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Article Archive: Walt Disney's 'The Shaggy Dog' Wins April Blue Ribbon Award

Giving us a feel for the reception The Shaggy Dog received upon its initial release, here is an excerpt from the article, "Walt Disney's 'The Shaggy Dog' Wins April Blue Ribbon Award"; published in the May 18, 1959 issue of the popular industry magazine, BOXOFFICE.



Walt Disney and Buena Vista have a winner in "The Shaggy Dog," live-action fantasy starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, Tim Considine, and Kevin "Moochie" Corcoran with that come-to-life Disney character, the mop-pawed, hairy-eyed English sheep dog, Shaggy.  In an unprecedented - at least in recent months - vote, members of the National Screen Council went all-out in their praise of this, at-long-last, "really-truly." family picture.  Bestowing the Blue Ribbon Award with an accolade-like gesture, a whopping majority has been chalked up for this entry in the April sweepstakes.

Prophetic of the large percentages recorded in Barometer page readings, the BOXOFFICE reviewer, months ago, sensed the enormous popular appeal the film would attain when he said, "If there ever was an off-beat picture, this is it; and it is just as delightful as it is fantastic.  It is fantasy in a modern setting, utilizing believable characters in a typical American town...The picture is loaded with Mack Sennett-type comedy, teenage romance and intrigue in the form of cloak-and-dagger espionage.  Completely wholesome...one of the few pictures to come along devoid of sex or sex complications...it can be truly touted as a family picture."

The cast of "Shaggy Dog" is headed by Fred MacMurray making a welcome return to comedy.  Jean Hagen has also used the film as a vehicle of her return to the motion picture screen from a long stay in television.  Also starred are the four youngsters upon whom Walt Disney has showered his shrewd buildup in a long-term youth program of developing future players simultaneously with future audiences.  In them he has players from childhood to maturity whom he has transferred from one entertainment medium to another - and a most successful transfer it is.  Crowding them for acting honors is the hilariously funny canine comedian in the title role who was discovered in an obedience-training school.

Fantastic, as well, are the grosses reported from key city runs of "The Shaggy Dog."  Boston 500 per cent, Seattle 500, Indianapolis 400, Los Angeles 320, Omaha 320, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis all 300, and so it goes for an overall average as of this writing of 284 percent.  A hit in any category and a field day for its producer and distributor. *


*Computation is in terms of percentage in relation to normal grosses as determined by the theatre managers.  With 100 per cent as "normal," the figures show the gross ratings above or below that mark.



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