The Nutty Professor is a 1996 American science fiction dark comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. It is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name, which starred Jerry Lewis, which itself was a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The film co-stars Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Larry Miller, Dave Chappelle, and John Ales.

The original music score was composed by David Newman. The film won Best Makeup at the 69th Academy Awards.

Murphy portrays a university professor, Sherman Klump, a brainy and kind-hearted man who is morbidly obese. A research scientist, academic, and lecturer, Klump develops a miraculous, but experimental, weight-loss pharmaceutical, and hoping to win the affection of the girl of his dreams, tests it upon himself. Just like Julius Kelp from the original film, Klump s vigorous, charismatic, but evil alter ego takes the name Buddy Love . Murphy plays a total of seven characters in the film, including Sherman and most of Sherman s family, consisting of Sherman s older brother, Sherman s maternal grandmother, and both of Sherman s parents. Sherman s nephew is the only member of the family not to be portrayed by Eddie Murphy.

The film received positive reviews, with critics particularly praising the makeup and Murphy s performance. The film s success spawned a sequel, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, released in 2000.

Plot

Sherman Klump, a morbidly obese and kind-hearted professor at Wellman College, creates an experimental formula that reconstructs someone s DNA for weight to be lost easier. Sherman, during a date at a club, called The Scream, with Carla Purty, a chemistry graduate who is a big fan of his work, is made fun of for his weight by insult comic, Reggie Warrington. This influences him to test his serum on himself the next morning, losing 250 pounds within seconds. He initially celebrates the weight loss, but later finds the effects of the serum are only temporary. Sherman adopts a false identity, Buddy Love , and invites Carla out on a date at The Scream again. Reggie is present again, and Sherman takes revenge by heckling him mercilessly, topping it off with a sardonic interpretation of Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You” on a piano. Sherman s Buddy persona starts to develop an independent personality due to the heightened testosterone levels of the transformation, gradually changing from his regular good-natured self to perverted and super-confident. This transformation is seen by Sherman s lab assistant, Jason.

Buddy s identity also takes over Sherman s job and all the credit for his work. He meets Dean Richmond and wealthy businessman, Harlan Hartley, the latter planning to donate $10 million to the science department. Buddy shows the serum, which impresses Hartley and Dean Richmond to the point where they invite him to the Alumni Ball the next night. Buddy then cheats on Carla with three women, and Carla dumps him out of disgust. After being fired as a professor, Sherman attempts to stop the alter ego by destroying all of the serum samples, which he does with Jason s help. However, Buddy is hiding a sample of the serum in one of Sherman s diet shake cans, which Sherman drinks, causing him to transform into Buddy again.

Jason discovers Buddy s testosterone levels are at a lethally high 60,000% and gets to the ball in the middle of Buddy s demonstration of the serum. Buddy plans to drink the serum to get rid of Sherman, resulting in a fight between the two identities. Sherman eventually transforms into his regular self and admits his misdeeds to the shocked audience, including his parents, Cletus and Anna, and Carla. As he leaves, Carla stops him and asks why he lied; he says he did not believe that she would accept him. Carla forgives Sherman and invites him to dance with her. Richmond rehires Sherman and Hartley donates the grant to Wellman because he remarks that Sherman is a brilliant scientist and a gentleman .

Cast

• Eddie Murphy as Professor Sherman Klump / Buddy Love Murphy also plays Papa Cletus Klump (Sherman s father), Mama Anna Klump (Sherman s mother), Grandma Ida Mae Jenson (Sherman s grandmother, Anna s mother), Ernie Klump Sr. (Sherman s brother) and Lance Perkins, a parody of Richard Simmons
• Murphy also plays Papa Cletus Klump (Sherman s father), Mama Anna Klump (Sherman s mother), Grandma Ida Mae Jenson (Sherman s grandmother, Anna s mother), Ernie Klump Sr. (Sherman s brother) and Lance Perkins, a parody of Richard Simmons
• Jada Pinkett as Carla Purty
• James Coburn as Harlan Hartley
• Larry Miller as Dean Richmond
• Dave Chappelle as Reggie Warrington Chappelle reprised his role on Chris Rock s 1997 album Roll with the New.
• Chappelle reprised his role on Chris Rock s 1997 album Roll with the New.
• John Ales as Jason
• Jamal Mixon as Ernie Klump Jr., Sherman s nephew. Ernie Jr. is the only member of the Klump family who is not portrayed by Eddie Murphy.
• Montell Jordan as himself
• Ned Luke as a construction worker

