Somehow after being taken under the wing of Ronald Reagen, that cute chimp Bonzo has ended up in the carnival as "the chimp who can answer any question", running away after his new trainer has admonished him for missing the answer to a question that con-artists provided doctored documents in an effort to scam him. The run away chimp simply crawls into the window of cute tot Gigi Perreau who is thrilled what she believes is a present from her college football coach grandpa (former "Santa Claus" Edmund Gwenn). Gigi's parents (Maureen O'Sullivan and Charles Drake) are convinced to "adopt" him which creates all sorts of confusion with O'Sullivan's wealthy dad (Gene Lockhart) and eventually brings back the con-artists who decide to kidnap Bonzo when Gwenn makes him a football star. Simple story but amusing execution makes this a lot of fun.
The future granny to Ellie Mae's critters (Irene Ryan) is the maid here who is so amused by a chimp's presence in her household that she goes out of her way to give him mashed bananas for breakfast every day, eventually changing to banana fritters. Who can't resist a chimp riding a tricycle? It's also amusing when Bonzo escapes meeting a court judge and jumps on the witness stand in court when an apparent "other man" is called in a divorce case. Lots of cute moments like this pad out the film where it is predictable that the lame-brain con's from the opening segment will turn up again. While Bonzo does steal every scene he's in, he's also equalled in scene-stealing by the two grandfathers and the adorable little girl. Bonzo's also a bit of a wise-acre too, especially when asked who fiddled when Rome burned. This is the type of film that Walt Disney would steal from in the 1960's and 70's for his college themed movies, but somehow, this one seems fresher and much more thought out.
The future granny to Ellie Mae's critters (Irene Ryan) is the maid here who is so amused by a chimp's presence in her household that she goes out of her way to give him mashed bananas for breakfast every day, eventually changing to banana fritters. Who can't resist a chimp riding a tricycle? It's also amusing when Bonzo escapes meeting a court judge and jumps on the witness stand in court when an apparent "other man" is called in a divorce case. Lots of cute moments like this pad out the film where it is predictable that the lame-brain con's from the opening segment will turn up again. While Bonzo does steal every scene he's in, he's also equalled in scene-stealing by the two grandfathers and the adorable little girl. Bonzo's also a bit of a wise-acre too, especially when asked who fiddled when Rome burned. This is the type of film that Walt Disney would steal from in the 1960's and 70's for his college themed movies, but somehow, this one seems fresher and much more thought out.