Flubber

Description

Packed with unmistakable Disney magic, FLUBBER explodes on
the screen, fusing adventure, eye-popping visual effects, and the gravity-
defying comic genius of Robin Williams. The resulting concoction is a
hilarious adventure for all ages. Brilliant but befuddled Professor Phillip
Brainard (Williams) is on the brink of inventing a revolutionary energy source
and missing his wedding to fiancee Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds (Marcia Gay Harden)
— president of financially challenged Medfield College — for the third time!
When Phillip experiments with his own big bang theory, a miraculous elastic
good — Flubber — emerges, leaving him ecstatic, but unmarried! Phillip and
his flying cyber sidekick, Weebo, soon discover that Flubber, applied to
anything, enables it to bounce super high and fast. However, many questions
remain. Is Flubber good enough to win Sara back, save Medfield from its
financial problems, and slip through the hands of the evil financier who is
bankrolling the college? FLUBBER slips, slides, giggles, glides, flips, and
flies — the stuff of surefire family entertainment. Now you can bring home
Disney’s box office hit that’s two parts innovation, three parts imagination,
and “100% pure fun!” (CNN)|Many of the film’s special effects were produced in
huge Building Three at the Treasure Island Naval Base off San Francisco. With
90,000 square feet of space, the producers were able to create the professor’s
basement laboratory, the interior of the team’s locker room, and a 2,500-seat
basketball stadium, all under one roof at one time.|Differing from the
original film (THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR), this time Flubber is given a
personality of its own. Mischievous and uncontrollable, it creates havoc
everywhere. Disney couldn’t resist the temptation to remake 1961’s
popular comedy The Absent Minded Professor, so they cast Robin Williams as
Professor Philip Brainard (a role vaguely related to the character originated
by Fred MacMurray), and the result is a comedy that, frankly, doesn’t fully
deserve its modest success. It’s admittedly clever to a point, and certainly
the digitally “flubberized” special effects provide the kind of movie magic
that’s entertaining for kids and parents alike. The professor can’t even
remember his own wedding day (much to the chagrin of his fiancée, played by
Marcia Gay Harden), and now his academic rival (Christopher McDonald) is
trying to steal his latest and purely accidental invention–flying rubber, or
… flubber. The green goo magnifies energy and can be used as an amazing
source of power, but in the hands of screenwriter John Hughes it becomes just
another excuse to recycle a lot of Home Alone-style slapstick humor involving
a pair of bumbling would-be flubber thieves. There’s also a floating robot
named Weebo and some catchy music by Danny Elfman to accompany dancing globs
of flubber, but the story’s too thin to add up to anything special.
Lightweight fun, but, given the title, it lacks a certain bounce. Of course,
that didn’t stop Disney’s marketing wizards from turning it into a home-video
hit. –Jeff Shannon

Features:

Product Details:

• Genre: ACTION, Comedy, LIVE
• Format: Multiple Formats, NTSC, Live, Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Closed-captioned
• Contributor: Leslie Stefanson, Malcolm Brownson, Dean Cundey, Edie McClurg, Jodie Benson, Clancy Brown, Samuel W. Taylor, Bill Walsh, Robin Williams, Wil Wheaton, Scott Michael Campbell, John Hughes, Samuel Lloyd, Raymond J. Barry, Les Mayfield, Ted Levine, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald See more
• Language: English, French, Spanish
• Runtime: 1 hour and 34 minutes
• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches; 0.8 Ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ MFR#VG
• Director ‏ : ‎ Dean Cundey, Les Mayfield
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, NTSC, Live, Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Closed-captioned
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 34 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ June 16, 1998
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Clancy Brown, Scott Michael Campbell, Raymond J. Barry