Mad Monster Party?
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| Mad Monster Party? | |
|---|---|
 Mad Monster Party? film poster Art by Frank Frazetta |
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| Directed by | Jules Bass |
| Produced by | Joseph E. Levine Arthur Rankin Jr. Larry Roemer |
| Written by | Len Korobkin Harvey Kurtzman Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Starring | Boris Karloff Allen Swift Gale Garnett Phyllis Diller Ethel Ennis |
| Music by | Maury Laws |
| Cinematography | Tadahito Mochinaga |
| Distributed by | Embassy Pictures (later Studio Canal) |
| Release date(s) |  March 8, 1969 Copyright 1966 (premiere) July 21, 1976 (TV premiere) |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Mad Monster Party? is an animated movie that was released in 1969 by Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.
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[edit] Production
The film was created using Rankin/Bass' "Animagic" stop motion animation process. The process involved photographing figurines in still shots and re-positioning them after each shot, the same approach used in Art Clokey's Davey and Goliath and to create the giant ape in the original King Kong. Kong, in fact, makes a featured appearance in this film (sporting some rather colorful finger and toenails), although due to rights issues he is known only as "It".
Classic monster movies were enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the late 1960's, and humorous monsters like The Addams Family and The Munsters were enormously popular. This campy film is a spoof of horror themes, complete with musical numbers and inside jokes.
Mad Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman penned the script, and Mad artist Jack Davis designed many of the characters. Davis was a natural for the job, being famous both for his humor work and his monster stories in the pages of EC Comics. It has long been rumored that Forrest J. Ackerman had a hand in the script, but while the script is rife with Famous Monsters-like puns, Ackerman's involvement has never been confirmed. Although mostly intended as a kid's picture, the film does feature some of Kurtzman's typically dark humor and a few mildly risque jokes (in one scene, Francesca falls over, and when Felix struggles to lift her, she says, "I wanted you to know I'm no easy pick-up.") In another scene, a character briefly has his head replaced with a cooked pig's... and this is surely the only "kid's picture" to end with a mushroom cloud!
The cute/ghastly look of the creatures in this film was very influential on The Nightmare Before Christmas and other Tim Burton monster designs; in particular, the little monsters seen in the Stay One Step Ahead number strongly resemble Burton creations.
In addition to the famous monsters seen in the film, Mad Monster Party? also features several celebrity likenesses. Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller's characters are both designed to look like the actors portraying them, while the hunchbacked lackey named Yetch is a physical and vocal caricature of Peter Lorre. Felix, on the other hand, strongly resembles Jimmy Stewart vocally but not physically.
In 1972, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel of sorts, with the TV special Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters. This special featured many of the same monster characters, including an imitation of Karloff as the doctor ( he died in 1969), although it presumably was not intended as a direct sequel since many of these characters perished at the end of Mad Monster Party?. Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters was created using cel animation, rather than stop-motion. While Mad Monster Party? still enjoys an ardent cult following, Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters has fallen into comparative obscurity.
[edit] Plot
Dr Frankenstein decides to retire, leaving the monster business to his nephew, Felix. Frankenstein plans to announce his decision at a convention of monsters that includes his monster, Dracula, the Werewolf, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and many more. However when Felix proves to be an incompetent (and unsuitably kind-hearted) human, the monsters plot to eliminate him and gain control of Frankenstein's latest discovery: the secret of total destruction!
[edit] Distribution
The film has been available on video for years, first on original distributor Embassy Pictures' home entertainment unit, and then on other independent labels before StudioCanal acquired some rights to the film. Currently, Anchor Bay Entertainment distributes the movie on video under license from StudioCanal.
Before Anchor Bay's current video release of Mad Monster Party?, almost all video releases have been from 16mm film. The original film negative was water-damaged some years ago, but recently Sony Pictures Television (which now holds the television rights) unearthed an original 35mm pristine print. This print was digitally remastered, and is the source for the current DVD issue and all subsequent television showings.
[edit] Cast
- Phyllis Diller, the Monster's Wife
- Ethel Ennis
- Gale Garnett
- Boris Karloff, Baron Boris von Frankenstein
- Allen Swift
[edit] Crew
- Jules Bass, Director
- Arthur Rankin, Jr., Producer
- Forrest J. Ackerman, Screenwriter
- Harvey Kurtzman, Screenwriter
- Maury Laws, Composer (Music Score)
- Joseph E. Levine, Executive Producer
[edit] External link
- Mad Monster Party at the Internet Movie Database
- RetroJunk Article about the film, as well as "Mad Mad Mad Monsters."
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