{ "id": "epcqthcw34", "slug": "the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes", "title": "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy", "label": "Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before", "label": "Science fiction and fantasy films before 1970", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Science fiction and fantasy films before 1970", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy", "label": "Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before", "label": "Science fiction and fantasy films before 1970", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1969 Walt Disney comedy starring Kurt Russell as Dexter Riley, a student whose brain absorbs a computer's memory, including gangster A.J. Arno's gambling records; first of a Dexter Riley trilogy, remade for ABC in 1995.", "snippet": "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1969 Walt Disney comedy starring Kurt Russell as Dexter Riley, a student whose brain absorbs a computer's memory, including gangster A.J. Arno's gambling records; first of a Dexter Riley trilogy, remade for ABC in 1995.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.science-fiction-fantasy.science-fiction-and-fantasy-films-before", "markdown": "# The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes\n\n**The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes** is a 1969 American live-action comedy from Walt Disney Productions in which a bumbling Medfield College student, Dexter Riley, absorbs the contents of a computer's memory bank after an electric shock and becomes a human repository of knowledge, including the criminal secrets of the gangster who donated the machine. It was released on December 31, 1969, directed by Robert Butler, written by Joseph L. McEveety, and produced by Bill Anderson.[1](https://movies.disney.com/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | December 31, 1969 (United States); Los Angeles opening February 11, 1970[1](https://movies.disney.com/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) |\n| Director / writer / producer | Robert Butler / Joseph L. McEveety / Bill Anderson[1](https://movies.disney.com/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) |\n| Stars | Kurt Russell (Dexter Riley), Cesar Romero (A. J. Arno), Joe Flynn (Dean Higgins), William Schallert (Professor Quigley)[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) |\n| Runtime and rating | 91 minutes, rated G; AFI lists 90 minutes[1](https://movies.disney.com/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) |\n| Series | First of the Dexter Riley films, followed by *Now You See Him, Now You Don't* (1972) and *The Strongest Man in the World* (1975)[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) |\n| Reception | 57% Tomatometer from 7 critics and 40% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.0/10 on IMDb[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/computer_wore_tennis_shoes) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065566/) |\n| Remake | A two-hour television remake aired on ABC on February 18, 1995, starring Kirk Cameron and directed by Peyton Reed[6](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-television/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe story begins at cash-strapped Medfield College, where Professor Quigley ([William Schallert](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-schallert)) asks the board to buy a computer for his science class and Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) refuses, calling the machine a luxury the near-broke school cannot afford.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) Outraged students persuade the businessman and gambler A. J. Arno ([Cesar Romero](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-romero)) to donate his old computer in place of his customary $20,000 contribution; Arno agrees because the machine is worth far less than that donation.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography)\n\nWhen student leader Dexter Riley tries to repair the machine, lightning strikes and he is infused with the computer's memory bank.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) The stored data includes a chronicle of Arno's illegal gambling operations, so the newly brilliant Dexter becomes a campus celebrity while holding knowledge the gangster wants suppressed.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/computer_wore_tennis_shoes) Dean Higgins enrolls Dexter in a televised quiz competition worth $100,000 for the college, but during the contest the word \"applejack\" triggers an outpouring of Arno's criminal activities, and the gangster abducts Dexter to his country estate.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) Dexter's classmates, disguised as house painters, paint the mansion orange and green and rescue him, dropping the trunk in which he is locked two stories into a waiting truck. The fall destroys his computer memory, and in the contest's final moments a slow-witted classmate answers the key question correctly, winning Medfield the $100,000.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed theatrically in the United States by Buena Vista Film Distribution Co., Inc.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) Frank Phillips was the cinematographer, Cotton Warburton the film editor, and John B. Mansbridge the art director; Robert F. Brunner composed the music.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography) The title song, \"The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,\" had music and lyrics by Robert F. Brunner and Bruce Belland.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography)\n\n**Technical advising.** Ko Suzuki, then working on the [Walt Disney World](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney-world) project, was brought in to design and program some of the electronic equipment seen on screen and to create graphs comparing the human mind with a computer for Professor Quigley's classroom lecture scene.[7](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-film/) The film was shot in [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) with RCA sound, and AFI records its copyright registration on October 3, 1969.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography)\n\n## The Dexter Riley series\n\n*The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes* was the first of a trio of Disney films about Dexter Riley, a variation on the studio's earlier formula of live-action fantasies in which a protagonist gains a superhuman ability from a pseudo-scientific discovery, such as [Fred MacMurray](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-macmurray)'s Professor Brainard in *The Absent-Minded Professor* (1961) and [Tommy Kirk](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-kirk)'s Merlin Jones in *The Misadventures of Merlin Jones* (1964).[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) In *Now You See Him, Now You Don't* (1972), Dexter develops an invisibility formula; in *The Strongest Man in the World* (1975), he gains superhuman strength from a chemically treated bowl of cereal.[8](https://d23.com/this-day/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes-is-released/) [Kurt Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-russell) left Disney films after 1975, the year he also played Charles Whitman in the television movie *The Deadly Tower*.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n\n## Reception and later releases\n\nContemporary and later critical response was mixed. Variety scored the film 60, praising Robert Butler's \"zesty, but never show-off\" direction in his feature debut, while The New York Times gave it 50, calling it as predictable as a half-hour television family show; Metacritic aggregates a Metascore of 54.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes/critic-reviews/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 57% Tomatometer from 7 reviews and a 40% audience score.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/computer_wore_tennis_shoes)\n\nThe film was released on video in 1985[7](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-film/) and on DVD on January 14, 2003.[10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes) It is now available on Disney+ and Prime Video.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/computer_wore_tennis_shoes) Common Sense Media recommends it for ages 6 and up, noting that the abduction scenes with armed thugs are played in a slapstick, cartoonish way and that the film carries a lesson on the price of fame.[10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n\n## Television remake\n\nA two-hour television movie remake aired on ABC on February 18, 1995. In this version Dexter Riley is struck by lightning while reconnecting a computer terminal and becomes able to summon an enormous body of knowledge at will. It starred [Kirk Cameron](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirk-cameron) as Dexter, Larry Miller as Dean Valentine, Jason Bernard as Professor Quigley, and Dean Jones as Dean Carlson, and was directed by [Peyton Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/peyton-reed).[6](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-television/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Disney Movies](https://movies.disney.com/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n2. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Turner Classic Movies, by John M. Miller](https://www.tcm.com/articles/212731/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n3. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1970), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/20601-THE-COMPUTER-WORE-TENNIS-SHOES?cxt=filmography)\n4. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/computer_wore_tennis_shoes)\n5. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065566/)\n6. [Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The (television), D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-television/)\n7. [Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The (film), D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/computer-wore-tennis-shoes-the-film/)\n8. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is Released, D23](https://d23.com/this-day/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes-is-released/)\n9. [The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes/critic-reviews/)\n10. [Parents' Guide to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films before 1970*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-computer-wore-tennis-shoes. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes is a 1969 Walt Disney comedy starring Kurt Russell as Dexter Riley, a student whose brain absorbs a computer's memory, including gangster A.J." }