Let's Watch This - "Mad Monster Party?" (1967)

We're having an infestation, everyone. Ghosts, goblins, monsters, vampires, witches, werewolves, zombies, and other strange and spooky characters are popping up in our neighborhoods, stores, and restaurants. This can only mean one thing - that Halloween is on its way.

I'll be honest with you, I've never been much of a Halloween fan. I haven't gone trick-or-treating in years, so the whole "getting free candy" aspect of the holiday goes out the window, and that was a large chunk of the holiday's appeal to me. I'm a cowardly fella - I don't like being scared - so a holiday dedicated to getting scared just doesn't feel like my kind of holiday. But there are some good things that come with Halloween, one of them being that the TV networks start airing movies and TV specials about Halloween, or at least about Halloween-y things like ghosts and/or monsters. You know, stuff like It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Hotel Transylvania movies.

Much like with Christmas TV specials, there are a lot of obscure Halloween TV specials out there. For example, there's this...

And there's this...

And this (yes, there's a Shrek production that qualifies as "obscure")…

As far as Halloween MOVIES go... animated ones, I mean (since this is an animation-focused blog)... well, I already mentioned The Nightmare Before Christmas, which isn't obscure... there's also Coraline, but that's not really obscure either... I suppose ParaNorman and Frankenweenie might count as obscure, but I could be wrong... how about Corpse Bride? Does that qualify as obscure? Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit? Monster House is pretty obscure, right? I suppose Igor and that recent Addams Family movie could qualify as well?

Gosh, there's actually a LOT of obscure animated Halloween movies. I'll have to keep these in mind for future reviews I post on this blog around Halloween. But for now, let's talk about Mad Monster Party?.

This was the creation of none other than Rankin-Bass Productions, the guys behind such beloved Christmas specials as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. It was released in 1967... specifically, MARCH 1967 (which was a good few months before Halloween, but eh, Coraline was released in February so...), distributed by Embassy Pictures, and featured the voices of Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, Gale Garnett, and Allen Swift. It's described on Wikipedia as "a spoof of horror themes, complete with musical numbers and inside jokes". Today, it's one of Rankin-Bass' lesser-known productions. And we're here to look at it today!

So, let's get started. This is Mad Monster Party?.

The movie begins with the camera zooming in on an island that I believe King Kong once took residence in on a dark, foggy night. Eventually, we arrive at a castle where a creepy dude in a lab coat is hard at work on some type of potion. This is Baron Boris Von Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff - fitting that a Dr. Frankenstein-esque mad scientist is voiced by one of the first actors to play Frankenstein's Monster).

I think even the Swedish Chef would be jealous of those
eyebrows.

Boris tests the potion on a nearby raven, causing it to explode. And if blowing up a bird isn't animal cruelty, then I don't know WHAT is. "I've done it. Created the means to destroy matter!" Boris tells the audience. "They must all know... know that I, Baron Von Frankenstein, master of the secret of creation, have now mastered the secret of destruction! The invitations must be sent at once!"

He walks over to a cabinet where he has some bats, who he plans on having deliver the invitations a la Hogwarts' owls. He tells his monster - who, natch, is big and green-skinned - that they're going to have themselves a mad monster party. So as the credits roll, we see the bats flying around delivering invitations to all of cinema's most popular monsters... Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll (or rather his monster form, Mr. Hyde), the Creature From the Black Lagoon, even a pre-Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Wouldn't twisting your neck like that HURT?

Then we cut to this guy. You might remember him from that classic horror film, Attack of the Glasses-Wearing Soda Clerk.

You ever notice that in cartoons, male characters with glasses
almost always have reddish-brown hair?

This is Felix Flanken (voiced by Allen Swift). He works at a drugstore run by a grouchy old dude named Mr. Cronkite (also Allen Swift) - no relation to Walter. He, too, gets an invitation to Baron Von Frankenstein's big shindig, but Mr. Cronkite is reluctant to give him that week off. However, after discovering that Felix has very powerful sneezes, which combined with his clumsiness makes a mess of things at his store, he relents.

He kind of reminds me of the Head Elf from Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer.

