Film

Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World

Name: Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World
Genre: Family, Science Fiction, Comedy
Released: 1973
Cast: Jim Dale, Spike Milligan, Angela Douglas, John Bluthal, Norman Rossington

Science fiction
Light-hearted

A cheerful 1973 family film where a sheepdog accidentally ingests an experimental growth serum and becomes the size of a house. It's innocent, gently silly, and pitched at children who enjoy talking animals and minor chaos. Charming rather than clever, it trades on the simple joy of watching something enormous lumber through everyday situations.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you have a soft spot for gentle, daft British comedies from the early seventies, where a silly premise is played straight by a cast who clearly enjoy the nonsense.

Skip it if you need sharp pacing or modern slapstick, since this is a loose, leisurely caper with plenty of wandering scenes and jokes that land more warmly than they land hard.

What it asks of you: Under ninety minutes, it moves at an easygoing pace and asks you to settle in for a light, unhurried comic romp rather than a tightly plotted adventure.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory1971

A similarly whimsical family film from the same era, mixing wonder with adventure and colourful set-pieces. Gene Wilder's performance is both warm and slightly uncanny, much like the film's tone.

But The earlier musical numbers can feel dated, and some children find the darker moments genuinely unsettling rather than delightful.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory poster

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang1968

Another vehicle-and-adventure romp for families, with Dick Van Dyke's boundless charm and genuinely imaginative moments. The film shares Digby's love of nonsense given physical form.

But It's nearly two and a half hours long, and the tone lurches between sweet and aggressively weird in ways that can exhaust modern viewers.

Herbie Rides Again1974

A Volkswagen Beetle is the hero in this slapstick family adventure. Like Digby, it's comfort cinema where the appeal is a charismatic non-human character creating gentle mayhem.

But The humour is extremely broad and relies on repeated gags. It doesn't reward intellectual engagement at all.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Water Babies1978

Both are British family films from the 1970s that rely entirely on practical and stop-motion effects to visualise impossible things, and both trust the audience to accept the premise without explanation.

A hybrid live-action/animated adaptation of Kingsley's novel, where a chimney sweep finds refuge in an underwater world. It's stranger and more genuinely unsettling than Digby, but built on the same infrastructure of transformation and wonder.

But The tonal shifts are severe and bewildering; nothing commits to its own logic. Many find the effect more disturbing than magical.

The Absent-Minded Professor1961

Fred MacMurray in a Disney film where an invention spirals into chaos and charm. The special effects have the same earnest, creaky-but-heartfelt quality as Digby's giant dog.

But The slapstick has not aged gracefully for many viewers, and the pacing feels glacial by modern standards.

The Love Bug1968

Herbie's spiritual predecessor, where a small car with personality drives a film's entire charm. Perfect if you enjoy animal-or-object-as-lead storytelling.

But It's a romance between two humans that only intermittently interrupts itself for the car, which may disappoint those watching mainly for vehicular company.

Pete's Dragon1977

A live-action film about a boy and his magical dragon companion. It captures the same dreamy, lived-in fantasy tone as Digby, with practical effects and genuine affection.

But The live-action sequences jar against the animated dragon, and the story ambles rather than propels itself forward.

The Shaggy Dog1959

Fred MacMurray transforms into a sheepdog in this Disney comedy. The premise is almost inverted from Digby, but the spirit of transformation-as-chaos is very similar.

But It's a live-action Disney film with all the earnestness and few of the laughs. The plot is genuinely slow-moving.

Benji1974

A dog-as-hero adventure from a few years after Digby, built on genuine affection for the animal. It's got real heart beneath the family-film packaging.

But If you're not susceptible to cute-dog-in-peril emotion, you'll find the whole thing saccharine and thin.

The Phantom Tollbooth1970

A psychedelic, deeply weird children's fantasy where a boy travels through a kingdom of puns and concepts. It's family entertainment that doesn't condescend and trusts the strangeness.

But The animated sequences are rudimentary, the pacing is theatrical rather than cinematic, and it assumes a taste for wordplay over action.