United States

A brainy college oddball named Merlin Jones (Tommy Kirk) is called on to prevent the school's football team from disappearing into oblivion. With the aid of his pretty girlfriend (Annette Funicello) and a mischievous chimp named Stanley, Merlin first invents a zany "sleep-teaching" device for the team's less-than-studious members. The escapades that ensue, however, pale in comparison to his next task: solving the age-old mystery of man-powered flight - with a $10 million endowment for the campus riding on the outcome of Merlin's airborne antics. It's family fare on the madcap side when The Monkey's Uncle puts his plans into action.