Production

Producer Brian Grazer pursued the idea of remaking The Nutty Professor with a black lead after it was suggested to him by music producer Russell Simmons. Murphy and Grazer had hoped John Landis would direct, having previously worked successfully with Murphy. Ultimately Tom Shadyac, director of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, joined the project. The Nutty Professor was the first Tom Shadyac film to feature outtakes over the closing credits. Murphy, Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield worked together on the screenplay. The film is not a strict remake of the Jerry Lewis film; Murphy said, we stripped down the story to its bare bones and built it up to this whole different thing , adding elements from the story of Jekyll and Hyde as well as Cyrano de Bergerac.

The film has a series of scenes with Murphy and comedian Dave Chappelle who plays insult comic Reggie Warrington. Much of their dialogue was improvised. Murphy was one of Chappelle s biggest comedic influences. Reggie Warrington is named after Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, brothers, and directors of one of Murphy s previous films, Boomerang. Reginald Hudlin was stunned to see the obnoxious character was named after himself and his brother, and to see the character violently stuffed into a piano.

The film was made with the help of Jerry Lewis. He was an executive producer for both this film and the 2000 sequel The Klumps. In 2009 he expressed regret for allowing the remakes saying, I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you re going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it.

Rick Baker created the fat suits for Murphy. They were made from urethane foam and a spandex suit, and filled with pockets of liquid to make it jiggle believably. It took three hours to apply the makeup each day. Baker praised Murphy saying He really makes the stuff come to life, and he never complains. When we did The Nutty Professor, he spent 80-odd days in the makeup chair. As much as I love makeup, even I would have been complaining by the end, but Eddie didn t.

Music

Year	Title	Chart positions		Certifications (sales thresholds)
		U.S.	U.S. R&B
1996	The Nutty Professor Released: June 4, 1996 Label: Def Jam	8	1	US: Platinum

Reception

Box office

The Nutty Professor was a box office success, opening with $25,411,725 and reaching a domestic sum of $128,814,019, and $145,147,000 internationally, for a total of $273,961,019 worldwide.

Critical response

The Nutty Professor has received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 64% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The site s consensus states: The Nutty Professor falls back on juvenile humor eagerly and often, but Eddie Murphy s consistently funny work in dual roles means more for audiences to love. Metacritic gave the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4, calling it a movie that s like a thumb to the nose for everyone who said lost it. He s very good. And the movie succeeds in two different ways: it s sweet and good-hearted, and then again it s raucous slapstick and bathroom humor. I liked both parts. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+, writing You can feel Murphy rediscovering his joy as a performer. He rediscovers it, too, as Sherman Klump, a fellow who, much like Murphy, is on the bottom rung, desperate to reinvent himself, and — at long last — does. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a positive review, saying Eddie Murphy is funny again. Sadly, he lacks the guts to follow through on the cathartic self-satire that gives the film its distinction. Travers praised the amazing fat makeup by Rick Baker, but criticizes the easy fat jokes, and concludes Only when Murphy stops skewering the compulsive overeater in his nutty professor and targets the sexist pig does the film hit home.

Accolades

• 69th Academy AwardsBest Makeup (Won)
• Best Makeup (Won)
• 54th Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy – Eddie Murphy (Nominated)
• Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy – Eddie Murphy (Nominated)

Sequel

A sequel, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps was released on July 28, 2000.

