Mad Monster Party?
[Link: Little Tibia and the Fibias perform The Mummy]
Last week, I finally got around to watching the restored DVD version of Rankin/Bass' stop-action Halloween classic, Mad Monster Party?, and was it ever great!
I never got a chance to see it when I was a youngster, because I was living in Denmark back in 1969, and believe it or not, the Danish government rated this innocent kiddie film, Forbudt For Børn (Forbidden for Children), so I got screwed out of a quintessential childhood cinematic experience by those prudish Danes. Thanks for nothing, you nation of butter-cookie eating wusses!
Featuring great characters designed by artist Jack Davis (of Mad Magazine fame), classic celebrity voice talent (Phyllis Diller and Boris Karloff), and a really nifty monster-jazz/lounge/garage-rock soundtrack, it's a mystery to me why it tanked on its initial release to theaters. Hopefully, with this DVD release, it will finally take its rightful place alongside other towering classics of the scary kiddie-film oeuvre.
Comments
Cool clips, and this coming from someone to whom scary movies are anathema -- when you've got anxiety like I do, you don't need scary movies.
Posted by: jkcohen | March 18, 2008 11:42 PM
Apart from the scene where puppet Phyllis Diller gets stripped down to her nightie, I doubt this film would be capable of scaring anyone.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | March 19, 2008 5:53 AM
this has been out on dvd for quite awhile hasn't it? i bought it a few years ago and don't recall ever seeing it on television, but i had friends who had. i think in one of the interviews one of the creators says he didn't like the restored version as he thought it ran too long or something.
Posted by: william | March 21, 2008 12:49 AM
This is the second DVD release, william. It came out in '05.
I wouldn't call it overlong, but the Felix/Francesca romance bits definitely slow the pace down too much for a kiddie movie.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | March 21, 2008 5:45 AM
love it!
did you live in denmark?
Posted by: mod*mom | April 7, 2008 10:51 AM
Yes, m*m, I lived there for 1 1/2 years back in '68 and '69
Posted by: MrBaliHai | April 7, 2008 7:57 PM