Tagline: From family dad to family dog… and back again.
Tim Allen gains a whole new point of view on becoming a great dad when he’s accidentally transformed into a great big dog in this fresh, fun update of one of Disney’s most beloved family comedy classics, The Shaggy Dog.
The hairy adventures begin as unbeatable Deputy D.A. Dave Douglas (Allen) takes on his latest legal case-this time involving a criminal animal laboratory. It’s yet another ambitious assignment that will whisk workaholic Dave away from his wife (Kristin Davis) and kids (Zena Grey and Spencer Breslin), who yearn for his attention. But when Dave is accidentally infected with a top-secret genetic-mutation serum that morphs his body into that of the family’s new pet Bearded Collie, everything he thought he knew about being himself and a part of his family changes.
Now, with his perked-up ears, and his front-row seat on the household carpet, Dave is able to gain an entirely different perspective into his family’s secrets and dreams. Inspired by what he discovers, Dave wants nothing more than to stop fetching and return to fathering-only first he’ll have to stop the evil genius (Robert Downey Jr.) behind the serum…in a literally wild chase that will finally give him a chance to become man’s-and his family’s-best friend.
Based on the hugely successful 1959 classic starring box-office favorites Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen and Tommy Kirk-one of the first and most successful live-action Disney comedies-this new version raises the “woof” on the traditional tale with a fresh blend of contemporary humor and digital technology. Real animal stars have been merged with Stan Winston Studio’s innovative animatronic puppets and Tippett Studio’s CGI creations to add to the sidesplitting surprises.
Updating a Classic Comic Tale
In 1959, Walt Disney set a new landmark for timeless family comedies with “The Shaggy Dog,” one of the studio’s very first black-and-white, live-action feature films, and a hilarious twist on the notion of a “shaggy dog story”-in which one madcap event follows another in a tale you just have to follow to its surprising conclusion. In this version, directed by Charles Barton, it was the family’s son, teenaged Wilby Daniels (played by teen screen idol Tommy Kirk) who was transformed into a shaggy sheepdog after being cursed by an ancient amulet.
In his shocking new state, Wilby had to convince his dog-fearing, pet-allergic mailman father, played with comic charm by Fred MacMurray, that he had been converted into a canine-and would have to stop a secret Soviet spy mission if he was ever to be fully human again. Filled with slapstick chases and unforgettable sight gags, including a sheepdog behind the wheel of a speeding hot rod, the film became utterly unforgettable to almost every child who saw it-ushering in the family comedy genre with a bang.
Everyone’s favorite furry character returned again nearly two decades later, in 1976, with “The Shaggy D.A.,” winning over yet another generation of kids. This time, the story starred Dean Jones as a grown-up Wilby Daniels-a lawyer about to run for election as District Attorney, even though his propensity for suddenly shifting into the body of a dog continued to “hound” him!
Flash forward to the turn of the 21st century…when the hugely popular family comedian Tim Allen began to wonder if he could teach some new tricks to this still-beloved dog tale, bringing the story in brand-new, innovative incarnation to the most demanding and sophisticated moviegoing generation of kids yet. After all, movie technology had made quantum leaps in the years since the original “Shaggy Dog” had so entranced audiences, which would allow Shaggy to come to life with more realism and visual surprises than ever.
Says Allen: “Seeing the original “Shaggy Dog” was a huge event in my childhood-it seemed to have so much magic, and I’ve always thought of it as one of the most memorable and fun movies from that time. But looking back at it, you realize the memory of it has held up far better than the reality of the movie itself. It had a big impact on a lot of kids back then, but the technology used in the late ’50s is now hilariously outdated. So I loved the idea of updating a true classic, of taking something from a long time ago and bringing it to life in a fun and exciting way again. The challenge of really reinventing this story had a very strong appeal to me.”
Known for his creative, family-oriented sense of humor, Allen also liked the idea of taking a walk on the wild side as an actor, exploring his most primal comedy instincts as he envisioned bringing the story up to date from a completely new POV-that of a disconnected father forced at last to see his family through the affectionate eyes of the family dog. When he approached Disney, the studio was equally intrigued by the idea of Allen bringing one of their true classics screaming into the modern era.