You know, the big one with the goatee who says, "WHY
WEREN'T YOU AT ELF PRACTICE?!"

Back at the Baron's castle, we see his monster again. His name as Fang, and at the moment he's being chewed out by his mate (Phyllis Diller). She's basically the precursor to every other "nagging wife" character from every other sitcom from the last fifty years.

She's even got Frankie Heck's hairdo.

His mate starts singing a song for some reason. I guess they just thought they were obligated to give Phyllis Diller a song. After the song, we cut to the Baron receiving mail from this woman who apparently works for him... or maybe she's his daughter or something, I don't know. She's a proto-Jessica Rabbit.

"I'm not bad... I'm just sculpted that way..."

Proto-Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Gale Garnett) tells the Baron that there's only one monster who they haven't received a reply from - a monster known as "It". Who is "It"? Well, it's possible that they're talking about this guy:

Actually, the Baron says that "It" wasn't even invited. He's not much fun at mad monster parties. On the contrary, he's quite destructive. They've also got a letter from Felix (remember him?) - though apparently he doesn't quite know what he's getting into and thinks he's getting a vacation at a beach resort. Von Frankenstein tells the redhead (and us) that Felix is his nephew. He's been invited so that Von Frankenstein can teach him the ways of the mad scientist and then quit the business.

Suddenly, the world's most disturbing cuckoo clock goes off...

Where did he get that clock from, Beetlejuice?!

And the redhead says that she won't just LIKE Felix - she'll love him to pieces. Whatever THAT means.

Then we cut to a sea captain (Allen Swift) and his first mate (Allen Swift - are you noticing a pattern here?) trying to make sense of their role in the plot - to get all of those monsters to Hotel Transylvania... err, I mean, the Baron's castle, which is apparently located on the "Isle of Evil". Sounds like a charming place, doesn't it? Bet they don't get a lot of visitors there.

"Look, ca'pn, it's a rejected Muppet."

After Quasimodo arrives, they're approached by Dracula (Allen Swift), who looks very similar to Count Von Count from Sesame Street. Aside from the green skin, they're practically twins.

"TWO! That's TWO characters in this film that look like
Muppets! Ah, ah, ah!"

Then Felix shows up. Amusingly, after their encounter with Dracula, the captain and his first mate are intimidated by Felix after he says that he's going to the Isle of Evil as well. The Werewolf is also able to climb aboard just before the ship sets sail. Once the ship is at sea, we get a gag where Felix drops his glasses - and since he can't see without them, he winds up encountering the Wolfman and the Invisible Man without realizing that they're monsters.

Much of the next few minutes consists of wacky antics involving the monsters, and the first mate about to wet himself upon seeing them. Felix runs into Dr. Jekyll (Allen Swift)… whose Mr. Hyde form ALSO looks like a rejected Muppet.

Then again, a lot of Rankin-Bass characters do have sort of a
Muppet-y look to them, so...

At midnight, the monsters all sneak off the ship and head for the Isle of Evil. Dracula refers to himself as "the original Batman"... kinda surprised that joke hasn't been done elsewhere. Seems kind of obvious.

Back at the Baron's place, he's giving orders to his army of zombies, all of whom are dressed in spiffy bellhop outfits. The Hotel Transylvania comparisons just keep making themselves, don't they?

In fact, do you think Genndy Tartakovsky watched this film
for inspiration?

One of the zombies is named Yetch (Allen Swift), and he looks and sounds like Peter Lorre. He also has the ability to talk without moving his lips. And he's hot for the redhead, whose name is revealed to be Francesca.

"Helloooooooooooooooooooooooo, nurse!"

The zombies' job is to patrol the island in old-fashioned flying machines, just in case "It" shows up. "You really think that 'It' would dare to come here uninvited?" Francesca asks the Baron. "I don't know. 'It' is capable of anything," Von Frankenstein tells her.

Soon all of the monsters are showing up in the castle. First Dracula swoops in. Then the Wolfman... or rather, the Werewolf, as Von Frankenstein tells him. Then the Invisible Man (Allen Swift). Then the Mummy and Quasimodo. Then Dr. Jekyll, who upon arriving becomes Mr. Hyde. Then the Creature From the Black Lagoon. What, no Purple People Eater?

