Everything about Mad Monster Party totally explained
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. Kong, in fact, makes a featured appearance in this film (sporting some rather colorful finger and toenails), although due to rights issues he's 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 wasn't 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!
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.
Cast
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
Remake
Warner Brothers Pictures is currently working on a remake of the film, possibly in CGI.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mad Monster Party'.
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