Old dogs can learn new tricks, as Disney's The Shaggy Dog proves.
The Shaggy Dog is a reimagining of Disney's 1959 family comedy about a teenager who falls victim to an ancient curse that turns him into a dog at inopportune times.
He can only shake the curse by being brave, honest and forthright.
Tommy Kirk played the teenager with Fred MacMurray as his disbelieving father.
Five decades later and Disney figures it's not sons, but fathers who need a wakeup call.
Now, we have Tim Allen morphing into a shaggy sheep dog.
Allen plays Dave Douglas, an assistant district attorney who's so busy prosecuting felons, he has no time for his family.
His wife, Rebecca, (Kristin Davis) can't even get him to his son's football games or parent-teacher interviews.
It seems Josh Douglas (Spencer Breslin) is suddenly failing math, once his best subject.
What no one knows is that Josh hates football and believes if his grades are poor enough, his dad will make him quit the team.
What Josh, a genuine John Travolta, really wants is to audition for the school production of Grease.
With films such as Vin Diesel's The Pacifier and now The Shaggy Dog, Disney writers are driving home the notion parents should encourage their children to follow their dreams and not necessarily tread in their parents' footsteps.
Important as the film's life lessons are, they are secondary to the slapstick nonsense that happens whenever Allen is possessed by his inner canine.
His tongue grows and he begins panting. He scratches his head and shakes himself dry when he exits the shower.
Anyone with a dog will howl at the breakfast scene the day after Dave is bitten by a mysterious sheep dog.
Allen wanders around the kitchen, taking in all the wonderful smells and sounds, lapping up his cereal and coffee.
Things get more hysterical in the courthouse as Allen growls at opposing council.
Roles like this are tailor-made for Allen. Given the right shtick, he can be genuinely funny.
It turns out an evil scientist (Robert Downey Jr.) kidnapped the dog from a Tibetan monastery. He believes the canine's blood is a fountain of youth and just needs to find out how to make it work magic on other species, especially humans.
The failed experiments include a snake with a dog's tail, a bull dog that's become a bull frog and rabbits, rats and chimps who bark.
When Allen rescues the menagerie, it's vintage Disney pandemonium.
The Shaggy Dog may be silly, contrived and obvious, but it is wholesome, spirited family entertainment.
(This film is rated G)
