Mad Monster Party? (1969)

Director:

Jules Bass

Writers:

Len Korobkin (writer)
Harvey Kurtzman (writer)
(more)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

It's the Silliest Party of the Year... and you're all invited!

Plot:

When Dr Frankenstein decides to retire from the monster-making business, he calls an international roster...

Plot Keywords:

Disembodied Head | Pie In The Face | Horror Spoof | Fireworks | Castle

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Baron Boris von Frankenstein (voice)
Allen Swift	...	Felix Flankin / Yetch / Dracula / Invisible Man / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / Additional Voices (voice)
Gale Garnett	...	Francesca (voice)
Phyllis Diller	...	The Monster's Mate (voice)
Ethel Ennis	...	Title Song Singer (voice)

Directed by
Jules Bass

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Len Korobkin		writer
Harvey Kurtzman		writer
Arthur Rankin Jr.		story

Produced by
Joseph E. Levine	....	executive producer
Arthur Rankin Jr.	....	producer
Larry Roemer	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Maury Laws

Cinematography by
Tadahito Mochinaga		(as Tad Mochinaga)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kizo Nagashima	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stephen Frohock	....	sound engineer
Peter Page	....	sound engineer
Eric Tomlinson	....	sound engineer

Other crew
Jack Davis	....	puppet designer
Don Duga	....	continuity design
Joseph E. Levine	....	presenter
Tadahito Mochinaga	....	puppet technician (as Tad Mochinaga)
'Killer' Joe Piro	....	choreographer (as 'Killer Joe' Piro)

Production Companies

• Embassy Pictures Corporation
• Rankin/Bass Productions
• Videocraft International

Distributors

• AVCO Embassy Pictures
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• DEG Sale Company B.V.
• Embassy Home Entertainment (video)
• Embassy Pictures Corporation
• International Film Distributors (1969) (Canada)
• Magnetic Video (1979) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (video)
• Studio Canal

Also Known As:

Mad Monster Party (USA) (alternative spelling)
Mad Monsters Party?

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Singapore:PG | UK:U | USA:Unrated

Company:

Embassy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The gypsy costume of the werewolf is a reference to "The Wolf Man", in which the werewolf who bit Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) was a gypsy (played by Bela Lugosi).

Quotes:

Yetch: [Invisible Man is hit with a pie, revealing his face] No wonder you're invisible. You're ugly and revolting and disgusting.

Movie Connections:

References The Wolf Man (1941)

Soundtrack:

One Step Ahead

Very Strange, Very Amusing

I stumbled across this movie tonight on AMC, and was surprised that I hadnt seen it as a kid in the 70's, since many other Rankin/Bass 60min holiday films were shown every year.

This is a full length movie, and while it is great for the kids there are plenty of jokes and elements for the adults. I mean, for one thing, the voluptuous love interest Fransesca is wearing a see-through dress, complete with visible panties, and even cleavage. Also, some of the plot is quite dark, including a great party scene in which the monsters all get drunk an beat each other up.

If you're a fan of the clay puppet works of Rankin, like Rudolph and the bizarre Christmas special "Year Without a Santa Clause," you'll like this animation style. In fact, if you are as nuts as I am you will notice some doll costumes used in this that were used earlier in Rudoplh the Red Nosed Reindeer (in particular, the little red hats used for the footmen for the Lion king of the Ilse of Misfit Toys is used on some nefarious henchmen of Dr Frankenstein)

This movie is full of strange site gags and bizarre musical numbers. I would suggest watching this with a cocktail or five, because it gets rather surreal very fast. And the ending is not what you might expect in a movie supposedly made for kids.

Worth it at least for the Phyllis Diller alone.