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.

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

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.