The studio in turn brought producer David Hoberman (“Bringing Down the House,” “Eight Below”) on board, and things began to move forward rapidly. Says Hoberman: “Like Tim, I remembered the original film very lovingly from childhood, so I thought this was a great idea, especially with Tim’s involvement, because he is one of the few actors who you know has that unique kind of physical comedy talent to really allow himself to go way out there as the dad who turns into a dog. So once we got the go-ahead, we moved quickly, and our first priority was forging a really fun and contemporary script.”
Using both the original “The Shaggy Dog” and “The Shaggy D.A.” as inspiration, a screenplay was crafted by a team of accomplished comedy writers: Cormac & Marianne Wibberley, Geoff Rodkey and Jack Amiel & Michael Begler. Hoberman was especially pleased that the script was not only rife with hilarious slapstick and escapades but also the story of a man who has to learn to sit, stay and simply be with his family so that he can become the father he always wanted to be for them.
“The story is really about a man who turns into man’s best friend and, in the process, figures out what it means to be his family’s best friend,” explains the producer. “What’s great is that in turning into a dog, Dave kind of gets to be a fly on the wall and see his wife and kids in a whole new light. Suddenly, they’re sharing things with him as a dog they would never share when he’s Dad. That’s the emotional core of the film, and there’s something very moving and endearing about watching this transformation.”
Adds Allen: “What was important to me was throwing in a bit of heart and soul. As the story lets Dave go where only dogs can go and hear what only dogs can hear, Dave actually starts to realize that he can be a better human. So it’s hilariously funny, but it’s also a great family story.”
Next on the agenda was finding a director, and for this, Allen and Hoberman turned to Brian Robbins, who previously demonstrated his broad comic flair in such features as the hit teen comedy “Varsity Blues,” the inspirational sports drama “Hard Ball” with Keanu Reeves and the high school crime caper “The Perfect Score” with Scarlett Johansson.
A dad himself, Robbins was instantly enthusiastic about taking on such a family-oriented fantasy-adventure. “I have two boys, aged 7 and 5, and I had really been wanting to do a big family movie when Disney approached me about The Shaggy Dog,” he explains. “With such a classic title, and with Tim Allen already set to star, I knew this was a great opportunity to create something that not only my kids would have a chance to enjoy but all kinds of families would have fun watching together. That’s what really drew me in.”
Robbins also strongly related to the film’s underlying themes. “I think the story touches upon a syndrome every modern family can relate to-that we’re all so busy with our careers and our activities that it’s all too easy for parents and kids to become detached from one another. Sometimes it takes something to sort of pull a family together-and in this case, it’s a shaggy dog!”
Then there was the icing on the cake for Robbins: the chance to work closely with Tim Allen in a role that lets him push to the wildest reaches of his comic abilities. “When you work with someone like Tim, you know right from the start that all the usual rules will be thrown out. That’s exactly what this story needed-that rare person who would be willing to go to the edge and really explore the funny side of a man who is forced to be a dog, while also trying to act like a D.A. and a dad,” sums up Robbins. “I think people will find Allen’s dog impressions hysterical. This new version is a bigger story with more laughs, more scope and a more exciting ride for audiences.”
The Hairiest Role He’s Had Yet
In his career as one of America’s favorite family comedians, Tim Allen has taken on a wide variety of memorable comical characters, from the accident-prone handyman of “Home Improvement” to the reluctant Santa of the “Santa Clause” series to the delightfully deluded Buzz Lightyear action figure in the runaway hit “Toy Story.” But nothing could have prepared him for his latest role: as a district attorney who finds the going gets rather “ruff” when a genetic-mutation serum turns him from a distracted dad into the family dog.
For Allen, playing Dave Douglas meant more than just looking at the funny side of human life-it also meant exploring life as a dog. “From the start, I wanted to play the role as real as possible, to really try to imagine what it would feel like and look like to be a guy who’s turned into a dog,” Allen explains. “That turns out to be pretty hard-but it also led to some of the funniest and most unexpected stuff that happens in the film. I especially love the scenes where Dave is trying to go through his normal day-as a lawyer and as a father-but he simply can’t ignore the smells, sights, sounds and instinctive drives of his new animal persona!”
A dog lover himself, Allen began by analyzing what exactly makes them so amusing, so lovable, so downright…doggy. “I’ve had dogs all my life, and I’ve always watched their behavior and wondered about what they might be thinking,” he admits. “So for this role, I personally tried out all their behaviors-sniffing people, licking people’s faces, running on all fours, jumping on tables, chasing a cat all over town. It was pretty interesting. My main goal with the dog imitations was simply to make people laugh as hard as they can, which means never playing it safe. I want kids to laugh, but I also want adults to come out laughing, too.”
Along with the fun of the role also came the drama of a man learning more about fatherhood than he ever imagined by sitting and staying on the living-room floor. Allen explains his take on Dave’s journey of transformation: “Dave is someone who is well on his way to making an important career for himself, but suddenly he has to ask: At what cost? He’s always saying, `Eventually I’ll be there for the kids,’ `Eventually I’ll be there for my wife after I’m elected D.A.’ But when he turns into Shaggy, he gets a wonderful opportunity, the kind we usually don’t get, to see his life through other people’s eyes. It’s almost like an `It’s a Wonderful Life’ in that Dave gets to see what his family is like when he’s not around-and through that, he learns to pay attention to the people he loves in a new way.”
The role had its poignant moments, but it also had its physical challenges. “One thing you realize is that dogs really move quickly and humans can’t move that fast. They found some interesting ways with wires and technology to allow me to move really fast but it tore up my hands. Apparently, it helps to have paws,” Allen laughs. “Still, I was able to run through hedges and leap over things and it was really fun and freeing to do all that kind of impossible stuff in a human body.”
Throughout, director Brian Robbins was kept in stitches by Allen’s fearlessly canine-like performance. “You have to be really uninhibited as an actor and a comedian to play this role like Tim did,” he observes. “He was willing and able to stick his head in a bowl of cereal, to run on all fours, to chase his tail, to dash through sprinklers and to get locked up in a cage naked-and he wasn’t just goofing around, he really went for each scene 100 percent. It was so much fun to watch, because he completely `got’ what it was that a dog would and wouldn’t do and he brought that to life in a human form. I really think there are only a handful of actors who could do this and make it as wonderful as Tim and, at the same time, make you really care about this character and this family.”
Allen was also thrilled to be working with so many other talented and original comedians in The Shaggy Dog. He says of his fellow castmates: “Jane Curtin is hilarious as the judge in the chaotic courtroom scenes, Danny Glover is always amazing, Kristin Davis is gorgeous and fun, and when I saw Robert Downey Jr. do his dog imitation, I said to myself, `Now that’s funny.’ He was truly inspired.”
A Fetching Family: Casting the Douglas Clan
When Tim Allen turns into a cute, cuddly Bearded Collie, it does more than teach him a thing or two about chasing cats-it allows him to get to know the members of his family in a completely new way. So right from the beginning, casting a believable family to surround Allen was key to this new version of The Shaggy Dog.
In updating the story, the writers had created a very modern mom, Rebecca Douglas, who juggles career, kids and husband like a three-ring-circus performer. To play Rebecca, the filmmakers hoped to find a talented comedienne who could bring out both the comedy and poignancy of being a wife whose beloved husband is missing in action from family life. They found that in Kristin Davis, the popular star who is perhaps best known for portraying a hip, smart, single New Yorker on HBO’s award-winning hit “Sex and the City.” Despite the different sort of character, director Brian Robbins knew immediately she was right for the role. “Kristin is so comically gifted and she’s such a great reactor to funny situations that she was perfect as the wife who must react to the outrageous realization that her husband is turning back and forth from man into dog,” says Robbins. “Most of all, we wanted Rebecca to feel like a real mom in a real family situation, and in casting Kristin, that really came to life.”
Davis herself was drawn to the idea of switching gears with The Shaggy Dog. “I am a dog lover, I love dog movies, I love family movies, and I was so happy to have this chance to be in one, particularly an update of a Disney classic,” she says. “For me, it was really nice to play such a different kind of character from Charlotte on `Sex and the City,’ a mom who’s about warmth and being with her children and making sure her family is happy,” she says. “She’s also the straight character, which I love. I’m the one person who really doesn’t believe that Dave is turning into a dog. My kids are telling me it’s true, my husband is telling me and I’m like, `No, I don’t think so!’ until the very last moment.”
