History Film / TheShaggyDog

--> '''Police Chief:''' Would you kindly have my car sent round? ''[{{beat}}]'' [[SuddenlyShouting That is unless it's been stolen by a purple kangaroo wearing a checkered vest!]]

The movie was a huge hit at the time of its original release in 1959. It spawned a 1976 sequel (''The Shaggy D.A.'' where a 40 year old Wilby [[TheOtherDarrin played by]] Creator/DeanJones runs for district attorney and his curse comes back), a TV remake in 1994 (starring Creator/ScottWeinger, Ed Begley Jr and Creator/JamesCromwell) and [[InNameOnly a very loose theatrical remake]] in 2006 starring Creator/TimAllen.

* {{Crossover}}: Officers Hanson and Kelly would appear again in ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor''.

* CarChase: The climax of the film, with the spies, with a kidnapped Francesca in tow, trying to make for the harbor to flee the country in possession of Section 32, while Wilby (in dog form) pursues in Buzz's swiped hot rod. He in turn is followed by Officers Hanson and Kelly. They pull over Wilby, but he resists and takes off their police car to resume the chase, leaving Hanson and Kelly to follow in the hot rod! Meanwhile, when the two officers report to their superiors at the precinct that their car had been stolen by a shaggy dog, the disbelieving superiors then send in other cops to pursue and apprehend them, only for the police chief to have to take matters into his own hands and join the chase when ''they'' report seeing a dog driving a police car where Hanson and Kelly should be! All the while, Buzz and Moochie coerce a dazed Wilson into following after everyone else, both for their own reasons: Moochie to save Wilby and stop the spies and Buzz to get his car back.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Either one. After her adoptive father's arrest for espionage, Francesca goes back to France. As for Allison, Wilby and Buzz discover she has a new boyfriend and denounces her former lovers as mere children.

* SpinningNewspapers: After the spies are arrested, the next scene a brief montage of newspapers spinning up to the camera, with headlines all blaring about the spy ring, which was broken by a shaggy dog.

* CarChase: The climax of the film, with the spies, with a kidnapped Francesca in tow, trying to make for the harbor to flee the country in possession of the government secret they now have, while Wilby (in dog form) pursues in Buzz's swiped hot rod. He in turn is followed by Officers Hanson and Kelly. They pull over Wilby, but he resists and takes off their police car to resume the chase, leaving Hanson and Kelly to follow in the hot rod! Meanwhile, when the two officers report to their superiors at the precinct that their car had been stolen by a shaggy dog, the disbelieving superiors then send in other cops to pursue and apprehend them, only for the police chief to have to take matters into his own hands and join the chase when ''they'' report seeing a dog driving a police car where Hanson and Kelly should be! All the while, Buzz and Moochie coerce a dazed Wilson into following after everyone else, both for their own reasons: Moochie to save Wilby and stop the spies and Buzz to get his car back.

* BittersweetEnding: In quite a few aspects. Wilby manages to stop the spies and rescue Francesca, resulting in the spell being broken, but unfortunately, it's the dog Chiffon who gets all the attention and credit. Then there's the fact that Francesca is taken back to France after her adoptive father is arrested, but she gives Wilby's brother Moochie the dog as thanks and Wilson has finally warmed up to dogs. And finally, Wilby and Buzz make up and agree to both share Allison... but she has found another boyfriend.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Wilby is the one who saves the day and stops the spies, but his dad gets the credit, and he doesn't even get to be in the background when the paper is taking his dads picture.

** Moochie when he see [[spoiler: Wilby start to change into a dog again at the dance.]]
** Wilby when he sees he's turned back into a human while still in the room with Francesca's father and butler [[spoiler:making plans to steal section 32.]]

* ARareSentence: The scene where Officer Hanson reports Wilby (in dog form) for stealing Buzz's car is full of them. Shortly after this, the police of chief gets one too.
--> '''Police Chief:''' Would you kindly have my car sent round? ''[{{beat}}]'' [[SuddenlyShouting That is unless it's been stolen by a purple kangaroo wearing a checkered vest!]]

* CarChase: The climax of the film, with the spies, with a kidnapped Francesca in tow, trying to make for the harbor to flee the country in possession of the government secret they now have, while Wilby (in dog form) pursues in Buzz's swiped hot rod, followed by Officers Hanson and Kelly. They pull over Wilby, but he resists and takes off their police car to resume the chase, leaving Hanson and Kelly to follow in the hot rod! Meanwhile, when the two officers report to their superiors at the precinct that their car had been stolen by a shaggy dog, the disbelieving superiors then send in other cops to pursue and apprehend them, only for the police chief to have to take matters into his own hands and join the chase when ''they'' report seeing a dog driving a police car where Hanson and Kelly should be! All the while, Buzz and Moochie coerce a dazed Wilson into following after everyone else, both for their own reasons: Moochie to save Wilby and stop the spies and Buzz to get his car back.

** Wilby when he sees he's turned back into a human while still in the room with Francesca's father and butler [[spoiler: making plans to steal section 32.]]
** Wilson gets one combined with that of betrayal when [[spoiler: Moochie is forced to tell the police that he knows nothing about his father's stories about Wilby turning into a dog to avoid being questioned further and be delayed from rescuing his brother.]]

* TheUnreveal: It's never specifically revealed what exactly the mysterious Section 32 contained that the spies were after, other than it was for the space program. But based on the police officers' shocked expressions upon hearing that Wilson knows of it, it probably was something of vital importance.

* BittersweetEnding: In quite a few aspects. Wilby manages to stop the spies and rescue Francesca, resulting in the spell being broken, but unfortunately it's the dog Chiffon who gets all the attention and credit. Then there's the fact that Francesca is taken back to France after her adoptive father is arrested, but she gives Wilby's brother Moochie the dog as thanks and Wilson has finally warmed up to dogs. And finally, Wilby and Buzz make up and agree to both share Allison... but she has found another boyfriend.
* BumblingDad: Also doubles as JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Wilson isn't academically challenged by any means nor a bad person deep down, but often falls short of being a good parent to his boys. At the beginning of the film, after Wilby's mishap with the missile interceptors, he makes Wilby get rid of all his science experiments and his pet animals, and tells him to get off the roof he's fixing before the falls off... [[SkewedPriorities and ruins the ''flowerbeds'']], but he also doesn't like his son taking a girl to the dance (having never dated till he was 20). Not to mention he's rather harsh towards his other son Moochie's fondness towards dogs. He gets better in the end.

* CarChase: The climax of the film, with the spies, with a kidnapped Francesca in tow, trying to make for the harbor to flee the country with the government secret they now have, while Wilby (in dog form) pursues in Buzz's hot rod, followed by Officers Hanson and Kelly. They pull over Wilby, but he resists and takes off their police car to resume the chase, leaving Hanson and Kelly to follow in the hot rod! Meanwhile, when the two officers report to their superiors at the precinct that their car had been stolen by a shaggy dog, the disbelieving superiors then send in other cops to pursue and apprehend them, only for the police chief to have to take matters into his own hands when ''they'' report seeing a dog driving a police car where Hanson and Kelly should be! All the while, Buzz and Moochie coerce a dazed Wilson into following after everyone else, Buzz to get his hot rod back and Moochie to save Wilby and stop the spies.

* TheUnreveal: It's never specifically revealed what exactly the mysterious Section 32 contained that the spies were after, other than it was for the space program. But based on the police officers shocked expressions upon hearing that Wilson knows of it, it probably was something of vital importance.

* CreatorInJoke: When jumping off a high place, [[ActorAllusion Tim Allen's character]] shouts "[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory To infinity... and beyond!]]"

* CourtroomAntic: During the climax, Dave resorts to this to expose Kozak's crimes -- he mocks the other man and growls at him like a dog (which causes Kozak's own canine instincts to kick in and for him to growl back). Portrayed realistically in that the judge is unwilling to put up with this and tries to have Dave removed... except at the last minute, Dave throws the baliff's baton and tells Kozak to fetch, triggering Kozak's ''own'' partial transformation and thus revealing that he's involved in illegal and unethical experimentation.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Moochy for Wilby. Taken UpToEleven when Wilby becomes a dog; Moochy doesn't want him to change back because he finally has a dog. He even tries to put a ''dog collar'' on him!

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Through genetic engineering.

** The main antagonist, Kozak shares some similarities with Francesca's stepfather Dr. Valasky (both travel to a foreign country to steal something valuable to exploit for themselves) and also John Slade from ''The Shaggy DA''. (as a corrupt politician who attempts to dispose of the protagonist in his dog form to prevent him from thwarting his plans).

* InvoluntaryShapeshifter[=/=]VoluntaryShapeshifter: The shapeshifting is triggered by his heart rate, which is accelerated when he does dog stuff (like playing fetch). Dave learns to take advantage of this.

* SideEffectsInclude: Lance Strictland needs one of Dr. Kozak's serums to be able to walk and stay alive, Korak shows Strictland the genetically experimented snake in the laboratory, the snake rejuvenated thanks to the canine serum, but had side effects like; having a dog's tail and canine behaviors, which makes Strictland angry upon discovering this, as he does not want to end up as the snake.
* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion to the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made him go from a dying old snake to a strong young snake]], [[SideEffectsInclude but which had side effects, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors]]. The snake is very good, nice and friendly. He helps Dave out of his cage, when Dave asks him to find the keys.
* TakeThat: From [[{{ComicStrip/MotherGooseAndGrimm}} Mother Goose And Grimm]].
* NotListeningToMeAreYou: Frequently throughout the movie with Rebecca towards Dave. At one point she manages to get him to finally pay attention by slamming a stack of books on his desk.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: A chimpanzee and a capuchin monkey are among the many animals that have been imbued with canine DNA. They both help Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an old snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, [[SideEffectsInclude but which had side effects on the snake, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors]]. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Averted. The Snake is very docile and friendly.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, [[SideEffectsInclude but which had side effects on the snake, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors]]. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, [[{{SideEffectsInclude... but which had side effects on the snake, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors}}]]. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, [[{{SideEffectsInclude...}} but which had side effects on the snake, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors]]. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, [[SideEffectsInclude... but which had side effects on the snake, such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors]]. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, but which had side effects on the snake such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, whi[[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, but which had side effects on the snake such as having a dog's tail and canine behaviors. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

* SnakesAreSinister: Has a notable aversion with the snake, due to the dog serum, [[FountainOfYouth which made the snake go from an elder snake to a young snake]], thanks to the serum, but which had side effects on the snake such as having a dog's tail and have canine behaviors. The snake is very friendly and helps Dave during the climax.

The movie was a huge hit at the time of its original release in 1959. It spawned a 1976 sequel (''The Shaggy D.A.'' where a 40 year old Wilby runs for district attorney and his curse comes back), a TV remake in 1994 (starring Creator/ScottWeinger, Ed Begley Jr and Creator/JamesCromwell) and [[InNameOnly a very loose theatrical remake]] in 2006 starring Creator/TimAllen.