Back to trending
The Absent-Minded Professor

The Absent-Minded Professor

Comedy · Family · Science Fiction · 1961

Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

Movie details

The Absent-Minded Professor

“The most amazing discovery since laughter!”

1961 Comedy · Family · Science Fiction 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Absent-Minded Professor?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Jetsons: The Movie

Jetsons: The Movie

Animation · 1990

George Jetson is forced to uproot his family when Mr. Spacely promotes him to take charge of a new factory on a distant planet.

Son of Flubber

Son of Flubber

Comedy · 1963

Beleaguered professor Ned Brainard has already run into a pile of misfortunes with his discovery of the super-elastic substance "Flubber." Now he hopes to have better luck with a gravity-busting derivative he's dubbed "Flubbergas." Ned's experiments, constantly hampered by government obstruction, earn the consternation of his wife, Betsy. But a game-winning modification to a football uniform may help Ned make the case for his fantastic new invention.

Plankton: The Movie

Plankton: The Movie

Family · 2025

Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand — and decides to destroy the world without him.

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

Comedy · 1972

Dexter Riley is a science student at Medfield College who inadvertently invents a liquid capable of rendering objects and people invisible. Before Dexter and his friends, Debbie and Richard Schuyler, can even enjoy their spectacular discovery, corrupt businessman A.J. Arno plots to get his greedy hands on it. Slapstick hijinks ensue as Dexter and his pals try to thwart the evil Arno before he can use the invisibility spray to rob a bank.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Family · 1968

A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.

Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday

Fantasy · 1976

School girl Annabel is hassled by her mother, and Mrs. Andrews is annoyed with her daughter, Annabel. They both think that the other has an easy life. On a normal Friday morning, both complain about each other and wish they could have the easy life of their daughter/mother for just one day and their wishes come true as a bit of magic puts Annabel in Mrs. Andrews' body and vice versa. They both have a Freaky Friday.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland

Adventure · 2015

Bound by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor jaded by disillusionment embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as "Tomorrowland."

Smurfs: The Lost Village

Smurfs: The Lost Village

Family · 2017

In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting race through the Forbidden Forest leading to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history.

Escape to Witch Mountain

Escape to Witch Mountain

Adventure · 1975

Tia and Tony are two orphaned youngsters with extraordinary powers. Lucas Deranian poses as their uncle in order to get the kids into the clutches of Deranian's megalomaniacal boss, evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt, who wants to exploit them. Jason, a cynical widower, helps Tia and Tony escape to witch mountain, while at the same time Tia and Tony help Jason escape the pain of the loss of his wife.

Zambezia

Zambezia

Comedy · 2012

Set in a bustling bird city on the edge of the majestic Victoria Falls, "Zambezia" is the story of Kai - a naïve, but high-spirited young falcon who travels to the bird city of "Zambezia" where he discovers the truth about his origins and, in defending the city, learns how to be part of a community.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Stevenson

Written by

Bill Walsh · Samuel W. Taylor

Fred MacMurray

Fred MacMurray

Ned Brainard

Nancy Olson

Nancy Olson

Betsy Carlisle

Keenan Wynn

Keenan Wynn

Alonzo P. Hawk

Tommy Kirk

Tommy Kirk

Biff Hawk

Leon Ames

Leon Ames

Rufus Daggett

Elliott Reid

Elliott Reid

Shelby Ashton

Edward Andrews

Edward Andrews

Defense Secretary

Court is in session

Put The Absent-Minded Professor on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.