One of the biggest challenges for Davis was simply playing it straight while Tim Allen was wreaking comic havoc. “He’s really a force of nature,” the actress laughs. “You never know what he’s going to do next, so it’s a surprise every minute. He just can’t help being funny in everything he does.”
Davis similarly enjoyed working with Allen’s alter ego, the cuddlier Coal, the film’s leading dog actor and, Davis openly admits, one of the most impressive co-stars she’s seen. “Coal amazed me because he literally did anything and everything he was asked to do. I mean, he was unbelievable-beyond anyone’s wildest expectations of what a dog can do. It was such a blast working with Coal, I only wish I’d had more to do with him!”
With Allen and Davis set in their roles as the Douglas parents, the next task was finding two young stars who could play opposite these seasoned comic veterans as the Douglas family kids. “We were lucky to get two of the most gifted and natural young actors in the business-Zena Grey as teenaged Carly and Spencer Breslin as Tim and Kristin’s son, Josh,” says Robbins. “They both have extensive acting experience, even at their young age.
Sixteen-year-old Zena Grey-the daughter of visionary artist Alex Grey and a rising star who has already appeared in both major feature films and Broadway shows-related right away to Carly, an idealistic animal lover. “I really like her as a character because she’s a teen rebel, but she’s also someone who really knows what she thinks, who knows what she wants and who knows what’s important,” says Grey. “She’s a strong girl and a good person, which was a lot of fun to play. It was also interesting because I have lots of conflicts with Tim Allen as my dad throughout the movie. It was especially great working with Tim because he was always making me laugh.”
Spencer Breslin, who plays Josh Douglas, has already worked with Allen once before in his already prolific career-when he played an elf in “Santa Clause 2.” “The main thing about working with Tim is that he has so much energy-he just keeps going and going,” laughs Breslin. “The minute I heard about this movie, I thought that this was a fantastic part for him.”
As Josh, Spencer plays a kid who wants nothing more than to please his father-even though his workaholic dad seems to have no idea what pleases Josh. “Josh just wants to make his dad happy, so he goes out and plays football even though he really wants to be a singer and a dancer and an actor,” Breslin explains. “But the good thing is that everything gets resolved in the end.” Breslin is too young to remember the original “Shaggy Dog,” but he immediately loved the concept. “To me, it’s just a great story for a family movie,” he says. “There is a big level of fun in the whole idea.”
Lawyers, Judges and Mad Scientists
Also surrounding Tim Allen in The Shaggy Dog are a host of award-winning actors and comic stars playing key supporting roles. Says director Brian Robbins of the all-star cast the filmmakers were able to assemble: “It was amazing to have Danny Glover, who has so much talent and charisma, playing Tim’s boss. Robert Downey Jr. is completely brilliant as the bad guy in the movie, and I suspect he will have audiences rolling in the aisles. And then we have marvelous Jane Curtin playing the always-incredulous and utterly helpless judge.”
A highly accomplished star of both stage and screen, as well as a producer, Danny Glover has played an incredibly diverse range of roles in his career, from the edgy comedy of the box-office-breaking “Lethal Weapon” series to the powerful drama of “Mandela.” But with the role of Dave Douglas’ demanding boss, D.A. Ken Hollister, he knew he was in for sheer fun and enjoyment. “I’m the one who first bears witness to Dave’s strange behavior-growling and barking at reporters!” notes Glover. “That was a lot of fun. But I also end up believing in Dave, and trusting in him, and in the end, he comes through and wins the day.”
A longtime fan of Fred MacMurray’s acting style, Glover remembers enjoying the original “Shaggy Dog” but also thinks it’s a timeless fable worth revisiting. “I think kids will always get a kick out of the idea of a person turning into a dog. And they put together such a cute screenplay for families with this version, and with all the special effects, it will be a great experience,” he says.
Also making a rare appearance in a family comedy is oft-lauded leading man and Academy Award nominee Robert Downey Jr., who had a blast playing Dr. Kozak, the evil scientist and biotech genius who, in his search for that elusive, lucrative fountain of youth, is behind the genetic-mutation serum. “Dr. Kozak is someone who basically believes he is better than everyone around him and that no rules apply to him,” observes Downey, “so my preparation was essentially…I can do whatever I want!”
