A Disney Movie from the 1970s Starred a Real Dog With a Human Stunt Double

Disney’s 1976 film The Shaggy D.A., seemingly utilized a human in a dog costume as a real dog’s stunt double — and the internet is weighing in on the hilarious footage.

The Instagram account @explaining shared several clips from the film, writing in a caption that “filmmakers pulled off some of their funniest stunts using a surprising trick — a human stunt double dressed as the dog.”

The caption added: “When scenes called for complex actions — like driving cars, running on two legs, or performing slapstick falls — a stuntman in a full sheepdog costume stepped in to safely handle the chaos!”

In one such scene, a real-life sheepdog can be seen trotting towards a human co-star. But a quick change in angle from the camera and a person in a dog costume can then be seen punching the actor in the face.

In another scene, the dog appears to jump out the window before the human in costume latches on to a rope to escape from a third-floor building.

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Internet users weighed in on the technique, with some saying it’s a nice respite from CGI so often used in modern-day films.

Writes one commenter: “Honestly I’m kinda sick of hyper realism and all this cgi. I’m for some silly analog solutions to make a return once in awhile.”

Adds another: “Honestly it’s a lot more seamless than some transitions to cgi.”

A Reddit thread discussing the film offered similar takes, with one commenter writing, “This seemed much more realistic and dramatic in 1976.”

Added another Reddit commenter: “It is such a product of its time, it might as well be a time capsule.”

A 1976 review by film critic Roger Ebert detailed the film’s plot: A man running for district attorney “comes into possession of an ancient ring with strange supernatural powers,” and uses it to turn his political opponent into a large dog, any time he read the inscription on the ring.

Starring Dean Jones, the film, Ebert wrote, meant that the actor got “top billing in a movie where his corporal presence is required only as a premise. Where in half the scenes he does get to appear, he’s there for the purpose of growing hair on his face, like a demented Wolf Man.”

Ebert described the film as “one of Disney’s better recent efforts, if only for the unique insights it offers, as in the scenes where Suzanne Pleshette tries to keep a straight face while saying to the dog, ‘Come on, dear, time to go home.'”