The license had never received a single figure before. Funko is fixing that in November 2026 with three releases, including a Chase that recreates a specific scene from the movie. Nearly thirty years after its theatrical release, Professor Brainard is finally making his way onto collectors' shelves.
A first, nearly thirty years after the movie
Flubber was released on November 30, 1997, directed by Les Mayfield and based on a 1961 Disney movie built around the same premise: a professor so absorbed in his research that he forgets his own wedding, and who accidentally creates a green substance capable of gaining energy with every bounce.
The movie grossed nearly $178 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. It has never had a Funko line. No figures, no variants, nothing. Which means that, almost three decades later, this is a full license debut rather than a revival.
Professor Brainard with Weebo – POP #1833
The main release brings two characters together on the same base. Brainard holds his creation in his hands, accompanied by Weebo, his flying robotic assistant.
Weebo deserves a closer look. She does not speak in her own words: instead, she communicates by playing clips from old movies on her screen, and she is voiced by Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Her attachment to the professor gives the movie its only real emotional weight, and her fate remains the moment most people who watched Flubber as children remember first.
The Chase, with a one-in-six chance, is the real highlight. Funko describes it clearly: Flubber is frozen in mid-bounce as it shoots forward, while the flash from Weebo's camera goes off. This is not a color swap or a different finish; it is a second scene. For a license that had never received a figure before, launching it with a narrative Chase is an ambitious way to start.
Flubber with glasses – POP #1834
The second release represents the substance itself, using a translucent finish to recreate its gelatinous appearance. And it is wearing glasses.
Funko sums it up in its own way: « Professor Brainard's mysterious creation is here to bring more fun to your collection through his endearing antics. » The company treats Flubber as a full-fledged character with a personality and a talent for causing chaos, which is exactly how the movie portrays it. The substance thinks, reacts, dances the mambo and sends basketball players flying through the air.
The translucent finish is not just a gimmick. That visual effect was already one of the movie's main selling points, at a time when digital effects were still new enough for a bouncing mass of green goo to feel like a technical achievement.
Robin Williams on the shelf, and that does not happen often
That is another reason why opening this license now makes sense.
Robin Williams' live-action roles are barely represented by Funko. The lineup includes Alan Parrish, released for Jumanji in 2019 and vaulted since, and not much else. The actor, who died in 2014, remains one of the most recognizable faces of 1990s family cinema, yet most of his movies have never received a figure.
Seeing Brainard arrive as a POP, complete with lab coat and absent-minded expression, therefore adds another Robin Williams figure based on one of his live-action roles rather than one of his animated voice performances. For many collectors, that alone may be enough to justify a pre-order.
A well-thought-out license debut
Two standard releases and one Chase is not much. But the set is coherent: the scientist, his creation, his robot, and a rare variant that puts the scene into motion.
The Chase is obviously the piece to target, and with no previous Funko history for the license, its one-in-six ratio could make it difficult to find fairly quickly. The translucent Flubber comes next, because it also works as a collectible for people who have never seen the movie. Pre-orders are open, with the release scheduled for November 2026.
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