moonspinner55 Review of The Monkey's Uncle

The Monkey's Uncle (1965)

"Merlin Jones" is back...but film looks like some quickie B-flick

[3/10 · 25 February 2001]

Say what you will about Walt Disney's slapstick suburban comedies of the 1960s, they at least looked good. Walt always ensured a decent production, and usually threw in some nifty visual effects, but "The Monkey's Uncle" is the exception. A pale follow-up to 1964's "The Misadventures Of Merlin Jones," the picture gets off to a spunky start with co-star Annette Funicello singing on-stage with the Beach Boys. Once the plot gets going, however, the movie becomes mired in Sitcomville; worse, it looks cheap and tatty, with flimsy walls passing for sets and terrible use of color photography. Having enjoyed "The Misadventures Of Merlin Jones" for what it was, I expected Disney to up the fun-quotient with this sequel, but it's a real snooze. *1/2 from ****