Downey especially enjoyed trading comic performances with Tim Allen. “I love his approach because he’s funny all day long and then the camera simply catches him being funny when he’s shooting,” he observes. “Some comedians are very meek and then, all of the sudden, they’re comic geniuses for a moment, but Tim is just hilarious all the time.”
There was another actor Downey kept his eye on: the canine star Coal. “I watched him pretty closely and he has quite a bag of tricks,” he jokes. “He’s so well-prepared and so schooled.”
Even amidst all the chaos and hijinks, Downey also enjoyed the underlying themes of The Shaggy Dog. “I think it’s a story essentially about loyalty. Dogs always represent loyalty to us, and this is a movie about a man and his loyalty to his family. Dave doesn’t know he’s going to turn into a dog, and he also doesn’t know that he’s actually able to be much more loyal. That’s his journey.”
Finally, taking on a small but memorable comic role in The Shaggy Dog is one of America’s most recognizable comic actresses-Jane Curtin, who stars as the shocked and dismayed judge presiding over Dave Douglas’ case. “I got to be in a very special position because, as the judge in the courtroom, I was up on my perch and I got to watch Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr. and Danny Glover playing off of one another, and it was really, really a lot of fun,” she says.
Like many adults, Curtin harbors nostalgia for the original “Shaggy Dog.” “I loved `The Shaggy Dog’ when I was a kid. I loved all those Disney movies that you could just get lost in,” she remembers. “It was great entertainment, but it’s true that when you look at the special effects in the original compared to what we can do today, it’s pretty pathetic. This version is not going to be just a little patch of fur on skin-they’ve gone to great lengths to create some exciting effects that make the story new again.”
Acting Like Animals
Even with the talented cast of humans starring in The Shaggy Dog, everyone involved in the production seems to agree that one of the most notable and astonishing performances to emerge from the film will be that of Coal, a Bearded Collie making his motion-picture debut as Tim Allen’s canine alter ego. From the first few days of working with him, the cast and crew quickly became aware that Coal was no run-of-the-mill animal actor. Instead, like a furry version of Sir Laurence Olivier, he proved himself able to turn on a dime and deliver the director’s commands in record time with flawless and emotional performances.
“I had thought going into this movie that I was definitely going to need a whole lot of patience to work with a dog as one of our main stars,” admits Brian Robbins. “But as it turned out, Coal came in every day and took us by surprise. Lots of times, he was the best actor on the set. We had a fantastic animatronic dog built by Stan Winston Studio waiting in the wings to do some of the more humanlike behaviors, but the amazing thing is that Coal was so good, he did about 95 percent of the work in the movie.”
To cast and train Coal and the five other dogs who help to play Shaggy, producer Dave Hoberman brought in leading Hollywood animal trainers from Birds and Animals Unlimited-the company Hoberman also worked with to train the heroic huskies on Disney’s Antarctic adventure “Eight Below.”
Birds and Animals assigned head animal trainer Mark Forbes and animal trainer Ray Beal to take on the demanding task. First, they had to find the proper breed. The Shaggy in the film is supposed to be of magical Tibetan origin-and although Tibet does have its share of sheepdogs, there are few to be found in the United States. So Forbes decided to cast Bearded Collies-a hardy sheep-herding breed that originally hails from Scotland and is renowned for their shaggy good looks, happy-go-lucky personalities and quick-learning smarts. Through casting calls, he came up with a group of six impressive newcomers, including Coal, who would become the so-called “hero dog,” saving the day again and again with his perfect performances.
Since none of the dogs were professional performers, Forbes had to train all six dogs from scratch. Among the unusual tricks he had to teach the neophyte stars: typing on a computer with their paws, spelling with Scrabble tiles and surfing on the top of a moving bus. “Some of the dogs had a little basic obedience training before, but this was a whole different level of training, where we had to teach them how to do unusual things, like using their paws like hands,” Forbes explains. “The biggest thing was getting each of them to be OK with all the distractions, noises and crowds on a set.”
It was during the early training sessions for the film that Coal, who makes his debut in The Shaggy Dog, emerged as a star. “He was always the one who was the quickest to train, and he just had more drive than most dogs I’ve seen. He just always wants to get out there and do things, and he really likes to work,” says Forbes. “He’s quite a dog.”