What kind of monster is that supposed to be?

Yetch drops by the kitchen to check on how dinner's coming along. First, the cook (Allen Swift) has whipped up a poisonous salad, then move on to appetizers - lizards and spiders and things like that, moving on to octopus soup (with a live octopus in the pot), and for the main course? Boar's head, roast vulture, and minced hyena casserole (surprisingly, they don't make a "it tastes funny" joke).

Once everyone's seated at the dinner table, Von Frankenstein introduces his matter-destroying formula. Francesca wants to make the doctor's secrets HERS before he bestows them on Felix... with Dracula's help. Too bad the monster's mate hears her inner monologue telling us that.

After Mad Monster Party?, both of these characters went on
to star in episodes of Scooby-Doo.

Dracula and Fang's mate both start making plans to become Von Frankenstein's successor themselves, then we're treated to the swingin' sound of a Beatles-esque skeleton band.

Didn't these guys also appear in Corpse Bride?

Francesca and Dracula sneak out to the balcony so Francesca can fill him in on her plan to take care of this Felix fella. Apparently he didn't hear her inner monologue from before. Little do they know that Fang's mate is eavesdropping. Oh, and then we get another musical number.

After the song, Francesca and Fang's mate tear off each other's dresses (this was supposed to be a kids' movie, right?) and have a CAT FIGHT. I'm not making that up. They have a cat fight. With cat noises and everything. Meanwhile, Fang deals with Dracula, but then the Werewolf gets involved, resulting in WHACKY SHENANIGANS!

We haven't had a screencap of the Creature From the Black
Lagoon yet, so here's one now.

Soon everyone's asleep, and we get some more quick gags. The Creature From the Black Lagoon squirts water out of his mouth onto Dr. Jekyll as he snoozes. The Invisible Man is woken up by the Werewolf's howling.

Remember to wear a mask, folks!

Meanwhile, Felix finally arrives at the Isle of Evil, where he is greeted by Von Frankenstein and Francesca. They take him to the castle, then Francesca meets up with Dracula so they can start making plans.

Step One is for Francesca to take Felix on a "picnic tour". Step Two is for the Werewolf to scare Felix off... but it doesn't work (Felix has a way with pets). Then the Mummy tries to grab him, but that fails too. Then Dracula makes the attempt to swing down and bite him... and fails. Repeatedly. Felix, by the way, still hasn't caught on to the whole "surrounded by monsters" thing.

Afterwards, Von Frankenstein shows Felix his laboratory and tells him that he'll be taking his place as the head of the "Worldwide Organization of Monsters" (or W.O.O.M. for short). Then Von Frankenstein summons some... imps? Demons? I don't know what they are, but they start up another musical number.

"I don't think I'm cut out for the role of mad scientist, Uncle...
science was my worst subject in school."

"I would like to think it over," Felix admits after the song. He decides to go fishing, since he does his best thinking while he's fishing. As for Francesca, she's chewing out Dracula for failing to take out Felix. Oh, and then she finds out that Dracula plans on double-crossing her with Frank and his mate. "We can't let her go, babies! She'll go straight to Dr. Frankenstein!" the mate says as she, Fang, and Dracula corner Francesca, only for her to escape via a trapdoor.

Francesca plots to get her revenge on those meddling monsters. She writes a note, then channels the Wicked Witch of the West and sends out a bat with it.

Meanwhile, Felix is fishing. "Gosh..." he says, "Felix Flanken, chairman of the Board of Monsters Incorporated." Wait, MONSTERS INCORPORATED?

Could this have actually been another prequel to Monsters Inc.?!

Anyhow, Felix still doesn't want to take over for his uncle. Fang, his mate, and Dracula follow Francesca down the trapdoor. She holds them off with wolfsbane and a torch.

"People might forget about YOU characters after this movie,
but I'LL live on! People will draw inappropriate pictures of me
and post them on DeviantArt! It'll be disgusting, but at least I'll
be remembered!"

