Dexter Riley | |
---|---|
Based on | Characters created by Joseph L. McEveety |
Starring | |
Release date | 1969–1995 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $16,710,000 (total of three films) |
The Dexter Riley film series consists of American Science fiction-comedy films, centered around a college student named Dexter Riley, portrayed by Kurt Russell. [1] [2] The films, produced by The Walt Disney Company and taking place at the fictional Medfield College, follow the science class led by Professor Quigley, and their experiments, projects, and adventures. The college, under the direction of Dean Eugene Higgins (Joe Flynn) becomes involved in the nefarious plans of billionaire-turned-criminal, A. J. Arno (Cesar Romero). [3]
The film trilogy received mixed reviews, while its television film remake was poorly received. [4] The original trilogy has acquired a cult classic status. [5] In 1999 the Dexter Riley trilogy, along with a number of other Disney film series, were expanded as a franchise into the Walt Disney Parks attraction with elements included from each movie. [6]
Title | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | December 31, 1969 | Robert Butler | Joseph L. McEveety | Bill Anderson | |
Now You See Him, Now You Don't | July 12, 1972 | Joseph L. McEveety | Robert L. King | Ron Miller | |
The Strongest Man in the World | February 6, 1975 | Vincent McEveety | Joseph L. McEveety and Herman Groves | Bill Anderson |
At Medfield College, a non-intellectual named Dexter Riley becomes brilliant overnight. Following an electrical accident that transfers a donated computer memory into his brain, he gains the ability to learn any knowledge instantly and perfectly. After Riley gains fame and attention via television appearances, the dean of a competing university decides to ruin his reputation. At the same time, A. J. Arno, a secret technological crime boss with an upstanding public persona, pursues the student and his school because the computer he donated-that is now integrated into Riley's DNA-holds the records of his nefarious acts. [7] [2]
Dexter Riley is a science student at Medfield College who accidentally invents a liquid capable of rendering objects and people invisible. As Dexter and his friends Debbie and Richard begin exploring their recent discovery, the product gains the unwanted attention of corrupt businessman A. J. Arno. Recently released from prison, Arno seeks the formula for criminal means before the students can even announce their discovery. Arno and his henchman plan to use the invisibility spray to rob a bank. [8] [2]
Dexter Riley, who is studying science at Medfield College, decides to create a formula that will make humans stronger. After several unsuccessful attempts, a lab mishap combines his formula with a vitamin-rich breakfast cereal. He and his classmates discover that eating it briefly provides superhuman levels of strength and endurance. The greedy college dean attempts to take advantage of the discovery, marketing the product to a cereal corporation. Competing cereal companies hire thugs, including A. J. Arno, to eliminate the new miracle product. [9] [10] [2]
Title | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriters | Story by | Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | February 18, 1995 | Peyton Reed | Joseph L. McEveety and Ryan Rowe | Joseph L. McEveety | Joseph B. Wallenstein |
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of made-for-television remake films of classic Walt Disney Productions were produced and released as a part of The Magical World of Disney series. Among them was The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.
After a laboratory accident, the contents of a computer's encyclopedia is transferred biochemically into the brain of Dexter Riley, a less-than-average college student. After his newly acquired genius he appears on a trivia show, competing between various universities. After acing the show's quiz, and acquiring all the points, another university finds out about how he attained his skills and does everything to discredit Dexter. [11]
The Dexter Riley film series takes place at Medfield College. The college is used as a primary location in two other Disney film franchises. The college appears in The Shaggy Dog film series, and the Flubber film series. Collectively, the three separate film series take place within the same fictional universe. [12] [13] Additionally, the Merlin Jones film series take place at the in-universe sister-school, Midvale College; [14] meanwhile, The World's Greatest Athlete is set at the related academic school of Merrivale College. [15]
Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Shaggy Dog film series | |||||
The Shaggy Dog | March 19, 1959 | Charles Barton | Lillie Hayward and Bill Walsh | Walt Disney and Bill Walsh | |
The Shaggy D.A. | December 17, 1976 | Robert Stevenson | Don Tait | Bill Anderson | |
The Return of the Shaggy Dog | November 1, 1987 | Stuart Gillard | Paul Haggis and Diane Wilk | Harvey Marks | |
The Shaggy Dog | March 10, 2006 | Brian Robbins | Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley and Geoff Rodkey and Jack Amiel and Michael Begler | David Hoberman and Tim Allen | |
Flubber film series | |||||
The Absent-Minded Professor | March 16, 1961 | Robert Stevenson | Bill Walsh | ||
Son of Flubber | January 16, 1963 | Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi | Walt Disney and Bill Walsh | ||
