I think it is time this movie is reviewed by its positive qualities and not just centered on how utterly sophisticated the reviewer would like to be remembered by the readers of IMDB.com.
First of all, let me say there is nothing wrong with "hokum" or old American values or screwball comedies or old Disney movies. As with anything, it's always in the eye of the beholder. This movie was fun to watch and funny in enough places to warrant a watch by any self-respecting human being with a warm sense of humor.
Second of all, The Absent-Minded Professor elicited a wonderful collection of chuckles from me. Perhaps I didn't expect them...but they did come and especially in one joyful moment during a basketball game. Believe me, I am not even an NBA fan...but that scene cured a lot of ills. Maybe it was my frame of mind on that particular day. But, the record stands that I did laugh, and with some old-fashioned "glee", I might add.
Third of all, I believe comedies are sometimes taken too seriously: As if we were supposed to come away with some vastly profound elucidation from the experience.
Fourth of all, one has to be rather shallow not to appreciate the the wonderful collection of character actors in this and many Disney movies - before the prohibitive cost of making movies made it impossible to have a diverse collection of actors. I miss this kind of movie where character actors litter the celluloid landscape as if in some garden of earthly theatrical delights "a la Frank Capra or Preston Sturges".
One last thing, it was a travesty that this 1961 movie, though nominated for some Oscars, did not win at least in the Technical categories. Yes, it's goofy to us in these 'Post-2001 A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, ET, Independence Day' times, but all of them owe a bit of thanks to the legacy of the past.
And this movie is part of that legacy of fun effects which advanced us ever so kindly into our present state of "sophistication", and sometimes, Ungrateful Complacency and Ennui.
