The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

Though highly successful at the time, I'm not sure the Kurt Russell trilogy starting with The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes has stood the test of time very well. It'll be hard to get kids to understand a movie that features a computer the size of an entire room. In an underfunded college, it's a huge achievement for them to get one computer donated to the campus. In a freak accident, Kurt gets electrocuted and melds his mind with the computer chip. He's a walking encyclopedia!

But, kids today won't understand how amazing his superpower is. They just whip out their cell phones and Google their questions, finding answers in seconds. They've probably never read an actual encyclopedia in their lives, relying on Wikipedia instead. If you're able to explain it to them, this might be a cute choice for family movie night. It's a classic Disney movie with no real danger anywhere, but with a pseudo-menacing bad guy (Cesar Romero) who wants money and power and chases after the good guy. There are terrible 1960s haircuts, music that will make you roll your eyes, and an extremely silly paint fight.

Before you feel sorry for big-time actors like Cesar Romero, David Niven, and Fred MacMurray who played in silly Disney movies when they grew older, keep this in mind: Many silver screen actors were disgusted by the inappropriate films after the demise of the Hays Code. Disney movies with banana peels and pies in the face reminded them of the good old days of the 1930s. They were probably very happy to make them!

I remember seeing this as a kid in the theatre, and saw it again for the first time in many years on cable recently. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it after all this time. Russell's performance is quite believable, despite the fantastic story line. Really good entertainment, and blows away much of the modern Disney entertainment provided these days, which is pretty nauseating.

People who are putting down this film as not good enough to 'show it's face in the theater' are showing their extreme ignorance.

These movies were made for family audiences and rebroadcast on Walt Disney's television program which highlighted family oriented movies with cast members that even signed morals clauses that they wouldn't act up (see Lindsey Lohan, etc. in these days) and trash the Disney image as being a family movie business.

Early on Disney had just made shorts and TV shows. In the late fifties they started making full-length films like 'The Shaggy Dog' with Fred MacMurray. It was so successful, it started something. Fred MacMurray was asked to do more films.

The Absent-Minded Professor (remade later with Robin Williams in the lead role in 'Flubber') was one of the successful movies made by Disney that was then edited for their TV audience.

It not only spawned a sequel, "Son of Flubber", but many more family films and comedies that were designed to help people forget their problems, while at the same time the commercials advertised Disneyland.

Disney was ahead of his time in providing programming in what were essentially well-made advertisements for families to enjoy and be reminded about visiting Disneyland, his 'family fun park'.

This light-hearted, fun comedy featured Kurt Russell in the early days of computers (pre-internet)getting the computer's full knowledge into his head.

In the remake (with Kirk Cameron) they updated it to the Internet infiltrating the student's mind and a 'super-hacker' from the opposing school (who's dean ironically is past Disney star Dean Jones) who seeks to hack Cameron's brain and stop his 'brilliance'.

The first of the three films that revolve around Dexter Riley (Russell), the dean (Joe E. Flynn), and friends is also the best done, though the others are enjoyable too. ('Now You See Him, Now You Don't' and 'Strongest Man In the World' are part of this three movie series)

It also teaches the value of humility. Riley did nothing to gain his knowledge, yet he became proud of how smart he was. He had to learn humility and how to treat his friends if he wanted to keep them. Good lessons to learn.

The Disney television films were made for families and are much better than the stuff made today for 'families' including politically correct films, sexually explicit, nasty language and all the other things that supposedly makes them more 'modern'.

Disney TV temporarily stopped around 1975. They have made some films since then that were still family oriented, though people that followed Walt and then Roy Disney didn't have the same ideas about films and the value of good stories.

Enter the Michael Eisner era...remaking classics and making part 2 stories of classics that have no basis in classic books and WERE released direct to video or DVD. Even marginal animated hits got sequels made. Actual hits like Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, got several (part 2 of Aladdin was a real turkey).

Several of the older Disney films were remade for a 'revived' TV program. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes was one of the better attempts. I would say only a handful were watchable in their 'updated' form. They made kids have to act like adults while the adults act like kids (this might be a clever plot line in 'Freaky Friday', but when it enters into other stories, it's hard to make out who is supposed to be adult and who are kids.

No wonder kids today are forced to face problems beyond their years. They can't even escape it in the so-called 'escape films' on TV or in the movies these days (with rare exceptions).

It takes exceptions like Pirates of the Caribbean or The Chronicles of Narnia to remind Disney that people still like well-made escape films that are wholesome and uplifting for the whole family.

Squeaky-clean cut collegiate Kurt Russell (as Dexter Reilly) downloads data from his campus computer, and becomes a "cause celebre" by demonstrating his improved mental gymnastics. "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" continues the Disney studio's successful run of comedies featuring good-looking youngsters, great character actors, and a plot providing its star with a super-human strength. The first follow-up film had Mr. Russell discovering how to become invisible. Since it's a Disney film, the characters aren't too quick with the obvious (like the invisible hanging out in the girls' locker room), but everything is certainly likable.

The film is chock full of familiar favorites, like veteran Cesar Romero (as A.J. Arno), Joe Flynn (from "McHale's Navy"), and William Schallert (from "The Patty Duke Show"). Getting to play in roommate Russell's top bunk is handsome blond Frank Webb (as Pete Oaks), who also joined Russell and Medfield College co-star Jon Provost (as Bradley) in the pages of "16" and "Tiger Beat". The teen magazines duly noted the presence of three of their own in one film. Mr. Provost had background fame as the second kid to own TV's "Lassie" and Mr. Webb ended his career tragically. Both feature prominently in the film's relatively fun conclusion.

****** The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (12/31/69) Robert Butler ~ Kurt Russell, Frank Webb, Cesar Romero, Jon Provost

Dean Higgins refuses to buy a computer and would rather suspend various students. Businessman A. J. Arno donates a computer but then withholds the yearly contribution of $20k. Student friendly Professor Quigley needs a part to repair the computer. Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) uses the part and gets electrocuted. His brain turns into a computer and he becomes the smartest guy in the world. Unbeknownst to him, he also downloaded locations of Arno's crooked enterprises protected by the password Applejack.

This is noteworthy for introducing Dexter Riley and his light Disney adventures. I prefer the second movie "Now You See Him, Now You Don't" much more. This is not that funny. The adventure is a little flat. A human computer could be more fun. Russell was a young rising star and his theatrical presence is quite magnetic. It was probably fun for kids back in the day but it has become dated.