Home > Fantasy >

The Shaggy D.A.

The Shaggy D.A. (1976)

December. 17,1976
|
5.8
|
G
| Fantasy Comedy Family

Wilby Daniels, a successful lawyer running for District Attorney, suddenly finds himself being transformed into an English sheepdog. Somehow he has to keep his change a secret and find just what is causing it, all the while eluding the local dog catcher.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Borserie
1976/12/17

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

More
Brendon Jones
1976/12/18

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

More
Sarita Rafferty
1976/12/19

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

More
Francene Odetta
1976/12/20

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

More
symbiotezer0
1976/12/21

I remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. It was fun family movie time for us. Most people don't realize however that this movie is sequel to 2 other movies. The first was "the shaggy dog" followed by (if i recall correctly)"the shaggy dog returns". The character from the first 2 is all grown up in the "shaggy DA". (the Tim Allen remake movie is sort of a combination of the earlier movies.) The original movie is out on VHS and DVD, But I've only seen the 2nd one (old black and white) twice, decades ago on TV -never on home video. It must still be locked in the Disney vault. Hopefully they will release a complete 3 movie set for my daughter's generation to see and enjoy these classic movies.

More
gcd70
1976/12/22

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

More
bkoganbing
1976/12/23

I guess that when Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette got married it wasn't spelled out that there would be no secrets because Dean Jones kept a really big one from his teen years. For what that was and how it turned out one should see the prequel to The Shaggy DA, the famous Walt Disney classic, The Shaggy Dog.To refresh one's memory back then the Dean Jones character of Wilby Daniels was played by Tommy Kirk who because of a cursed ring said to belong to Lucretia Borgia back in the day who allegedly dabbled in the black arts, Kirk would enter the body of a large sheep dog who was owned by the new next door neighbors of his family. When the ring got returned and Kirk performed a heroic act, the curse was lifted.Or so they thought, now Wilby Daniels is played by Dean Jones who now is a lawyer, running for District Attorney against corrupt DA Keenan Wynn and married to Suzanne Pleshette with a son, Shane Sinutko. Just as the campaign gets going the ring is once again stolen from the museum and when the magic words inscribed on the ring are uttered, Jones is shifting from human to canine and back.Eventually chief villain Keenan Wynn gets the ring and he's in control of the situation when he discovers what it does to Jones. It becomes a family project to get that ring back and expose him before the electorate. Also along for the ride is Tim Conway, an ice cream truck vendor whose shaggy dog's body Jones transfers to.The Shaggy DA has a lot of laughs in it and its good entertainment, it doesn't however have the poignancy of the teen angst that Tommy Kirk brought to the original Wilby. It does have the usual cast of Hollywood veterans that the Disney studio always managed to find work for. It's one of the reasons the Magic Kingdom films from the late Sixties and Seventies are a lot of fun, it's like watching some of the classic films from the studio system days, seeing all those familiar faces. I'd still recommend the film, especially to family audiences with younger viewers, but it's not as good as the original.

More
mobile707
1976/12/24

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?

More