The Ugly Dachshund

Mark and Fran's house is full of dachshunds. Fran breeds them and a new litter has arrived. The vet also hands them an orphaned Great Dane puppy, and it grows up among the dachshunds. The problem is this: the dog thinks it is a dachshund. Once it reaches the size of a grown Great Dane it goes on behaving that way, doing everything the small dogs do, and the house comes apart. Norman Tokar directs. Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette take the leads. The production is Walt Disney's. The source is a book by G. B. Stern. The humour is physical and rests entirely on the dogs; the longest section takes place at a dog show, where everything is expected to go wrong. The human side is weak; the argument between husband and wife runs in the shape of the family comedies of the period and holds no surprise. It belongs to Disney's run of live action family films in the sixties, when many pictures of the same construction were made. Who it is for: viewers who like dog films and classic Disney family comedy, and anyone watching with children. Who it is not for: the script is very simple, the wife stays inside a type, and the humour is mild by present measure.