My Dog, The Thief

Release Date: September 21 – 28, 1969

Watch Date: July 21 – 22, 2025

“Jack Crandall flies a helicopter for a radio station, but his traffic reports are caught in a bad ratings tailspin…that is, until a huge St. Bernard named Barabbas stows away on his helicopter and sends the program’s ratings through the clouds. But both Crandall and his girlfriend Kim are unaware that Barabbas is a hopeless kleptomaniac until the dog graduates to the world of high crime by casually lifting a million-dollar necklace from a team of professional jewel thieves.”

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I needed a comfort movie, and this is honestly a pretty terribly good one. It’d been forever since we’d watched an old film, and despite Bob’s side-eye this one felt like the right fit.

It’s lighthearted. It’s goofy. The villains are actually pretty well done. An old lady gets bombarded by cats. People fall in love too quickly. And a dog named after a Biblical thief is pretty cute and makes me once again want to own a giant dog, despite Bob’s side-eye.

Is this the best film Disney’s ever made? Absolutely not. But is it fun to watch with some popcorn when you’re having a really hard week? Absolutely.

And sometimes that’s all you need from Disney.