A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

It's hard to imagine that any film in history can have had a one-sentence description that would make me feel quite so utterly determined to avoid it at all costs than The Shaggy Dog, but here goes, quoting from the internet movie database: "A man tries to lead a normal life despite the fact that he sometimes turns into a sheepdog."  That is so utterly, extraordinarily, breathtakingly, hilariously awful, it defies belief.  But wait, there is a clincher that truly makes this the film I will live the rest of my life trying to avoid: the man in question is played by Tim Allen.  The fact that amongst the writing credits are Cormac Wibberley and (wait for it) Marianne Wibberley just somehow adds the finishing touch.  I wonder if they're related.  

The soundtrack album starts off with just over twenty minutes of songs, which are all by different singers, in different styles, and only one of them is actually in the film, but they do have something in common: they are all utterly banal and truly awful.  Is this really what the kids are listening to, these days!?  The reason for the album's appearance at this website is, of course, nothing to do with those songs, but more because of a minor film music event which has been commented on by virtually nobody: it's the first live action movie to be scored by Disney stalwart Alan Menken since 1993.  Menken is, of course, known for his musicals (mostly for Disney) and so little appreciation is given to his straight dramatic underscore, but both for those animations, and for the few non-musicals he's done, it's actually rather good.

There is little in The Shaggy Dog which was ever going to inspire Menken to write something fresh and new, but it still offered him a chance to flex his orchestral muscles by writing a family comedy score, and he has excelled at that, drawing in the better aspects of the scores of Alan Silvestri, Bruce Broughton and Jerry Goldsmith in this genre, with some full-bodied action writing, wistful family music and traditional comedy stuff.  It's a delight.  There are a couple of infectious theme which bolster everything together, but really, each of the brief tracks is like a delightful little vignette.  There's action derring do in "Magic Lab", saccharine-sweet stuff in "Breaking Through", brilliantly over-the-top orchestral and choral action music in "To the Rescue" and, of course, an uplifting finale, "Family Time".

At a dog's whisker under thirty minutes, some people may be put off by the running time, but don't be: that sort of length is truly ideal for a score of this type.  Menken does nothing much original here, but he crafts a hugely-enjoyable, richly-orchestrated, spectacularly-recorded (by Bruce Botnick) effort which will surely appeal to all fans of scores like Mousehunt, Dennis the Menace and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.  I do hope Menken does this sort of thing more often!

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Tracks

1. Big Dog Akon (3:38)
2. Man's Best Friend C Brown (3:06)
3. Atomic Dog George Clinton (4:43)
4. Every Dog Has Its Day Jaja Biggs (2:52)
5. Somethin' About You The Dogbouse Biscuit Band (3:18)
6. Woof! There It Is Kevin Mathurin (3:02)
7. It's a Dog Kyle Massey (2:40)
8. Tibet (2:33)
9. First Signs (3:00)
10. Transformation (4:04)
11. Magic Lab (2:19)
12. Breaking Through (2:50)
13. Kozak Gets a Tail (2:34)
14. Meditation (1:06)
15. Escaping the Lab (4:42)
16. To the Rescue (4:54)
17. Family Time (1:20)