Flubber | November 26, 1997 | Les Mayfield | John Hughes | John Hughes and Ricardo Mestres | |
Merlin Jones film series | |||||
The Misadventures of Merlin Jones | February 11, 1964 | Robert Stevenson | Tom August & Helen August | Bill Walsh | Walt Disney and Ron Miller |
The Monkey's Uncle | August 18, 1965 | Tom August & Helen August | |||
Other films | |||||
The World's Greatest Athlete | February 1, 1973 | Robert Scheerer | Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner | Bill Walsh | |
Character | Films | Television | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | Now You See Him, Now You Don't | The Strongest Man in the World | Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | |
Dexter Riley | Kurt Russell | Kirk Cameron | ||
Dean Eugene "E. J. Gene" Higgins | Joe Flynn | |||
A. J. Arno | Cesar Romero | |||
Professor Miles Quigley | William Schallert | William Schallert | Jason Bernard | |
Richard Schuyler | Michael McGreevey | |||
Debbie Dawson | Joyce Menges | Ann Marshall | ||
Harriet Crumply | Eve Arden | |||
Kirkwood Krinkle | Phil Silvers | |||
Cookie / Chillie | Richard Bakalyan | |||
Dean Al Valentine | Larry Miller | |||
Dean Webster Carlson | Dean Jones | |||
Norwood Gills | Matthew McCurley |
Film | Crew/Detail | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composer | Cinematographer | Editor | Production companies | Distributing companies | Running time | ||
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | Robert F. Brunner | Frank V. Phillips | Cotton Warburton | Walt Disney Productions | Buena Vista Distribution Company | 1hr 31mins | |
Now You See Him, Now You Don't | 1hr 28mins | ||||||
The Strongest Man in the World | Andrew Jackson | 92 minutes | |||||
Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | Philip Giffin | Russ T. Alsobrook | Jeff Gourson | Walt Disney Television, ZM Productions | American Broadcasting Company, Buena Vista Television | 87 minutes |
Film | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Budget | Worldwide Total income | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | ||||
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | — | — | — | — | — | — | $5,500,000 | [16] [17] |
Now You See Him, Now You Don't | — | — | — | — | — | — | $4,610,000 | [18] |
The Strongest Man in the World | — | — | — | — | — | — | $6,600,000 | [19] |
Totals | $16,710,000 [lower-alpha 1] |
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
---|---|---|
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | 50% (6 reviews) [20] | 54 (4 reviews) [21] |
Now You See Him, Now You Don't | 80% (5 reviews) [22] | — |
The Strongest Man in the World | — [23] | 63 (4 reviews) [24] |
Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | — [25] | — |
In 1999, the theme of Journey into Imagination was changed and re-titled to include Figment. The ride features Dr. Nigel Channing, from Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!, who "hosts" an area known as the Imagination Institute. The story states that Channing's grandfather established the institute, while the area features references to Dean Higgins from the Dexter Riley films, as well as Wayne Szalinski from the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise, as well as Dr. Philip Brainard from Flubber . Walt Disney and Thomas Edison also make an appearance. [26] [6]
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The Walt Disney Company, where he starred as Dexter Riley in films, such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). According to Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies, he became the studio's top star of the 1970s.
Flubber is a 1997 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and written by Hughes, based on an earlier screenplay by Bill Walsh. A remake of The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), the film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and stars Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald, Ted Levine, Raymond J. Barry, Wil Wheaton, and Clancy Brown with Jodi Benson providing a voice. The film grossed $178 million worldwide despite negative reviews. In selected theaters, the Pepper Ann episode "Old Best Friend" was featured before the film.
The Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 American science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity" by Samuel W. Taylor, originally published in the May 22, 1943 issue of Liberty magazine. The title character was based in part on Hubert Alyea, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Princeton University, who was known as "Dr. Boom" for his explosive demonstrations. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the film stars Fred MacMurray as Professor Ned Brainard, alongside Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, Elliott Reid, and Edward Andrews. The plot follows Brainard as he invents a substance that defies gravity, which he later exploits through various means.
Journey into Imagination with Figment is the third and latest incarnation of a dark ride attraction located within the Imagination! pavilion at World Celebration at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Originally opened on March 5, 1983, its original and current version feature the small purple dragon named Figment as well as the song "One Little Spark," composed by the Sherman Brothers.