Aside from its canine cast, The Shaggy Dog also boasts a menagerie of other animals: a monkey, a chimp, a cat, rabbits, rats and a deadly King Cobra. All of these required special trainers, including cobra handler Jim Brockett, who came in specifically to handle the real, live 12-foot-long snake who carried enough venom to kill 50 adult men. (An animatronic replica of the cobra was also created by Stan Winston Studio for some of the snake’s more delicate sequences.)
Yet, for director Brian Robbins, all this wild “monkey business” turned out to be a lot more fun than he anticipated. “It turned out that I really had a blast working with the animals,” he comments. “Animals don’t talk back. It can be challenging because obviously they don’t speak the same language as actors do, but it’s really exciting when you get the animals to do something that you don’t think they would ever be able to do-and we did a lot of that on SHAGGY DOG.”
New Tricks for A Classic Dog
Even with Coal’s uncanny canine acting abilities, the story of The Shaggy Dog still called for a number of eye-popping actions no dog was going to be able to perform-including morphing back and forth into a human dad. So right off the bat, the filmmakers began investigating how the latest in special effects could help to give this classic story a whole new life. “We wanted the movie to be funny, but there is also a sci-fi element to the story and we wanted to be as true to that part of the action as we could,” says Brian Robbins.
To start, the filmmakers asked the creative wizards at Stan Winston Studio to come up with a life-size animatronic “puppet dog” that could go where no dog has gone before. “Coal was amazing, but there are still certain things he couldn’t do-like roll his eyes or shake his head in a certain fashion,” explains producer Dave Hoberman. “By using the animatronic dog along with CGI enhancements, we were really able to capture some great expressions and actions that add to the comedy and excitement.”
Stan Winston Studio faced a tough challenge-matching a living, breathing Bearded Collie with a robotic double that had to mirror the real thing precisely! Animatronic effects supervisor Alan Scott began by closely observing Coal in action to precisely replicate his color, body type and even his very special joie de vivre. “We were able to videotape him, photograph him, take all sorts of measurements and even scan him,” says Scott. “We don’t usually get this kind of close proximity to the animals we’re creating, so it was wonderful. We were able to really hone the creation, and it shows in the results.”
Once the animatronic Shaggy’s basic shape was sculpted, he was covered in fur and put through some “test runs” to see if his hair flowed in a realistic manner. The biggest focus was on creating Shaggy’s head-a robotic wonder with ears that can twitch, eyes that can roll and a nose that can sniff, all by remote control-and then finally a face that can move into a whole rainbow of emotions. “One of the tasks we were given was to create a dog that could be very emotional, to push the boundaries of what you might be able to read in this dog’s expression,” says Scott. “So we have an input device which, when moved, can change Shaggy’s expression from surprise to anger. So he looks like a real dog, but he has the expressive abilities more like a cartoon character.”
In the end, even dog trainer Mark Forbes was blown away by the animatronic Shaggy. “It’s the most lifelike animatronic animal I’ve ever seen,” he says.
Later, visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum and visual effects producer Blondel Aidoo were brought in to further enhance Shaggy’s mix of human and canine qualities. “Our job ranged from creating a variety of realistic-looking animals within a computer to painting out wires that were used to allow Tim Allen to run fast on all fours,” explains Rosenbaum.
Some of the most difficult visual effects involved switching back and forth between using real dogs, animatronic dogs and CGI dogs in the same scene. “The computer-generated animals had to be cut seamlessly together with the live-animal action shots, so we had to collaborate closely with the dog trainers so that we were always all on the same page,” Rosenbaum notes. “We were really lucky that the animals on this film delivered such strong performances that were filled with character. As a result, we were able to use CG to extend and enhance their performances into even more exciting sequences.”
Then there was a whole menagerie to bring to digital life, a task Rosenbaum turned over to the CGI experts at Tippett Studio. “Tippett Studio created a variety of CG animals, including four rabbits, six rats, one cat, a King Cobra, a mutant creature and, of course, parts of Shaggy. We went to them because they are among the best at interpreting character and animating life into these creatures. They are also technically adept at creating fur and skin so that it moves and looks correct. My job was pushing them towards creating something that would be fun to watch yet also believable,” says Rosenbaum.
