Dave raids the Royal Oaks kennels for a lil’ haunting by hound.

You can tell a lot about people from their parents.

When William Putch was directing his wife, the multiple Emmy-winning actress Jean Stapleton (All in the Family), in The Showoff – a revival of the ’20s comedy, performed at the Syracuse Theatre in November 1983 – he took a walk prior to an evening performance, began to experience chest pains, and suffered a fatal heart attack. Undeterred by the cataclysmic loss of her husband of twenty-five years, Ms. Stapleton pressed on with the scheduled performance, as well as those in the days that followed, only allowing for the play to be postponed for a solitary evening to allow her time to attend the funeral.

Across his last half-century in the business, it’s clear that their son, John Putch, has abided by a similar resolve, moving from acting to writing to directing and to award-bagging documentarian (This Is My Father (1999)).

He’s also worked with children and animals.

Having impressed producers Andrew Stevens and Ashok Amritraj with Home Alone (1990) riff Alone in the Woods (1996), the Royal Oaks bosses set Putch loose on bringing MY MAGIC DOG to the screen and it’s an opportunity for which he’ll be eternally grateful:

“Those two movies were the first and second feature I ever made, and it’s all thanks to Andrew Stevens,” Putch told me. “I had a great time. I was young and hopeful, and Andrew would just let his directors go and make the films. He had such a great eye for talent. I’ll always be thankful to him for these and a half-dozen others that ranged from kids’ films to action and sci-fi. It was a baptism of fire where I learned how to handle the pressures of a twelve-day shoot with a limited budget, so between Royal Oaks and my time at Saban television, I became efficient at directing and editing – but then knowing how to edit saves you time and preparation when you direct.”

In My Magic Dog, young Toby (Bryan Mendez) lives quite contentedly with his cable station manager stepdad, Chet (Leo Milbrook in his first role – it shows), the pair of them united in their grief after the death of their respective mother/wife. Alas, Toby’s maternal aunt, Violet (Kate Doughan), isn’t too happy about the arrangement, not least because the boy is the sole male heir to his grandfather’s fortune. Convinced there’s a will lurking around that may grant her custody, Violet utilises the services of some local layabouts to burgle the house one night, but during their escape, tragedy strikes and they run over and kill Toby’s best friend, his faithful dog Lucky. However, before you can say “Patrick Swayze, Casper and Beethoven”, the pooch not only returns, but proves he can talk too – and under a cloak of invisibility sets about helping Toby solve his escalating crisis of guardianship.

For a G-rated slice of family fodder, the sight of a lovable hound dying in the middle of the road might prove to be a little too harrowing for younger members of your clan. Add to that the fact that said mutt is resurrected to sniff out the will of a dead mother, it’s undeniable that, despite a plethora of charms, My Magic Dog is a film whose themes are rooted in death and loss.

Now, that’s not to say it doesn’t possess all the usual qualities of a well-made children’s flick. It’s adroitly handled by Putch, and Chet’s venturing back into the dating scene culminates in an entertaining dinner for two with his neighbour, Phoebe (Jessica Knoblauch). Toby engineered it himself so it’s fraught with comedic catastrophe, and it features Russ Tamblyn as Vito the local pizza guy doing a memorable stint as a private maître d’.

Billed on the Internet Movie Incorrectabase as a made for television feature, My Magic Dog actually debuted on VHS via A-Pix in January 1998. It hit cable giant Showtime eight months later, at the beginning of September.

Also known as ‘My Ghost Dog’.

USA ● 1997 ● Family, Comedy ● 90mins

Leo Milbrook, Bryan Mendez, Jessica Knoblauch, Russ Tamblyn ● Dir. John Putch ● Wri. Hamilton Underwood