Son of Flubber

Son of Flubber is the 1963 black-and-white sequel to the Walt Disney children's movie comedy The Absent-Minded Professor, also starring Fred MacMurray as a scientist who has perfected a high-bouncing substance, Flubber ("flying rubber") that can levitate an automobile and cause athletes to bounce into the sky. The film costars Nancy Olson and Keenan Wynn, and was directed by Robert Stevenson. Many of the cast members from The Absent Minded Professor also appear in this film, including Elliott Reid and Tommy Kirk. A colorized version of the film was released on VHS in 1997.

Plot

Professor Ned Brainard of Medfield College goes to Washington, D. C., to sell to the Defense Department his anti-gravitation invention, flying rubber, or "Flubber." He hopes the government will purchase his invention so that he may help Medfield pay off its mortgage owed to loan shark Alonzo Hawk, who is eager to foreclose and use the school property for a business enterprise. Congress refuses to approve the expenditure, and Ned returns to Medfield emptyhanded and unable, for national security reasons, to sell Flubber privately. Undaunted, the professor continues to experiment with other inventions, including a weather gun (a machine to promote rainfall) and a flubbergas suit for football players. Domestic strife further complicates Ned's life when his wife, Betsy, becomes jealous of the attentions paid to him by his ex-sweetheart, Desiree de la Roche, and she leaves him. Moreover, Ned's experiments with the weather gun cause all the glass in town to shatter. Alonzo, whose insurance company must pay the claims for the broken glass, traces the damage to Ned and threatens legal action. By this time, though, Ned is busy perfecting a flubbergassed football suit invented by his student Bill Hawk, Alonzo's son. The invention works, helping Medfield win the game, but the victory is clouded by Ned's trial. County agricultural agent A. J. Allen testifies that a beneficial effect of Ned's weather gun, which he calls "dry rain," has resulted in bumper crops. To prove his claim, Allen exhibits mammoth vegetables and an enormous chicken egg. The judge dismisses the case, and Ned, now a hero, is reunited with Betsy.

Production notes

Medfield College, which was also the setting for the earlier film The Absent-Minded Professor, was later used for a trilogy of Disney's "Dexter Riley" films; The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World; each starring Kurt Russell and Cesar Romero.

Cast

• Fred MacMurray as Professor Ned Brainard
• Nancy Olson as Betsy Carlisle Brainard
• Keenan Wynn as Alonzo Hawk
• Ed Wynn as A.J. Allen
• Bob Sweeney as Mr. Harker
• Tommy Kirk as Biff Hawk
• Charlie the Dog as Himself

Uncredited

• Joe Flynn as TV announcer Rex Williams
• Leon Tyler as Humphrey Hacker
• Paul Lynde as George

Gallery

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Media The Absent-Minded Professor • Son of Flubber Characters Ned Brainard • Charlie • Betsy Carlisle • Alonzo Hawk • Biff Hawk • Jeffrey Daggett • Shelby Ashton • General Singer • Mrs. Chatsworth • Coach Elkins • Lenny • Officer Kelley • Officer Hanson • Reverend Bosworth • General Hotchkiss • Admiral Olmstead • Sam Wheeler • A.J. Allen • Judge Murdock • Mr. Hurley • Mr. Hummel • Mr. Harker • Desiree de la Roche • Coach Wilson • Mr. Barley • Mr. Osborne • Edna Daggett • Rex Williams • Humphrey Hacker Locations Medfield College Songs Medfield Fight Song • The Flubber Song Objects Flubber • Model T See Also The Absent-Minded Professor (1988 film) • The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places • Flubber