The Misadventures of Merlin Jones | Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones | Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello | The Misadventures of Merlin Jones

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The Misadventures ...

	The Misadventures of Merlin Jones Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2004 average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello star as the sweethearts of Midvale College in this wacky, laugh-filled campus romp. Kirk is Merlin Jones, the gifted but slightly oddball student who, accompanied by his girlfriend Jennifer (Funicello), sets out on a series of comic misadventures. From trying to solve what appears to be a horrendous burglary and murder plot to having a chimp-napping charge pinned on him, no one is exempt from Merlin's wacky sense of oddball adventure!

Life's toughest questions tackled within.....

How many diamonds can I hide in a peach pit?

How can I mimick the sound of a siren without using
a series of rotating disks?

How in the world can I put my cat into a state of hypnosis
so he'll finally stand up to that neighbor dog?

Watch...and learn.

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The Misadventures of Merlin Jones

I have this movie on VHS and I have watched it over and over. It's one of my favorite Disney's film collections. Two Thumbs up!

The film contains two stories, the first is a FIVE STAR story, the second THREE STARS.

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones stars two regulars from the Disney troupe of actors, namely Tommy Kirk, who is renowned for his starring role in The Shaggy Dog, and Annette Funicello, renowned for being the favorite of the Mouseketeers (T.V. show). The film begins with a catchy song, sung by Annette. The words appear below.

Then comes two stories. Both stories deal with the paranormal. The first story deals with mind-reading, while the second story concerns hypnosis. The first story rates FIVE STARS, in that all the elements hang together nicely to form a coherent tale. In a nutshell, during the course of a laboratory experiment, Merlin Jones acquires the abilty to read other person's minds. He tests this ability with Annette, who thinks, "Hold my hand." Later, in the college library, Merlin hears the thoughts of other students. For example, he hears the thoughts of a chubby coed thinking about a chocolate sundae, the thoughts of a pretty coed musing about how cute is Merlin Jones, and the thoughts of a beatnik male student composing beatnik poetry. But then, Merlin Jones, in his role as a part-time waiter in a cafe, hears the thoughts of a judge, conspiring crimes. Thus, the plot centers around Merlin Jones' efforts as a self-styled detective, in tracking down the judge's participation in crime. (The story has a surprise ending).

To give an example of the clever dialogue, early on in the story there is a confrontation betwen Merlin Jones and a football jock. The football jock wants to be Annette's boyfriend, so he attempts to put down Merlin Jones with the following statement. He attempts to make fun of Merlin Jones by exclaiming, "I can hear the crowd roar when he tackles a physics problem!"

In another clever episode, Merlin Jones has hooked himself up to a brain wave detector. In the science lab, he persuades Annette to hold still so that he can kiss her. The brain wave detector goes off scale. Then, Merlin Jones asks Annette to hook herself up, and to kiss him. She complies, saying, "Well, if its part of a scientific experiment, I suppose its all right." But when she kisses him, her brain waves result in a flat line. This causes Merlin Jones to be dismayed, but Annette points out that an electric plug in the machine had been disconnected. This is just another example of the finely written light comedy in the first story.

If there can be any criticism of the first story, it is that some of the actors portraying college students look like they are at least 35 years old.

But the second story deserves TWO STARS, as it is no better than a typical TV situation comedy. It is not boring, but it is simply not as good as the first story. The second story contains the same characters (Tommy Kirk, Annette, the judge, and the football jock), but it also contains a chimpanzee.

As a parting note, it might be fun to compare The Misadventures of Merlin Jones with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In Merlin Jones, the authority figure is a judge. Tommy Kirks' goal, throughout the entire movie, is to collect evidence that the judge is a criminal, e.g., involved in a diamond robbery, murder, and other crimes. The judge acts cool and dignified throughout.

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the authority figure is the school principal. Matthew Broderick's goal, thoughout the entire movie, is to trick the principal into becoming a buffoon and to commit crimes and the like, e.g.,crime of breaking and entering, and parking in front of a fire hydrant. The principal complies, and becomes, in the eyes of the school community, a progressively greater buffoon.

