GurlyIamBeach
Instant Favorite.
SpecialsTarget
Disturbing yet enthralling
Catangro
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
mike48128
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!
gcd70
From regular kids flick director Robert Stevenson ("Bedknobs and Broomsticks", "Blackbeards Ghost", "Mary Poppins" and two Herbie films) came this better than average comedy about a prospective District Attorney who suffers an unfortunate curse that turns him into a shaggy sheep dog periodically.Dean Jones and the support cast (including Suzanne Pleshette) have fun with this one even though they never set the world on fire. Tim Conway provides great light relief as a bewildered ice-cream man.Oh, you've gotta hand it to the animal wranglers. Was to be Robert Stevenson's last cinematic release.Sunday, September 6, 1998 - Video
jaybabb
This is not a true sequel to the 1959 original starring Tommy Kirk as a teen-aged Wilby Daniels. By that I mean it doesn't continue the same story line. This time, Dean Jones is the adult Wilby Daneils. When his house is robbed-not once-but twice-he decides enough is enough and decides to run for DA.From the outset Wilby is faced with two problems-first, is to try to defeat the incumbent DA-Honest John Slade(Keenan Wynn). John Slade is anything but honest-he is allowing crooks off the hook by not prosecuting them or letting them off easy. One of these crooks is Eddie Roschak(Vic Tayback-in a much more realistic portrayal of a bad guy than in "No deposit, no Return").Wilby's Second and much more serious problem-is that the "Borger" ring has been stolen from the museum-and whenever someone reads the inscription on the ring-Wilby is transformed in to a shaggy dog-that belongs to "Tim-the ice cream man"(Tim Conway). THe dog's name is "Elwood" Wilby's Wife is Betty(Suzanne Pleshette)and they have a son, whom I call the wisecracking "Brian"(Shane Sinutko). His wife becomes his campaign manager.John Slade gets hold of the ring and tries to blackmail Daneils out of the race by threatening to keep reading the inscription on the ring over & over again to keep Daniels as a dog. Of course he ignores the warning the museum curator gives-if you read the inscription too many times-you may turn into a dog your self.Wilby, Brian & Tim are on a mission to get the ring back from Slade and his gang of crooks. Do they succeed? You will need to see the film to find out.The pie fight is so funny. There are plenty of funny moments and gags in this movie. This is one of the better comedies offered by Disney in the 70's.So, why do I vote 8 instead of 10? Well-the movie doesn't answer the questions I have: 1. Why is it that Wilby Daneils is turned into a dog himself? Why not someone else? 2. Does Daneils descend from the Borger Family, and is he a victim of a family curse? I know that in the 1959 original-Daneils finds the ring and he reads the inscription and turns into a dog. That maybe the answer-but the fact remains-not everyone who reads the inscription turns into a dog. I think there must be something else-a family trait or curse or something that only happens to Daniels and no one else.Overall, this is a real good movie with a fine cast and directed by Disney's Ledgendary director Robert Stevenson.
mobile707
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?
