Merlin Jones is a character from the comedy/science-fiction film The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and its sequel Monkey's Uncle (1965). He was portrayed by actor Thomas Kirk.
History[]
Biography[]
Film[]
Merlin Jones was an aspiring scientist at Midvale College who was the boyfriend of a popular girl named Jennifer, was often bullied by, "Jocks", and frequently experimented on a chimpanzee named Stanley who he raised as a human and adopted as his legal nephew. He got into misadventures due to his experiments such as mind-reading and hypnosis in-addition to legal trouble from his mad science.
Disney Parks[]
During the 1990s, Merlin Jones was a scientist employed at the Imagination Institute, an organization within the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or, "EPCOT".
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Jungle Cruise[]
In Walt Disney World's Jungle Cruise, there is a crate in the Amazon River Base addressed to M. Jones and Thomas Kirk, Esquire. This crate is being sent to them at the M. Jones Cartographers Ltd.s office on the fictional island of Bora Danno.[1]
Other connections[]
Skipper Canteen[]
In the Mess Hall of the Skipper Canteen, the Dreamfinder can occasionally be heard coming to the canteen with his creations Figment and the Dream-mobile. These three entities are affiliated with the Imagination Institute which Jones is also affiliated with. The Virtual Jungle Cruise's central character was Wayne Szalinski from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), another member of the Imagination Institute.
Other appearances[]
Journey Into Imagination with Figment[]
In the offices of the Imagination! Pavilion of EPCOT, Jones is mentioned as an employee of the Imagination Institute along with Wilby Daniels from The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Professor Quigley and Dexter Riley from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969).[2][3] Jones is also mentioned in the queue by the Imagination Institute's secretary when she uses the intercom to tell him that his monkey has gone loose in the touch lab.
Trivia[]
- The fictionalized setting of EPCOT which Journey Into Imagination is affiliated with has assorted connections to the Jungle Cruise:
- Trader Sam has a life-preserver from the Norway Pavilion in his Grog Grotto. Sam was also friends with the fictionalized Disney Parks version of Walt Disney who is affiliated with EPCOT's in-universe history.
- There is a book by Marvel character Peter "Star-Lord" Quill in the Skipper Canteen's library titled, "The Stars Above Us", referencing the Galaxarium of Epcot's Xandarian Outpost. There is also a book by Tomorrowland character Tom Morrow whose robotic successor Tom Morrow 2.0 is a character from EPCOT's Innoventions.