One particularly demanding effects sequence involved creating images of Shaggy flying through the air and landing on a moving vehicle. Rosenbaum explains how it was created: “First, we filmed the backgrounds at a location in downtown L.A. Then, we filmed Shaggy suspended on wires in front of a green screen. To merge the two, we tracked the camera moves in the computer first, then used that data to drive a `motion control’ camera rig to film Shaggy. The result is that the camera shooting Shaggy moves at exactly the same speed and angles at which the background was shot, so when we layer the two passes together, they line up perfectly and it all looks like seamless magic. That’s what it’s all about.”
Shaggy’s World: About the Design
The Shaggy Dog was filmed almost entirely in and around the greater Los Angeles area and at the Hollywood Center Studios, moving only in the very final days of shooting to the film’s climactic location: the idyllic beach at Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu, where the Douglas family comes together while Shaggy happily gets “tubed” in one of the beach’s famous 12-foot curling waves.
Inspired both by classic family films and a more vivid sense of modern color and design, director Brian Robbins came to the project with very specific ideas for the look of the film. “It’s a classic Disney film so I wanted a classic quality…but without being traditional,” he explains. “Our production designer, Leslie McDonald, did a terrific job of creating a look that is very modern, very today and very beautiful. The Douglas’ house, shot in a real house in Pasadena, is classic yet has the contemporary flair you would expect since Kristin Davis’ character is an interior designer. Leslie also had a lot of fun with Robert Downey Jr.’s laboratory as a kind of sleek underground lair. And we also worked very hard to design an animal shelter set that would have the very cool feeling of a classic movie jail scene.”
Meanwhile, Gabriel Beristain’s cinematography was designed around providing a “dog’s-eye view” of the world. Known for his eye for action and thrills, this was Beristain’s first foray into family films. “Gabby was very creative and used a lot of unique lenses to really show how the world looks to a dog,” notes Robbins. “He was perfect for this film because he’s not afraid to shoot a lot of cameras all at once. He’s incredibly flexible in his lighting style and his shooting style-which you have to be when you’re working with the unpredictable nature of comedians, live animals and lots of special effects.”
Beristain quickly realized that The Shaggy Dog was going to require a wide variety of visual ideas. “It’s a very eclectic story from a visual point of view,” he notes. “At times it’s a fantasy, at other times it’s a comedy or an action film and sometimes it’s a very realistic drama so we had to find ways to seamlessly move from one kind of lighting scheme to the next. The main goal was to have the audience feel as much a part of the story as possible. It’s a very complex and technical film, so that made it very interesting. It’s going to be a very modern SHAGGY DOG!”
Also adding modern touches to the film’s design is costume designer Molly Maginnis, whose work in The Shaggy Dog ranged from designing authentic Tibetan villager costumes to the “power suits” of lawyers and district attorneys. Maginnis faced a special challenge in designing clothing for Tim Allen’s character-as he transforms into a dog, she had to create as many as 14 different suits in each design to accommodate Allen’s fabric-defying stunts. “We fooled around conceptually with a lot of different ideas for what happens when Tim first becomes a dog,” she recalls. “Eventually, we decided he would lose all of his clothing and would wind up stark naked, which was a lot of fun with Tim. But first, during the transition, he had to do all these stunts. He was running, he was jumping, he was on wires, so we had to create a variety of suits that would allow him to do all that.”
Throughout the production, the design of the film, along with its visual style and special effects, was used to continually enhance the storytelling fun, which was always the bottom line.
“I think we’ve succeeded in updating, upgrading and streamlining a classic,” summarizes Tim Allen. “I’d like to see what else is in Disney’s archives!”
The Shaggy Dog (2006)
Directed by: Brian Robbins
Starring: Tim Allen, Kristin Davis, Danny Glover, Craig Kilborn, Robert Downey Jr., Zena Grey, Spencer Breslin, Joshua Leonard, Annabelle Gurwitch, Jane Curtin
Screenplay by: Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley
Production Design by: Leslie McDonald
Cinematography by: Gabriel Beristain
Film Editing by: Ned Bastille
Costume Design by: Molly Maginnis
Set Decoration by: Ronald R. Reiss
Art Direction by: Daniel T. Dorrance
Music by: Alan Menken
MPAA Rating: PG for mild rude humor.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: March 10, 2006
Visits: 76
