Review by I_Ailurophile

The first lesson of this film, reaffirmed intermittently throughout, is that All Cops Are Bozos (to sanitize the vernacular). The second is that if someone is looking for atypical names to assign to a pet, this is a hot bed in the first several minutes. Also in the first minutes, the third lesson is that male lead Mark is all but fully saturated with strains of sexism, paternalism, and toxic masculinity - sometimes casual and underhanded, sometimes very straightforward, and sometimes passive-aggressive; sometimes directed specifically toward his wife Fran, and sometimes expressed through his disdain for "unmanly" dachshunds as compared to "champion"-worthy Great Danes. As the minutes tick by, every time I think Fran is coming across as inconsiderate toward Mark, Mark turns around and says or does something so mean and ignorant that he makes Fran seem like a flawless angel of a woman. I don't think Fran deserves to be saddled with a creature like Mark, but to the extent we might say she does: yikes, what an awful marriage.

Oh yes, 'The ugly dachshund' is a family-friendly comedy. The dynamics in Fran and Mark's relationship are straight out of any number of sitcoms that have aired on television over the years, the dogs are lovely, and the antics they get up to are splendidly silly. Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette give vibrant performances befitting the sharp, frankly severe personalities of their characters, and I commend the trainers who prepared the canines for their scenes. These ninety minutes are filled with situational humor, plentiful gags, and the tomfoolery of outrageous characters. Fran and Mark also, however, demonstrate carelessness and thoughtlessness as pet owners; as someone with multiple cats I totally understand that living with animals of other species will mean shenanigans, yet Fran and Mark never seem to give any consideration to managing their home with a mind for either the safety of their dogs, or the tidiness and keeping of their household. It's outright negligence, really.

Sure, Norman Tokar's direction is solid, and the crew operating behind the scenes turned in excellent work. The production design and art direction are fetching; the costume design, hair, and makeup are impeccable. George Bruns' original music is a tasteful complement, and there are nice touches even in Edward Colman's cinematography. The stunts and practical effects that we see amidst the canines' tomfoolery (with subsequent madcap goofiness for the humans) are finely executed. On the other hand, we also have to stop to think about the racism that defines a sequence around the two-thirds mark: in dialogue both given to and describing Japanese-American characters, in the way that these characters act, and to a smaller extent, in how the picture handles touches of Japanese culture that are included. No, this wasn't trying to be racist, and it's only a product of its time when sensibilities surrounding race - and animal care, and gender relations - were not nearly as forward-thinking compared to today. That doesn't specifically make things any better, though, and director Tokar, writer Albert Aley, and producers Walt Disney and Winston Hibler should have all known better in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that this feature is altogether bad. It is lightly amusing, and it even occasionally earns a laugh. But also, the first time I ever heard of it was in discussion with friends who spoke of how poorly it has aged, and boy were they right. 'The ugly dachshund' IS a comedy about dogs, but it's also about gender relations, and as a production of the 1960s, at best we can say in the spirit of generosity that what may have been commonplace and acceptable sixty years ago is and should be frowned upon today, or at least greeted with a far more discerning, critical eye. Enjoyable in some measure, these days this is a movie that mostly stands as a curiosity, a relic or time capsule, or maybe even a novelty. That doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile, but it does mean that one should take the viewing experience with a grain of salt and be ready to analyze it for better and for worse.