canine transformations. Crooked senator Wynn is determined to get his hands on the magic ring that will enable the metamorphosis, but predictably, the old dog has a few new tricks up his sleeve to counter every attempt.

Conway plays the ice-cream vendor caught up in the calamities, Vic Tayback as a racketeer in cahoots with Wynn, and Dick Van Patten has a minor role as Wynn's chauffeur. The sultry Suzanne Pleshette plays Jones' domestic retreat, despite having little to offer the film, still adds a much needed spark.

No surprises, it's inoffensive (a bit of gun-play, but no actual violence) slapstick comedy that would appeal to the young family audience.

Wiliby Daniels (Dean Jones) grows up to be an attorney and runs for D.A. of a city plagued with petty crime and grand theft auto. In this sequel, the Magical Borgia Ring is stolen by 2 small-time crooks from the museum where is was safely protected in a glass showcase. Soon almost everyone seems to know about the doggy-tranmuto power of the ring, as the Ice Cream Man (Tim Conway) has his sheepdog change several times. It's a mild "werewolf" transformation here and it's very well done and not scary at all. Movie "magic" with a trained dog, Dean Jones in make-up and a talented stuntman in a dog suit. Hans Conried is the eccentric museum curator this time. Suzanne Pleshette is the loyal wife. There's a cute kid, but he doesn't measure up to "Moochie". Co-staring Jo Anne Worley, Dick Van Patten, Vic Tayback, and Keenan Wynn (as the crooked D.A). Pat McCormick plays the bartender. It finishes with a wild car chase and the dog driving the ice cream wagon; somewhat similar to the first film. All the stray dogs are rescued from the dog pound and Wiliby becomes D.A. The dog pound scene might be a bit intense for very small children. George Carlin does some of the doggy voices. Also, there is a surprise "doggy" ending!

Just kidding (As if anyone could not figure out-- whether they've seen the movie or not-- how it will turn out).

Like one of the other people who commented above, I was a kid (6) when this movie came out, and for some reason this is one of the movies that sticks in my mind along with Gus, Boatniks, and the '66 Batman, when I think back on the movies I saw at that age. So Shaggy DA has a built-in nostalgia factor as far as I'm concerned, and maybe for others my age, but anyone else would probably be bored to tears. The pie-fight had a little spark of energy, but watching this now mainly just serves to remind what low standards "family entertainment" had in the 70s. It's really amazing, today, to look back on this kind of stuff-- Shaggy DA, Pete's Dragon, that "Goin Cocoanuts" thing the Osmonds put out-- and think: Good Lord, was that really the best they could do?