Son of Flubber (1963)

When Professor Brainard experiments further on Flubber derivatives, he gets in trouble and only his students can help.

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Bill Walsh (screenplay), Don DaGradi (screenplay),

Stars:

Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fred MacMurray	...	Prof. Ned Brainard
Nancy Olson	...	Elizabeth 'Betsy' Brainard
Keenan Wynn	...	Alonzo P. Hawk
Tommy Kirk	...	Biff Hawk
Ed Wynn	...	A.J. Allen
Charles Ruggles	...	Judge Murdock (as Charlie Ruggles)
Leon Ames	...	President Rufus Daggett
Ken Murray	...	Mr. Hurley
William Demarest	...	Mr. Hummel
Paul Lynde	...	Sportscaster
Elliott Reid	...	Prof. Shelby Ashton
Bob Sweeney	...	Mr. Harker
Joanna Moore	...	Desiree de la Roche
Edward Andrews	...	Defense Secretary
James Westerfield	...	Police Officer Hanson

Storyline

Professor Ned Brainard's discovery of flubber hasn't quite brought him - or his college - the riches he thought. The Pentagon has declared his discovery to be top secret and the IRS has slapped him with a huge tax bill, even if he has yet to receive a cent. He thinks he may have found the solution in the form of flubbergas, which can change the weather. It also helps Medfield College's football team to win a game. At home, his wife Betsy is jealous of the attention lavished on him by an old high school girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | college | flubber | student | tax | 

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Taglines:

The Professor's "OFF"... AGAIN!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Après lui, le déluge

Filming Locations:

Pomona College - 333 N. College Way, Claremont, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one of the most hapless marketing tie-in attempts in movie history, Hasbro Toys, in cooperation with Disney, issued a toy version of Flubber, marketed just before Christmas time in 1962. Similar to Silly Putty, in that it could bounce like a ball and make comic imprints, the mixture was a combination of rubber, mineral oil, and green food coloring that had been lab-tested with no ill effects and was marketed as being made of "a new parent-approved material that is non-toxic and will not stain." Within weeks, claims came pouring in to both Hasbro and Disney that the toy Flubber was causing full-body rashes and sore throats in many of the children who used it, resulting in several lawsuits by angry parents. Eventually, after much experimentation, and an intensive investigation by the FDA, it was determined that there was a property in the mixture, of unknown origin, that caused an infection of the hair follicles in certain individuals. The product was recalled, but disposing of it turned out to be an even dicier proposition. Trying to incinerate the mixture only produced a heavy, dense black cloud around the Providence, Rhode Island, garbage dump where the attempt was made. Working with the U.S. Coast Guard to sink the substance at sea turned out to be a fiasco, as well, as the next day almost all of the dumped Flubber came floating back into Narragansett Bay. Finally, it was decided to use the mixture as landfill, buried deep under the parking lot at Hasbro's new warehouse, just outside of Providence. Even then, the incredible but true story doesn't end there. A popular "urban legend" among Hasbro employees is that every year, during the hottest days of summer, you can still spot some of the mixture oozing through the cracks in the parking lot.

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Quotes

Desiree de la Roche: I knew you were vague, lover, but I didn't think you were that vague.

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Connections

Referenced in Mary Tyler Moore: Bess, You Is My Daughter Now (1970)

User Reviews

Flubber Byproduct

By the time Son of Flubber was released by Walt Disney in 1963, Fred MacMurray was firmly established in the third phase of his career as star of G-rated Disney films and television situation comedies. MacMurray was able to do this because of a unique clause he had written into his contract with CBS which produced the My Three Sons show that he starred in for a dozen or so years. All of MacMurray's scenes in all episodes were filmed at the beginning of the cycle so as to allow him to do those Disney films as well. It worked out great for him.

Disney took virtually the entire cast of The Absent Minded Professor and added several new faces as well. In the previous film, MacMurray revolutionizes rubber by making a substance that bounces higher with each bounce than lower. That film ends with MacMurray flying to Washington in his Model T (you read it right) to give flubber for the defense of the free world.

But Washington, DC red tape being what it is MacMurray and his new bride Nancy Olson aren't seeing any money any time soon. But not to worry, Fred's found a byproduct of flubber that he calls flubber gas. A lighter than air substance that really makes anything fly.

In the first film, MacMurray used his college's basketball team as a test for flubber. In Son of Flubber, flubber gas is tested during a football game with the same hilarious results. In fact more so because in this film Paul Lynde is the stressed and harried play by play announcer of the college football game. For me he's the highlight of the film.

In Son of Flubber, Disney gives us an entertaining and worthy successor to the Absent Minded Professor that after almost fifty years will still appeal to anyone not made of stone.