While the special effects are pretty good for this British children's movie, the atmosphere is definitely childish, not childlike. It plays like it wants to be a Disney movie, but it's nothing of the sort. Needing someone to look after his new sheepdog puppy (who definitely looks bigger than a puppy), young Richard Beaumont leaves it in the care of his friend Jim Dale who accidentally sees it something that makes it grow to an enormous size. Soon, it's the size of a house, and roaming around the British countryside causing all sorts of problems and a ton of panic. It is the type of monster that would lick someone to death, not trample the city like Godzilla. But soon the Russian army is after it, and the head of the agency (Milo O'Shea) is desperately trying to come up with an antidote to shrink degree back to size with the help of Beaumont's mother.
This is pleasant enough fluff that has a lot of farce, originally showing a cucumber the size of a warhead missile, and to add decals for the kiddies, there's a chimpanzee in a military uniform. It's pretty disgusting though when young Beaumont has to go into giant Digby's mouth (seen from inside his tonsils) to give him the anecdote that will allegedly shrink him. Certainly the dog playing Digby is adorable, as friendly as sheepdogs are known to be, and Beaumont is a good young actor whom kids will enjoy watching. This just seems very pedestrian and overly silly, so a lot of well-intended laughs will turn out to be groans. It's a pleasant enough distraction for parents to put in for their kids to watch while they do something else, but most adults won't find it nearly as enjoyable.
This is pleasant enough fluff that has a lot of farce, originally showing a cucumber the size of a warhead missile, and to add decals for the kiddies, there's a chimpanzee in a military uniform. It's pretty disgusting though when young Beaumont has to go into giant Digby's mouth (seen from inside his tonsils) to give him the anecdote that will allegedly shrink him. Certainly the dog playing Digby is adorable, as friendly as sheepdogs are known to be, and Beaumont is a good young actor whom kids will enjoy watching. This just seems very pedestrian and overly silly, so a lot of well-intended laughs will turn out to be groans. It's a pleasant enough distraction for parents to put in for their kids to watch while they do something else, but most adults won't find it nearly as enjoyable.