Year	1996
ReleaseDate	1996-06-28
RuntimeMins	95
RuntimeStr	1h 35min
Plot	Grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.
Awards	Won 1 Oscar, 10 wins & 12 nominations total
Directors	Tom Shadyac
Writers	Jerry Lewis, Bill Richmond, David Sheffield
Stars	Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn
Produced by	James D. Brubaker,Brian Grazer,Karen Kehela Sherwood,Jerry Lewis,Mark Lipsky,Russell Simmons
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography by	Julio Macat
Film Editing by	Don Zimmerman
Casting By	Aleta Chappelle
Production Design by	William A. Elliott
Art Direction by	Greg Papalia
Set Decoration by	Kathryn Peters
Costume Design by	Ha Nguyen
Makeup Department	David LeRoy Anderson,Brent Baker,Rick Baker,Lisa Cordero,Janna LeAnn Crawford,Mitch Devane,Denise Dillion,Glen Eisner,Mike Elizalde,Robert Freitas,Toni G,Glen P. Griffin,Jurgen Heimann,Todd Heindel,Carol Koch,Claire Manion,James McLoughlin,Jim McPherson,Beth Buckwalter Miller,Stacey Morris,Judy Murdock,Geri B. Oppenheim,Gary Pawlowski,Michael A. Pearce,Debbie Perillard,Deborah Ann Piper,Sally Ray,Matt Rose,Russell Seifert,Joseph Yuss Simon,Aaron Sims,Bill Sturgeon,Maria K.M. Sundeen,Toy Van Lierop,Chad Waters,Eddie Yang,William Forsche,Jake Garber,Kathleen Karridene,Tracey Levy,Brian Penikas,Gabriella Pollino
Production Management	Tina L. Fortenberry,Daryl Kass,Donna Smith
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	David B. Householter,Robert A. Neft,Daniel M. Stillman,Rebecca Strickland,Tyrone S. Walker,Matthew T. Weiner,Darrell Woodard
Art Department	Edward R. Alvarado,Frank Cappiello,Mike Carrillo,James F. Claytor Sr.,Larry A. Cornick,Mike Cunningham,Mario D Alfonso,Dennis DeWaay,Elixandro Diaz Jr.,Daren Dochterman,Richard Bryan Douglas,Steve Fegley,Yvonne Garnier-Hackl,Bruce J. Gfeller,Hank Giardina,Darryl Henley,Marisol Jiménez,Christopher Kennedy,Alan D. Laslovich,Marik Travis Little,Gregory Lynch Jr.,Brook Mansbridge,John Maskovich,John Hammer Maxwell,Len Morganti,Douglas Barrett Netter,James F. Orendorff,Joel Osborne,Enrico Paronelli,Chris Pascuzzo,Tim Perovich,Andrew Petrotta,Lazar Samarzich,Tom Sharp,Dawn Snyder,Robert L. Stephen,George Stokes,Dan Sweetman,Bobby Thomas,Sally Thornton,Michael Thurman,Richard Watson,Sheri Watson,Greg Wilkinson,Rick Young,Will Grant
Sound Department	James Ashwill,Odin Benitez,Brad Biggart,David Boulton,Kevin W. Brooks,Ed Callahan,Simon Coke,Rich Coleman,Jim Collins,Jeannette Cremarosa,John T. Cucci,Jeff Erdmann,Robert Fitzgerald,Jonathan Fuh,José Antonio García,Leslie Gaulin,Randall Guth,Allen Hartz,Amber Hilkene,Michael Hilkene,Alan Holly,Jaya Jayaraja,Ken J. Johnson,Gregg Landaker,Fred Law,Deidre Leonard,Greg W. Lowe,Gail K. Markley,Steve Maslow,Odis McKinney,Mark Moseley,Judy Nord,Dan O Connell,Brion Paccassi,Douglas Parker,Darren Polish,Peter Reale,Jeff Rosen,Christopher T. Welch,John O. Wilde,Linda Lew,Brian Risner
