Mad Monster Party?

The most amazing thing about Rankin & Bass' cult classic, Mad Monster Party?, is that it ever got a theatrical release. Well, that and the baffling question mark in the title. It was such an odd film to play theaters, especially at a time when Disney was just about the only studio producing animated feature films. It soon made it's way to television where it permanently seared itself into the minds of countless little future nerds. Okay, I'm sure they were nerds then, but I meant they were destined to turn into nerds like you or I. You know, cool nerds. The ones that watch 40 year old stop-motion animation.

While R&B's Christmas specials gets the most play, Monster Party gets all the indie cred. You've got to be a hardcore Universal Monster and/or Mad Magazine fan to really dig on this. Now I'll be the first to say that the appeal is mostly nostalgic. But there are some legitimate artistic qualities to be found here. For one thing, the character designs are still exceptional. Mad cartoonist Paul Coker designed a lot of Rankin & Bass' more popular works. But for the Monster Party it was Jack Davis (also from Mad) who brought a real (dare I say it?) edge to the characters. His sketchy style, not mention his EC comics experience, give the monsters some real grit and personality. I especially like his freaky version of Mr. Hyde. Another part of the charm lies in the animation itself. The very nature of stop-motion animation requires your imagination to fill in each micro-second between frames making the overall effect much more interesting than the smoothest CGI. Those herky jerky movements found in R&B's films have a certain pattern to them that becomes a kind of artistic signature. It's like the similar body movements you see in all of Ray Harryhausen's creatures. This lends personality and charm to the action.

Now, I hate to sound like an old lady, but if I'm watching this with my kids I sit with my finger on the FF button. Another thing that makes Monster Party different from The Year Without A Santa Claus is some of the decidedly blue material courtesy of Harvey Kurtzman. His writing here is mostly in line with his sillier Mad Magazine stories, but every now and then some of his Playboy gag writing sensibilities appear. It's most noticeable in the outrageously buxom Francesca (surely I'm not the only one who thinks she sounds like a dead ringer for Kathleen Turner). She's your average 60's sexpot- beautiful, devious and constantly telling "creeps" like that awesome Peter Lorre butler to get lost. But, in one of the most jaw-droppingly inappropriate scenes ever to appear in children's entertainment, our nebbishy hero gets her in line. I'm talking about the part where she starts getting hysterical and he delivers a bitch-slap to calm her down. Not only does she calm down, but she gets totally turned on by this show of manhood. After a little groan of shock and pleasure she spends the rest of the movie clinging to her man's arm like a timid kitten. Gotta love the 60's.

Anyway, I'm glad to report that this can still wow the kids. Some of my daughter's favorite bits include Hyde's transformation (she would walk around the house mimicking his voice, "Hyyyyde! Hyyyde!") and the skeleton band's groovy Mummy song. Plus she's now something of a Phyllis Diller fan. How many parents can say that?

While trolling the internet for pics, I discovered this led to a spin-off cartoon called (of course) Mad Mad Mad Monsters. I promptly ordered it (ten bucks from Amazon!) and hopefully I'll get it soon enough to write it up before Halloween. Until then, you can read about it HERE.

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