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Classic Rankin/Bass stop motion film just in time for Halloween.

Everyone knows those delightful holiday specials that air on TV every year.  They have them for most every major holiday.  One of the most beloved was created by the team of Arthur Rankin, Jr and Jules Bass, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).  This was one of the first entirely stop motion animated specials of any kind.  People of all ages immediately fell in love with the art form and the characters which led to many more endeavors for Rankin/Bass.  One that too many people may not be aware of, due to the lack of television exposure today, is their first stop motion feature film in 1967 Mad Monster Party. 

This classic tale takes place at the remote island castle of Baron von Frankenstein where a group of monsters gather for a special dinner and announcement.  It seems that Frankenstein is going to retire and will be passing on his duties as the head of the World Monster Organization to someone.  What the monsters do not know is that person is his bumbling nephew Felix.  The monsters find out about this decision and decide to work together to get rid of Felix so they can find out the secrets to the Baron’s newest invention, a secret formula for total destruction. 

I am not sure how I managed to live these last 29 years of my life without ever seeing this.  Though I have heard of it, for some reason it never played on my TV.  Now that this new special edition fell into my lap I feel very lucky and like a child again.  Right off the bat this takes you back to the Rankin/Bass classic stuff from youth.  These lovable characters moving one frame at a time seem so much more alive than they really are (which, of course, they are not at all).  The story is fun with a few fun musical interludes and more puns then you could shake a stick at.  All of the humor is probably because of the writer Robert Kurtzman, who was one of the creators of Mad Magazine.  The humor is very akin to that of Forrest J. Ackerman of the wonderful Famous Monsters of Filmland publication, who has been rumored to have been a part of the creation of Mad Monster Party though he is not credited.

If you are a fan of stop motion then you will see a true innovator in this film.  By today’s standards this is nowhere near perfect but you have to remember there was no computer assistance back in the sixties.  Everything had to be done by hand, one frame at a time, on film which had to be developed before you could see what had been shot.  No room for error.  In one of the special features Rankin even talks about each scene had to be done in the same day so the actors posing the figures would not forget the moves.  This went long hours on scenes with many characters in the same shot, or the longer take before the camera would cut to a different angle. 

Lionsgate’s new release of the film has plenty of great features.  A fifteen minute making-of featurette (”Mad Monster Party: Making of a Cult Classic”) gives great insight into the painstaking process endured and has interviews with Arthur Rankin, voice actor Allen Swift (who voiced most all of the male characters) and Rankin/Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt.  “It’s Sheer Animagic! Secrets of Stop Motion Animation” is a brief look at what it’s like to make a stop motion film and the differences between the techniques of Rankin/Bass and those today.  Music is a very important part of the film so there is a piece about the creation of that centered around an interview with musical director Maury Laws.  Rounding out the extras are a couple of sing-a-longs (“Our Time to Shine” and “One Step Ahead”) and the original trailer. 

Rankin/Bass served as a source of inspiration for many people in the last forty-something years.  Tim Burton and Henry Selick were fans long before The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride and Coraline.  Remember the joys of watching some of Rankin/Bass’ classic stuff and pick this up to relive a bit of that magic, er, Animagic.

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