Wake Up, Aurora!

I was quite fond of The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, so I was pretty happy they made The Monkey’s Uncle, which is basically its sequel. Not that the story line is too *involved* throughout both movies. It’s all basically just a few nutty happenings between Merlin, his girlfriend Jennifer, and their chimp Stanley. This time around, the trio dabbles in “honest” cheating methods for dumb jocks, as well as developing the world’s first ever man-powered flying machine. The movie is cute, as is its primate co-star, but it’s not exactly laugh out loud funny. That said, I’ve really come to like Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello as a duo. They’re just impossibly cute together.

Thoughts:

• I could not help but laugh when Merlin tells Jennifer to be “scientific, not feminine.” Wouldn’t want that now!

5.0

Movies like The Misadventures of Merlin Jones make me really appreciate the well-known Disney stars of the 60s. Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello were so cute in this movie. It made me wonder if they dated in real life. But since my Google research on the topic isn’t working out so well…I can at least tell you that Merlin Jones is a pretty adorable story about a nerdy college student that gets himself in all sorts of pickles around campus. The movie played like a bunch of TV episodes smushed together instead of one cohesive movie, but it worked pretty well. That was, up until the very end, where it all just felt like it was over pretty suddenly. But I guess that only left me wanting more. I hope there are more screwball comedies like this coming soon for me.

7.0

I’m continuing to truly love and admire Fred MacMurray in all of these older films, but Son of Flubber (and this entire Flubber franchise) continues to do nothing for me. The humor in it is so over the top, that it just completely falls flat. Oh well, Fred. We’ll always have The Shaggy Dog. <3

Thoughts:

• The wife in these movies is such a bitch. It must be said.

1.5

I guess you could describe Bon Voyage! as a more squeaky clean version of all those National Lampoon’s Vacation movies. After years of putting it off, Harry Willard (Fred MacMurray) and his family take a dream vacation to Europe and hit a few bumps along the way. One kid is falling in love too hard and too fast. Another kid is trying to be a ladies’ man. The other kid is running a muck all over the place. And the parents? They’re in there somewhere. In the end, all is well and everyone wuvs each other. Overall, a cute movie.

Thoughts:

• Most of the family in this movie is the same as the family in The Shaggy Dog. All these movies are starting to blur together at this point.
• I like how the parents blame their “accidental” children for never going on vacation. Class.
• The older daughter’s story line with the boy she falls in love with on the boat gets REALLY intense. Like, to the point where it started to make me a little uncomfortable. This is a family flick….let’s not be so serious.

6.0

I don’t think Moon Pilot is what I’d call a fun family film. I mean, there’s a cute monkey in it…but other than that the story is way too dragged out. Every scene moved so slow, I feel like they could have easily cut 20 minutes out and still have gotten the point across. Pretty boring, to say the least. On the upside, Brian Keith (better known as the dad from The Parent Trap) is in this and he’s pretty damn sexy.

1.5

Allow me to point out that Babes in Toyland is not the movie I thought it was going to be. There is another Babes in Toyland (or as it’s also called: March of the Wooden Soldiers) from the 1930s, which stars the famous Laurel & Hardy duo. That version was frequently played on TV when I was a kid. So when I go to watch this 1961 version, I was definitely confused because it’s actually pretty much the same plot as the other movie. It’s a similar collection of nursery rhyme characters all thrown together, only far less funny and wayyyy more of an acid trip. Seriously. This stuff is nutty. Kinda creepy, even.

Thoughts:

• The songs add absolutely nothing to the story. They’re really boring. I hate when that happens.
• What’s with the super mature financial themes? What kid understands anything about mortgages?

4.5

I knew The Absent-Minded Professor to be the original version of 1997’s Flubber so I had some hope that it would be funny. Especially since it stars Fred MacMurray, who I really liked in The Shaggy Dog. But the movie fell pretty flat in my opinion. The humor all around just came off pretty bland. It was the sort of thing where I could tell they were making a joke, but part of me really wanted to yell at the screen and say BE FUNNIER. Maybe the remakes will be better…?

1.0

The first few minutes of Swiss Family Robinson make it seem like it’s going to be really boring, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did pick up a bit. I’d say this delightful story about a shipwrecked family is pretty fun, but ultimately scores sort of low for not really being all that funNY. But anyway, the animals are cute, the men are sweet and chivalrous, and there’s a ton of kissing and gun violence!

Thoughts:

• I laughed pretty hard when the two brothers are talking about how they can’t wait to get off the island and meet some girls. This line was the kicker: “By the time we get to New Guinea, we won’t care what age they are.” Keep it real, fellas.
• I was kinda bummed that the other brother didn’t end up getting the girl at the end. He was definitely much sweeter to her than Fritz was. But women always love assholes, so…there you go.

3.5

I was very skeptical before actually sitting down to watch The Shaggy Dog. For one, this is a weird ass story about a boy that keeps turning into a dog. Second, I know that Tim Allen did a remake of this movie just a few years ago. I never saw it, but the frightening image from the movie poster has sort of burned into my brain since then. And third, I have found all of Disney’s live action efforts up until this point to be rather weak. At any rate, my expectations were low. But then, there it was. A movie that was coherent, funny, and that actually kept my attention all the way to the end. Consider me relieved, and impressed!

Thoughts:

• The dog is so cute. I bet it sheds like crazy in real life though.
• I like how Wilby tries to tell Professor Plumcutt that he’s turned into a dog and he seems so unfazed by it all. Like, oh yeah….that’ll happen. Sucks to be you.
• There’s a lot of bad voice over audio throughout this movie. I mean, it was only 1959, so I guess I’ll let it slide.
• The plot to this movie is so much more complicated than I would have expected. Lot’s of police involvement and running from the law. There’s also a lot of historical references to the Borgias family. It makes me wonder if this movie actually refers to any mythology/superstitions of back then.
• The dog is VERY touchy with Wilby in the beginning. Sort of creepy.
• The family that the dog belongs to is sickeningly bourgeois. I’d have been suspicious of them from day 1.
• Wilby and Moochie’s parents seem super bitter and not in love at all. I wonder if a lot of families were like this back then.
• Pay phones cost only a dime in this movie. Most kids don’t even know what a pay phone is anymore.
• The dog is so well trained! He did a great job of acting out people-type actions. I hope he won an award for this.
• I’m confused. Does the dad have dog allergies Or does he just hate dogs? Or both?
• I love the names in this movie. Wilby. Moochie. Buzz. Total badasses.
• The “cute” girl across the street, Allison (played by Annette Funicello from The Mickey Mouse Club) has awful hair. How did that ever pass for “hot?”

8.0