Dean Jones' second film for Walt Disney came via this minor but lively family comedy co-starring another Disney regular, the late Suzanne Pleshette (as his wife) – plus veteran comic Charlie Ruggles (appropriately cast as their vet {sic}) and soon-to-be popular Asian actor Mako (as a cowardly caterer). Although the plot sticks strictly to formula, dog lovers should be able to get a satisfactory amount of enjoyment out of this lightweight farce about a Great Dane, who being raised with a litter of dachshunds, creates all manner of chaos when he grows too large for their company and, besides, suffers from identity crisis at the most inopportune moments (namely a competitive dog show). In fact, apart from the likable pair of leads, the film's trump card is the various slapstick sequences that involve the naïve but fiercely protective Great Dane chasing the amiably anarchic dachshunds around the house (especially during an all-important garden party). Apart from the Asian caterers, a regular victim of the Great Dane's harmless ferocity is an overzealous cop who, in the film's most amusing non-canine incident, gives Jones the mother of all tickets.
Review of The Ugly Dachshund
