Flubber (1997)

Director:

Les Mayfield

Writers (WGA):

Samuel W. Taylor (short story "A Situation of Gravity")
John Hughes (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

The stuff dreams are made of.

Plot:

An absent-minded professor discovers "flubber," a rubber-like super-bouncy substance.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Wedding | College | Invention | Medfield College

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Professor Philip Brainard
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
Christopher McDonald	...	Wilson Croft
Raymond J. Barry	...	Chester Hoenicker (as Raymond Barry)
Clancy Brown	...	Smith
Ted Levine	...	Wesson
Wil Wheaton	...	Bennett Hoenicker
Edie McClurg	...	Martha George
Jodi Benson	...	Weebo (voice)
Leslie Stefanson	...	Sylvia
Malcolm Brownson	...	Father
Benjamin Brock	...	Window Boy
Dakin Matthews	...	Minister
Zack Zeigler	...	Teenage Boy
Sam Lloyd	...	Coach Willy Barker

Also Known As:

Disney's Flubber: The Absent Minded Professor (promotional title)
The Absent Minded Professor (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for slapstick action and mild language.

Runtime:

93 min | Spain:90 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:U | Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #35540) | Canada:F (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:G (British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:G (Ontario) (video rating: 2004) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Nova Scotia) | South Korea:All | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. (w) | Hong Kong:I | Mexico:A | Netherlands:AL (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

John Hughes' first choice for the lead role was always Robin Williams, but at the time he was in a bitter fall out with the Walt Disney Company and refused to be in the film. Hughes lined up some other choices including Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, 'John Lithgow' and Patrick Stewart. As soon as Robin Williams made peace with the Walt Disney Company, Hughes immediately cast him in the lead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the flubber breaks out of Prof Brainard's back pocket it makes a hole. As he is falling out of the window there is no hole in his back pocket

Quotes:

Father: There's not a darn thing to be afraid of, pal. How can anything get in your window? It's closed, OK?
[Flubber crashes through the neighbor's window, bounces around and the boy covers himself in a blanket]

Movie Connections:

Features Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Soundtrack:

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN'

'Flubber' Flies but Doesn't Soar

IT'S A SIGN of the times that the remake of "The Absent-Minded Professor" has as its title, not a human character, but a special effect: an inanimate object. But that would be selling the object short. Flubber, the substance, has more personality than many Hollywood actors. And if "Flubber," the movie, isn't quite a slam dunk, at least it's a relatively bouncy way to spend an hour and a half.

As the movie starts, Prof. Philip Brainard (Robin Williams, wearing Fred MacMurray's brogues and lab coat) is struggling to discover a new energy source. The college where he teaches -- Medfield -- is bankrupt and threatened with closure. His fiancée, college president Sara Jean Reynolds (Marcia Gay Harden), is wondering whether, after stranding her at the altar twice, her absent-minded boyfriend will show up for their wedding this time. And just waiting to scoop up Brainard's girl and his invention is the smarmy scientist Wilson Croft (Christopher McDonald).

It's only a matter of time before something explodes. And soon something does: Prof. Brainard's basement. The forest of glassware is reduced to rubble. The only thing left is a pressure cooker and the green glob it contains. Call it a "propulsive polymer," call it an "elastimer," call it flying rubber. By any name, it's still Flubber. A little Flubber goes a long way. Dropped on the ground it's like a Super Ball on steroids. Apply a thin layer to a golf ball and even Stephen Hawking can tee off like Tiger Woods. Stick it in a car engine and, well, doesn't every movie these days have to have a flying car? But the evil gangster who controls the university, Chester Hoenicker (Raymond Barry), wants to get his greedy hands on the green goo.

The movie has been updated since Disney's 1961 original. What was then a faithful canine companion is now a flying robot, Weebo. Voiced by Jodi Benson (who provided the vocal cords for Ariel, the Little Mermaid), Weebo is a jealous little bucket of bolts, eager to ace Sara out of the professor's life. As in the HBO sitcom "Dream On," Weebo punctuates (and comments on) the action by showing scenes from old movies on her video screen. And the Flubber itself is more than a mere blob. It has a puckish personality, showcased by a computer-generated Busby Berkeley-style dance number at the movie's midpoint.

Presumably because John Hughes is the co-producer and co-screenwriter (Les Mayfield directed), "Flubber" is filled with the "Home Alone" creator's patented pratfalls. A villain can't simply fall down. He has to look as if he slipped on ball bearings, go horizontal, hang for a split second in the air and then come crashing down flat on his spine. It was fresh when Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were doing it seven years ago; it looks like overkill now. (The movie is rated PG, which you wouldn't expect, but there is a fair amount of slapstick violence -- bowling balls braining bad guys -- and one brief, giggly scatological scene.) Parents dragged to the mondo-plex will find just enough here to occupy their minds -- Williams is funny, though not the uncorked ball of human Flubber you know he could be. There are contemporary touches -- at one point the professor says, "Sara, if we had wanted to be rich, we wouldn't have become teachers" -- but the movie isn't so hipped-up that it will go over children's heads. On the other hand, there are flat patches where anyone under 8 or so might fidget. Flubber may be more fun than a barrel of monkeys, but "Flubber" is a few monkeys shy of a kid movie masterpiece.