John Christian Wedge is an American animator, designer, film director, voice actor, film producer, screenwriter, and cartoonist. He is known for directing the films Ice Age (2002), Robots (2005), Epic (2013), and Monster Trucks (2016). He is a co-founder of the now-defunct animation studio Blue Sky Studios and voices the character Scrat in the Ice Age franchise since 2002.
Robert Butler is an American film and Emmy Award-winning television director. He is best known for his work in television, where he directed the pilots for a number of series including Star Trek, Hogan's Heroes and Hill Street Blues.
The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 American comedy film and a sequel to The Shaggy Dog (1959) produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait. As with the first film in the series, it takes some inspiration from the Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.
Joseph Anthony Flynn III was an American character actor. He was best known for his role as Captain Wallace Binghamton in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows, such as Batman, and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies.
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1969 American science fiction comedy film starring Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn and William Schallert. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company.
The Mighty Ducks is an American media franchise. It features a trilogy of live-action films released in the 1990s by Walt Disney Pictures, an animated television series, a live-action sequel television series, and a real-world National Hockey League hockey team. The movies revolve around a Twin Cities ice hockey team, composed of young players that stick together throughout various challenges. Despite negative reviews from film critics, the trilogy's commercial success paved the way for the franchise's expansion.
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1995 American made-for-television science fiction comedy film and a remake of the 1969 film of the same name produced by Walt Disney Television which premiered on February 18, 1995 as an ABC Family Movie. It is the second in a series of four remakes of Disney live-action films produced for broadcast on ABC during the 1994–95 television season, the other three being The Shaggy Dog, Escape to Witch Mountain, and Freaky Friday.
Son of Flubber is a 1963 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), Fred MacMurray reprises his role from the first film as Ned Brainard, a scientist who has perfected a high-bouncing substance, Flubber that can levitate an automobile and cause athletes to bounce into the sky. In addition to MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Ed Wynn, Elliott Reid and Tommy Kirk also co-star, reprising their roles from The Absent-Minded Professor. The film was shot in black and white, but a colorized version was released on VHS in 1997.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a 1972 American science fiction comedy film starring Kurt Russell as a chemistry student who accidentally discovers the secret to invisibility. It is the sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and was followed by 1975's The Strongest Man in the World.
The Strongest Man in the World is a 1975 American science fiction comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety, produced by Walt Disney Productions and starring Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, and Eve Arden. It is the second sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, after Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972).
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is an American media franchise consisting of a series of family-science fiction-comedy films and a television adaptation, among other works, based on a concept created by Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, and an original story co-written by Gordon, Yuzna, and Ed Naha. Following the release of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and its subsequent financial and critical success, two sequels and a television series followed; titled Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, respectively. Another sequel titled Shrunk entered development in 2019.
101 Dalmatians is an American media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company and based on Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. It began in 1961 with the release of the traditionally animated feature film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Various adaptations produced from Disney have been released over the years.
Michael McGreevey is an American actor and screenwriter. He starred in several Walt Disney films as a young actor and later became a writer for the Fame TV series. He is the son of Emmy Award-winning television and film screenwriter John McGreevey.
Flubber, is a franchise consists of American science-fiction-comedy films, with three theatrical releases, and two made-for-television films. The overall story, is based on the short story, A Situation of Gravity, written by Samuel W. Taylor in 1922. The plot of the films center around an absent-minded college professor, who works tirelessly to find the next great invention. The Professor wants to make scientific history, while working to save the school at which he works, the Medfield College.
The Shaggy Dog franchise consists of American science fiction-fantasy-comedy films, with three theatrical releases, and two made-for-television films. The overall story is based on the 1923 novel titled The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten. The overarching story of each installment, follows Wilbur "Wilby" Daniels who is cursed and transforms into a large Old English Sheepdog after attaining an ancient Borgian ring and reciting its inscription.
The Witch Mountain franchise consists of American science fiction fantasy-action adventure films, produced by The Walt Disney Company. Based on the 1968 novel, Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key, the films as a whole center around extraterrestrial children who must return to their home planet, while ensuing figures attempt to intercept the aliens before they can escape. The franchise consists of both theatrical and made-for-television releases. The original trilogy has an overarching plot-line that spans the installments, while the 1995 television movie adaptation and the 2009 theatrical re-imagined legacy sequel are standalone in nature.