She escapes them again, but she still has to deal with crocodiles in the lagoon... which honestly look more like giant rubber bath toys. Fortunately for her, she's saved by Felix. Fang's mate makes Painfully Unfunny Wisecrack Then Laughing At Her Own Joke Number Seventeen (I didn't bring that up before, but she does that A LOT). She suggests gathering the monsters together and having them gang up on Francesca and Felix.

Francesca blames Felix for everything that went wrong, but then immediately falls in love with him. We get another song, then Francesca tells Felix that they have to get off the island before the monsters find them.

"Are we monsters, or are we mice?!"
"I like cheese..."

Dracula enlists the help of the other monsters to take care of Felix (though Yetch takes some convincing), and they all head off to find him and Francesca... who, at the moment, have run afoul of a Venus Flytrap.

"FEED ME, FELIX!"

Felix defeats the Venus Flytrap with vitamin pills, but the other monsters are catching up. The Werewolf manages to grab Francesca, then Dracula, Fang, the Creature From the Black Lagoon, and Quasimodo surround him. Fortunately, Felix discovers the matter-destroying potion in his pocket. Unfortunately, guess who finally shows up?

Donkey Kong, is that you?!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is "It" - he's a King Kong parody. He scares off the other monsters, then heads to the castle so he can get revenge on the Baron for not inviting him to his mad monster party. But once he arrives, he spots a framed photo of Francesca and falls for her. All giant gorillas have a thing for human women, apparently.

Must be because there aren't that many female giant gorillas
around. In fact, I think ALL giant gorillas in movies are male.

Whatever happened to the Baron, anyhow? We haven't seen him for a good chunk of the movie now.

Meanwhile, Yetch and the Werewolf have tied up Francesca, and Yetch seizes the opportunity to finally plant a wet one on the redhead's lips. But "It" is all "THAT'S NOT OKAY!" and sends the little sleaze flying. Then the ape grabs Francesca and carries her off just as Felix arrives. Felix is so bummed that he wasn't able to save her that he decides to - I am not kidding here - commit suicide. Fortunately, then the Baron finally shows up and tells Felix not to do it... to which Felix says that he only said that because he didn't think anyone could hear him. The Baron tells Felix to make a run for the boat, because he has a plan to save Francesca.

Now "It" has Francesca in one hand and all the other monsters in the other. The Baron and his zombie bellhops fly to the rescue in their flying machines, just in case you didn't get that this was supposed to be a parody of King Kong. The Baron gets "It" to put Francesca down, allowing her and Felix to escape in a boat. Now that they're safe, the Baron chews out "It" and the other monsters for all the trouble they've caused and blows them, and the Isle of Evil, up. Alas, this means the Baron gets blown up as well. Too bad, he was the best character in the movie.

Looks like the Baron's going out with a BANG.

Get it? BANG? Because... yeah, okay.

Smoke and fireworks clear the air, and Francesca reveals to Felix that they can't get married because she's not a human being. She's a robot.

Felix reassures her that "None of us are perfect." Then he starts repeating himself in a mechanical fashion accompanied by robot-esque noises. Soooooooooo... he was a robot the whole time, too? Is he just acting like one to let Francesca know that he still loves her even if she's no more human than C-3PO? Was this not a prequel to Monsters Inc. as I initially suspected but rather A.I.: Artificial Intelligence or something like that? Why is there a question mark at the end of this movie's title? Will we ever get an answer to any of these questions?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "No".

Mad Monster Party? is certainly one of Rankin-Bass' more out-of-the-box productions. Quite a film it is, with a delightfully macabre atmosphere that would make even Tim Burton proud. Boris Karloff is great as the Baron, and major props towards Allen Swift for voicing almost every other character. I wouldn't put it on par with their more popular Christmas specials, but it's certainly worth watching at least once. Dunno why it doesn't get aired on TV around Halloween, surely Freeform could find a place for it in their "31 Nights of Halloween" lineup...

So, that's three movie reviews in a row. Next time, I'll do a review of a show to make things less monotonous.