Special Effects by	Ted Allen,Philip Bartko,Rodney M. Byrd,Janna LeAnn Crawford,Burt Dalton,Curtis Decker,Jim Doyle,Bruce Hanson,Chuck Hessey,Robbie Knott,Carol Koch,Carolyn Oros,Gary Pawlowski,Steve Purcell,Yoichi Art Sakamoto,Richard Stutsman,Blumes Tracy,Bruno Van Zeebroeck,Michael Wilmot,Gary Zink,Roger Borelli
Visual Effects by	Tony Barraza,Travis Baumann,Ashley Beck,Mat Beck,Jil-Sheree Bergin,Barbara A. Bordo,Patrick Brennan,Alex Brown,Harold Buchman,Colin Campbell,Scott Campbell,Robert Chapin,Yeen-Shi Chen,Timothy Clark,Anita Cukurs,Ken Dackermann,Matt Dougan,Jason Dunn,Jon Farhat,Daniel Fazel,David Fuhrer,Mary Ann Gallo,Richard Garrison,Bruno George,Betsy Asher Hall,Mark Hamilton,Greg Hanigan,Scott Harper,Andrew R. Harris,Scott Hill,Rob Hodgson,John Hughes,Ian Hulbert,Meryl Jacobs,Alessandro Jacomini,Randy King,Nancy Klimley,Erik Liles,John Lockwood,Josh Margolies,Linda Martino,Mary Mattern,Frank Maurer,Stuart McAra,Megan McBurney,Barbara McCullough,Suzanne McEachron,John McGee,Jonah Michaud,Duane Mieliwocki,Cleveland Mitchell,Bud Myrick,Luc G. Nicknair,Tamara Nobles,Aisling O Brien,Betsy Paterson,Rodian Paul,Scott Peterson,Jim Rider,David Riley,Ernie Rinard,D.C. Sayre,Scott Shields,Janek Sirrs,David J. Smith,Suponwich Juck Somsaman,Robert Stadd,Colin Strause,Greg Strause,Eugene Vendrovsky,Randy Wei,David Weinberg,Eric Weinschenk,Edson Williams,Sylvia Wong,Janet Yale,Julius Yang,Robert Yano,John Campuzano,Sautai Fred,Brian Gardner
Stunts	Robert Apisa,LaFaye Baker,Stanton Barrett,Cheryl Bermeo,Moore Brian,Jack Carpenter,Eugene Collier,Jake Crawford,Joe Finnegan,Lance Gilbert,Mickey Gilbert,Tim Gilbert,Troy Gilbert,Marian Green,Tom Harper,Carlton Holder,Peter Horak,Chuck Hosack,Melvin Jones,Lane Leavitt,Jimmy Lewis Jr.,Esau McKnight,Rita Minor,Bennie Moore,Francine Morris,Chere Rae,Anthony G. Schmidt,Monty L. Simons,Vicki Sims,Eddie Smith,Carlton Holder
Camera and Electrical Department	Richard Alonso,David A. Armstrong,Ron Ash,Derek Bartole,Leo Behar,Ben Betts,David Burnett,Rocky Buzzini,Billy Clevenger,Stephane Cojot-Goldberg,Mike Connors,Gary Dagg,David E. Diano,Lex duPont,Jay Galbo,Joe Louis Garcia,Dennis Grow,Richard Hartley,Patrick Huggins,Steve Iriguchi,Steve Irwin,Matt Jackson,Jimmy E. Jensen,Joe Kelly,Ronald Kline,Bruce McBroom,Richard Craig Meinardus,Brian Mills,Mike Moyer,Paul Murphey,David W. Nims,Don Nygren,Phelt M. Saucier,Gihan Sandy Seneviratne,Gregory Shummon,Clyde W. Smith,George Stephenson,Dave Tutokey,James C. Udel,Don McCuaig,Randy Nolen,Bubba Sheffield
