Mad Monster Party!

This is a terrifically fun movie from Rankin-Bass. Their holiday specials were something to always anticipate back when I was young. Rudolph is still the absolute best holiday show ever, and I make a point to watch every year. And Mad Monster Party is just as good. I never saw this one on TV, but I did find it on VHS several years ago. More recently I started looking for it on dvd and was disappointed when the Halloween season started and I couldn't turn it up. Seems they were whipping up a new version with some extras. They're pretty good as these things go, giving you a pretty good glimpse of how this show was made and how it got on the air.



I'm a huge Boris Karloff fan, and so this is a must for my collection. Boris is oustanding in this movie, his rich voice giving it a gravity it would otherwise lack. Phyllis Diller is in this movie, and while she's pretty entertaining, her presence does unfortunately distract from the overall monster-rally effect of the show. I do like that they made her the Monster's Mate, an inspired notion and used her to best effect if use her they had to do. The guy who does the voices for most of the other characters is fantastic, and the chick who voices Francesca is amazingly sexy in such an offbeat role. This is a real treat.



With a script by Harvey Kurtzman and character designs by Jack Davis, this one has a lot of punch, more than the typical Rankin-Bass offering.



I'm also a King Kong fan, and so this movie though it can't use Kong's name does feature the big ape in I guess what you'd have to call a cameo. It's a curious addition to any Kong fan's collection, and a necessary one.

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