In Merlin Jones, the girlfriend (Annette) collaborates with Tommy Kirk, when they both masquerade as plumbers and snoop in the judge's home. What is amusing is that the toolbox carried by Annette is marked with, "BZ PLUMBERS." (Get it? Busy plumbers! Get it?) In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the girlfriend collaborates with Matthew Broderick, in Broderick's mission of trickery, when she poses as his daughter.

Annette sings the following song:

They call him Merlin Jones, the scrambled egghead, Merlin Jones, the campus kook. But my heart's whirling, I'm the girl in love with Merlin Jones.

I heard weird noises late one night as I passed the science wing. I looked inside and there he was working on the darndest thing. The thing got up and buzzed and beeped, and walked right out the door. And Merlin said, "At last it works, I wonder what it's for."

They call him Merlin Jones, the scrambled egghead, Merlin Jones, the campus kook. But my heart's whirling, I'm the girl in love with Merlin Jones.

Although I know his way-out brain is on cloud nine, his kisses make me want to be his Mrs. Frankenstein.

Call him crazy, call him mad, with oddball overtones. All I know I've got it bad for Mr. Merlin Jones.

Lots of fellas in the school have asked her out on dates. But this crazy way out wig is the only one that rates.

I can't help being proud of him when he puts his brain in gear. Although a voice inside says, "Hey get me out of here."

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Classic Disney Family Comedy!

A classic example of Disney family comedy can be found in the 1964 hit, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones." Starring "Old Yeller" and "The Shaggy Dog" lead Tommy Kirk in the title role, Merlin is a highly intelligent, science-obsessed college student whose experiments and inventions repeatedly land him in trouble, even with the law. Merlin's girlfriend, Jennifer (Annette Funicello), is adoring and understanding (usually), and his one true comrade. Together, they have misadventures throughout the film, just as the title indicates, virtually splitting the film into two separate parts, but as a whole it remains entirely funny and enjoyable.

In the first half, one of Merlin's experiments has a Dexter Riley effect (several years prior, of course), resulting in Merlin acquiring the ability to hear people's thoughts. When he overhears Judge Holmsby plotting out a crime in his head, Merlin's new powers land him into a world of trouble with the authorities. Once all that is squared away, the second half of the film revolves around Merlin's experiments with hypnosis. This involves a laboratory chimp named Stanley, paving the way for the as yet unreleased (to DVD) sequel, "The Monkey's Uncle," which is also a great Disney comedy classic.

"The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" is a true Disney comedy treat, and the Disney fanatic will love it for all its peak Disney era comedy staples, such as the family of stars that make up its excellent cast and the classic cut-out style opening with Sherman Brothers music! Many folks are bashing this DVD release due to the full-screen format. However, it is my understanding that the original aspect ratio of this film is currently a subject of debate, so any hardcore consumer anger might as yet be premature. That item aside, the DVD thankfully includes two extras. One is a nice gallery of posters and lobby cards. The other is a video gallery of famous Disney inventors, though true fans will notice many faces missing. Gyro Gearloose, anyone? Gadget? Okay, so they couldn't include them all, but Gyro is a major one in my opinion. This second extra isn't that necessary and something tied more to the film would have been preferred, but it's a nice bit of fluff. Just wish it had been presented as one featurette rather than a video gallery. Anyway, without a doubt, if you enjoy family comedies or are a Disney fanatic, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" is a must own!

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Good Movie But I'm Wondering About The Correct Aspect Ratio!

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a good movie, I first saw it when it had been shown on TV and as I had never seen it before I decided to watch it and I'm glad I did because it was a cute movie and became one of my favorite Disney movies and I'm glad it's on DVD and the only thing I'm wondering about is the aspect ratio? Was this move filmed in widescreen or fullscreen? The DVD is fullscreen and I'm wondering if that is the right aspect ratio or is if it's just another pan & scan edit of a widescreen movie?

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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