Jason's Disney Movie Review: 'The Monkey's Uncle' (1965)

The next movie in my quest to watch and review all the movies and films made by Disney is the 1965 animated feature film 'THE MONKEY'S UNCLE.' Not sure how long this will take or if I will be able to complete it but I am going to have some fun trying and hopefully watch some some great movies! All the movies and films will be chosen at random and right now come from the Walt Disney Pictures library which will include Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar movies as well as the True-Life Adventure movies. It will not include at this time movies and films from Touchstone Pictures or Hollywood Pictures or from any of the studios that were acquired by The Walt Disney Company such as Marvel Studios, LucasFilms and 20th Century Studios to name a few. Those may come later. My goal is to post at last one review a week and possibly more in some weeks. For each movie I review I will include some basic information such as release dates, synopsis, cast and crew as well as my thoughts and a rating or score that can be used to put together my all-time favorite Disney movie list.

'The Monkey's Uncle' premiered in Los Angeles, California on June 23, 1965. A Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company, Inc. The movie is a sequel to Disney's 1964 movie, 'The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.' College whiz-kid Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk) helps a few college football players "honestly" cheat for their exams using sleep learning methods. Then reluctantly helps the football program from disappearing by trying to prove man can fly under his own power which would result in a $10 million endowment for the school. 

Directed by Robert Stevenson. Produced by Ron Miller and Walt Disney (Executive Producer). Written by Tom August and Helen August. Music by Buddy Baker. Starring Tommy Kirk (Merlin Jones), Annette Funicello (Jennifer), Leon Ames (Judge Holmsby), Arthur O'Connell (Darius Green III), Frank Faylen (Mr. Dearborne), Leon Tyler (Leon), Norman Grabowski (Norman), Cheryl Miller (Lisa), Connie Gilchrist (Mrs. Gossett), Alan Hewitt (Professor Shattuck), Gage Clarke (College President), Mark Goddard (Haywood), Harry Holcombe (Regent), Alexander Lockwood (Regent), Harry Antrim (Regent) and The Beach Boys (Themselves). 

After 'The Misadventures of Merlin Jones' had been a surprise hit in 1964, Disney announced they would be making a sequel. The writers of this film, Tom August and Helen August were actually Alfred Lewis Levitt and Helen Levitt respectively. They used pseudonyms because they were both blacklisted in Hollywood. The movie was considered a success making around $4 million at the box office.

Film Technical Specifications - Rating: G | Runtime: 1 hour and 31 minutes (91 minutes) | Sound: Mono (RCA Sound Recording) | Color: Color (Technicolor) | Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 / 1.85:1.

'The Monkey's Uncle' Trailer

Jason's Thoughts

This movie is not on Disney+, so I had to find another way to watch it. There are some options such as Amazon Prime and YouTube that will charge around $3.99 to rent it but I found a copy for free on the internet. It was not the best quality version but good enough for my mission here. I had never seen this movie before watching it on April 6, 2023, I had heard the opening title song, "The Monkey's Uncle" before on Disney themed radio stations. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers and performed by Annette Funicello with backup vocals by The Beach Boys. 

The song is referring to Jennifer (Annette Funicello) and Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk) relationship and the fact that Merlin adopts a monkey named Stanley in the beginning of the film. This part really has little to no relevance on the rest of the story. This movie has it's entertaining moments and is mildly amusing but definetely not a blockbuster. 

Here are some fun fact(s) about 'The Monkey's Uncle' you may or may not know: 

- The final film for the Walt Disney Pictures studio for both actor Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. 

- The name of Mr. Dearborne's supposed $1 million donor, J.P. Astorbilt is an amalgam derived from among the most prominent (and wealthiest) businessmen and families in the nation's history: J.P. Morgan, the Astor family and the Vanderbilt family.

My Score: 52.50 (Check out the Jason's Movie Review page to see all the movies I have watched and reviewed.)

Have you seen 'The Monkey's Uncle' . . . what are your thoughts on the movie? Share in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!