Casting Department	John A. Aiello,Diana Carroll,Shannon K. Dunn,Barbara Harris,Carl Joy,Renton Kirk,Terry L. Lamfers,Mariann H.W. Lee,Eddie Smith,Naomi Yoelin
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Charlene Amateau,Fetteroff Colen,Gina DeDomenico,Claire Flewin,Chic Gennarelli,Molly Mitchell,Bob Morgan,Loring I. Spicer
Editorial Department	Sandy Brundage,Michael Healey,Scott Hill,Jim Passon,Don Thompson,Dan Zimmerman,Dean Zimmerman
Location Management	Jeremy Alter,Arlene Kehela,Anton Pardoe,David Thornsberry
Music Department	Chris Boardman,Michael Boddicker,Tom Boyd,Danny Bramson,Tom Brown,Jeff Carson,Sandy DeCrescent,George Doering,Bruce Dukov,Robert Fernandez,Marty Frasu,J.J. George,Mark Graham,Jim Hoffman,J.J. Holiday,The Hollywood Studio Orchestra,Alexander Janko,Kenny Smoove Kornegay,Norman Ludwin,Tom MacDougall,Chris Montan,David Newman,Krystyna Newman,Steve Schaeffer,Ty Swaggalee Scott,Steven L. Smith,James Thatcher,Booker White,Joe Zimmerman,Kevin Crehan,Art Ford,Harry Garfield,Mark Graham,The Hollywood Studio Symphony,Tom Raney
Script and Continuity Department	Kathryn Weygand
Transportation Department	Ed Arter,Tina M. Arter-Duquette,Ronald B. Dinson Sr.,J. Armin Garza II
Additional Crew	Cassie Alter,Suzy Barbieri,Bob Bosier,Stacey Brehm,Beverly Brooks,Michael Bullion,Cathy Churchman,Jason Cienkus,Michelle Clark,Sam M. Cobb,Leslie Coogan,Maureen Cowen,Carlos De La Torre,Laurie Dodsworth,Elliot Durant III,Melinda Eichberg,Mike Elizalde,Glen Garner,Mandie Green,Wayne W. Grody,Jemal Guillory,Bob Hartman,Jurgen Heimann,Jason Hellmann,Joseph R. Hessekiel,Charisse M. Hewitt,Hi-Hat,Ryan Hintz,Diane Hubner,Leslie Iwerks,Donnie Johnson,Sami Kassim,Michael J. Kelly,Terry Knapp,Christopher J. Kristoff,Richard Lundin,Tamara Maellaro,Elizabeth Maxwell,Michael Maxwell,Cathy McCallum,Karl Lewis Miller,Teresa Ann Miller,Michael Morgenthal,April Morley,Michelene Mundo,Shari Nicotero,Nicole Norton,Linda Papineau,Joey Rappa,Richard Reiner,Glen Richard,Carol Riggins,Paul Ripple,Margo Romano,Ty Swaggalee Scott,Deborah Simmrin,Joseph Yuss Simon,Shauna Skidmore,Stephen M. Smith,Maureen Stanton-Leveque,Christopher Starr,John Starr,Jack Stern,Bill Sturgeon,Tracy A. Sullivan,Lou Sumien Jr.,Gretchen Van Zeebroeck,Michael Vieira,Janet L. Wattles,Randy Webster,Daniel Wheatcroft,Wayne Witherspoon,Nellie Adami,David Keith Anderson,Winston M. Elizalde,Jack E. Herman,Steve Jones,James Lumb,Roger E. Reid,Denise Smith,Mark Bryan Wilson
Genres	Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Companies	Imagine Entertainment
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	5.7
ImDbRatingVotes	117305
MetacriticRating	62
Keywords	overweight,scientist,teacher,fat insult,split personality