Under Wraps

When I first saw a commercial for this TV movie on the Disney Channel, I predicted that it would just be some dumb old thing that I wouldn't like with really bad special effects and a really cheesy plot line. It was quite surprising that I actually LIKED it and that my whole family (that includes my parents, 18-year-old sister, and eight-year-old brother) ended up watching it. We all had our own comments that we shared out loud during several scenes, involuntarily. {For example: My dad said something about how smelly Harold must have been. I remembered (out loud), "Hey! It's that boy from Picket Fences," and then after a few minutes, my sister said he was annoying. I personally thought that his CHARACTER was simply MEANT to be annoying. My mom also asked a lot of questions throughout the movie.}

I really didn't care for the movie at the beginning but I became interested after watching the children break into Mr. Kubat's house and finding a mummy, Harold. It intrigued me that the boy, Marshall, treated the mummy like a dog. The movie made me laugh, but it wasn't factually realistic. If Harold was really walking around somewhere, I'm sure that his stench would have been too smelly for someone to just shrug off. The characters mentioned his smell, but I think that there should have been a more immediate reaction to it. I also think that the doctors included in this movie were really dumb, but that made it funny. I also wondered about other various things, such as how Harold understood English.

Basically, I just liked this movie because it was hilarious. My laughter outweighed my questions, and I don't think that any movie can be flawless. It was a bit predictable, though. On another note, I couldn't stop staring at Harold's teeth.

This kid flick was shot in my hometown of Chico Ca. When my mom had heard that a Disney movie would be filming in Chico, she immediately signed her and myself up as extras. I just have a small part at the school scene, but it was fun nonetheless. And, we were both paid for our services! It was fun, and I'd do it again! The movie turned out to be okay, (as far as kiddie Disney movies go). I've only seen it twice, if that, but it's fun to see parts of Chico on film, (even though the original Robin Hood was shot around here as well). I hope Chico can still be considered a market, even for small and low budget films. Its's a beautiful town!

You wouldn't expect a story like this to work as well as it does. Three friends in middle school named Marshall (Mario Yedidia), Gilbert (Adam Wylie), and Amy (Clara Bryant) find, and accidently reanimate a mummy they dub Harold (Bill Fagerbakke). Harold breaks loose and runs around their small California town and the kids have to find him before Harold is caught by these mobster type villains who want to sell him on the black market. My describing the plot makes it seem like a really lazy set up but it's done surpringly pretty well. It's actually a pretty fun movie. The three main characters were all really enjoyable to watch, almost reminding me of E.T. or The Goonies. They don't swear or do anything like that but they act snarky to each other, they call each other loser, they act like real kids. It's obviously aimed for a child audience but (personally) I think there are things that can appeal to adults as well.

I don't really know how to tell you how interesting this movie is, so I'll just lay out a few of the facts. The setting in "Under Wraps" is realistic. The characters' friendships were truthful. And this was funny. I especially like Clara Bryant, the actress who played Amy. She is very funny and a good performer. She also stars in "Tru Confessions" that came out in April. This has a Halloween kick to it and a realistic feeling to it. All the people in my family like it, so I think that everyone should see it around Halloween. It can be sad in some spots, and with great music, you got yourself a movie!

I've seen the 2021 movie "Under Wraps", which apparently was a remake of this 1997 movie, though I didn't know that, as I haven't watched the 1997 version before now in 2024.

Writer Don Rhymer put together an enjoyable script which actually proves wholesome for the entire family. So there is something for everyone to enjoy here, and that made the movie rather enjoyable. I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the 95 minutes that the movie ran for.

The movie has a good cast, and there are some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Corinne Bohrer, Ken Hudson Campbell, Ed Lauter and Bill Fagerbakke. The young leading cast, which was Adam Wylie, Mario Yedidia and Clara Bryant definitely carried the movie quite well.

Visually then the movie was actually fair. Keep in mind that it is a family movie, so you're not in for a spectacle of ghastly effects. But the mummy was actually quite nicely made.

"Under Wraps" is well-worth sitting down to watch, and it still holds up today. And it could very easy be a movie that the family could sit down and enjoy for Halloween.

My rating of director Greg Beeman's 1997 movie "Under Wraps" lands on a six out of ten stars.