Although "flub" is defined as "to make a mess of," the word "flubber" is a contraction from "flying rubber." In this remake of the 1961 comedy-fantasy The Absent Minded Professor,
Robin Williams takes on the role created by
Fred MacMurray and later executed by Harry Anderson on television, while the 1961 film's Flubber with anti-gravity properties has now been digitally reincarnated as a translucent green, pulsating, bouncing blob that loves to dance the mambo. Absent-minded college professor Philip Brainard (Williams), employed at a near-bankrupt university, creates the formula for Flubber, yet he can't remember to show up for his own wedding to university-President Sara Jean Reynolds (
Marcia Gay Harden). His rival, Wilson Croft (
Christopher McDonald), plots to steal Sara and the Flubber from Brainard. Rich, corrupt businessman Chester Hoenicker (Raymond Barry) tries to force Brainard to pass his failing son Bennett (
Wil Wheaton), but he soon takes an interest in Flubber after hearing about it from his flunkies (
Clancy Brown,
Ted Levine). After using Flubber to fly over clouds in his 1963 T-Bird, Brainard realizes Flubber can also improve the performance of the school's pathetic basketball team. Jodi Benson is the voice of Weebo, Brainard's talking, flying household robot, with a video display of Disney clips at odd moments. Many gags are embellishments from the 1961 film, with
John Hughes' (
Home Alone) rewriting of the original
Bill Walsh screenplay (based on Samuel Taylor's short story, "A Situation of Gravity"). Filming began October 8,1996 in San Francisco. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide