Mad Monster Party?

Infobox Film
name = Mad Monster Party?


image_size =
caption = Mad Monster Party film poster
Art by Frank Frazetta
director = Jules Bass
producer = Joseph E. Levine
Arthur Rankin Jr.
Larry Roemer
writer = Len Korobkin
Harvey Kurtzman
Arthur Rankin Jr.
starring = Boris Karloff
Allen Swift
Gale Garnett
Phyllis Diller
Ethel Ennis
music = Maury Laws
cinematography = Tadahito Mochinaga
editing =
distributor = Embassy Pictures
"(later" Studio Canal)
released = flagicon|US March 8, 1969 Copyright 1966 (premiere)
flagicon|Germany July 21, 1976 (TV premiere)
runtime = 94 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
amg_id = 1:30662
imdb_id = 0061931

"Mad Monster Party?" is an animated movie that was released in 1967 by Embassy Pictures for Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.

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". In fact, a Kong-like creature makes a featured appearance in this film, 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 of Filmland-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 a "kid's picture" ending with a mushroom cloud would have been a bold move at the time!

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.

Plot

Dr Frankenstein decides to retire, leaving the monster business to his nerdy nephew, Felix Flanken. Frankenstein plans to announce his decision at a convention of monsters that includes his creature and the creature's more intelligent mate, Frankenstein's seductive fembot laboratory assistant Francesca (resembling a caricature of Ginger Grant from "Gilligan's Island"), Dracula, the Werewolf, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, The Mummy, "It" (a knock-off of King Kong), 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!

Home Video Releases

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 and were of very poor color quality. 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. Anchor Bay released the DVD on August 19, 2003 then re-released it on August 23, 2005 with additional features.

Cast

*Phyllis Diller, the Monster's Wife
*Ethel Ennis, sings the opening song/score
*Gale Garnett, Francesca
*Boris Karloff, Baron Boris von Frankenstein
*Allen Swift (name in the credits is misspelled as Alan Swift), the rest of the voices

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
* "Killer Joe" Piro, Choreographer

oundtrack

In September 1998, Percepto released a CD of the soundtrack for the film. Most tracks are instrumentals. The exceptions are the artist-identifiedtitles and the track, "The Mummy", which is performed by an unidentified, almost Rolling Stones-sounding band. The soundtrack had never been released, in any format, prior to this.

#"The Baron"
#"Mad Monster Party" - Ethel Ennis
#"Waltz For A Witch"
#"Cocktails"
#"The Bash"
#"You're Different" - Phyllis Diller
#"Jungle Madness"
#"Our Time To Shine" - Gale Garnett
#"Mad Monster Party"
#"The Mummy" - (vocal artist uncredited)
#"One Step Ahead" - Boris Karloff and Chorus
#"The Baron Into Battle/Transylvania, All Hail/Pursuit/Requiem For A Loser"
#"Never Was A Love Like Mine" - Gale Garnett
#"Finale"

Remake

Warner Brothers Pictures is currently working on a remake of the film, possibly in CGI.

External links

* [http://www.madmonsterparty.com/mmphome.html Mad Monster Party] Unofficial Website for the film with movie clips and a messageboard
*
* [http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/694/ RetroJunk] Article about the film, as well as "Mad Mad Mad Monsters."
* [http://www.rankinbass.com/mmphome.html Mad Monster Party] The Rankin-Bass Mad Monster Party Homepage