Back in 1960, animators Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass formed a company called Videocraft International, a prolific studio that put out some of the best known holiday TV specials known to humankind. In 1964, the studio produced Larry Roemer’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a stop-motion Christmas special that airs annually to this day. By 1967, Rankin and Bass had begun directing shorts themselves, and by 1968, they had changed the name of their company to Rankin/Bass Productions. Under that banner, the pair made (among other projects) 1968’s “The Little Drummer Boy,” 1969’s “Frosty the Snowman,” 1970’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” and “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” both of which came out in 1974. “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” later followed in 1976, with “Jack Fost” arriving in 1979.
The pair also made several notable feature films, mostly in a fantasy vein. Many may be fond of their J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations (1977’s “The Hobbit” and 1980’s “The Return of the King”) or their animated 1982 epic “The Last Unicorn.” A few years after making those movies, they also put out shows like “ThunderCats” and “SilverHawks.” And these are only a few of their credits. Rankin/Bass was an animation empire unto itself.
Only very occasionally did Rankin/Bass tip into horror movies. But when it did, it was spectacular. Indeed, Rankin/Bass was responsible for one of the greatest Halloween movies ever in the form of the 1967 stop-motion feature “Mad Monster Party?” (a monster mash of the highest order). Sure, Rankin/Bass can easily flout its Christmas bona fides, but “Mad Monster Party?” assures the company a permanent place in the Halloween canon of gods. You can bet films like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” wouldn’t exist without “Mad Monster Party?”
Mad Monster Party? is one of the best Halloween movies of all time
“Mad Monster Party?” was directed by Jules Bass and co-written by Harvey Kurtzman, one of the earlier staff writers at MAD Magazine and the writer of Playboy’s ribald “Little Annie Fanny” comics. Although “Mad Monster Party?” is certainly kid-friendly, it has an impish, winking quality that might only be read by adults. Older viewers will certainly notice Rankin/Bass’ inclusion of Francesca (Gale Garnett), a curvaceous, red-haired babe in the vein of Jessica Rabbit. Grown-ups will also key more directly into the humor of Frankenstein’s sassy bride, voiced by the immortal Phyllis Diller.
The story of “Mad Monster Party?” is simple enough. The hard-working Baron Boris von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) has finally concocted a magical formula that, in his words, contains the secret of Ultimate Destruction. To present his findings, and to announce his subsequent retirement as head of the World Organization of Monsters, the Baron arranges an extended dinner party for the world’s most prominent Halloween beasties. On the guest list are Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster Fang, the Werewolf, the Invisible Man, Jekyll & Hyde, the Mummy, and the Hunchback of Notre-Dame. All of these monsters are voiced by Alan Swift. There is also a creature only called “It,” which might arrive uninvited. “It” is a terrifying something-or-other that doesn’t appear until later in the movie.
The wild card guest is an ordinary pharmacist named Felix (also Swift), who looks, talks, and behaves like James Stewart. Felix is the Baron’s distant nephew and stands to inherit Frankenstein’s monster empire. This, naturally, inspires resentment among the monsters, Francesca in particular; she was Frankenstein’s long-held assistant and assumed she’d inherit Frankenstein’s secrets. Hence, she conspires with Dracula, ordering the vampire to assassinate Felix.
Mad Monster Party? was the last time Boris Karloff played a Frankenstein
Felix accidentally avoids being murdered several times throughout the movie and proves to be fecklessly charming. Indeed, Francesca eventually falls for his aw-shucks innocence. The film eventually climaxes with the arrival of “It” and a few other shocking character revelations besides. “It,” I should note, is not Pennywise the clown from Stephen King’s 1986 novel “It,” but it does resemble another famous movie monster.
“Mad Monster Party?” is a hoot, and large portions of its 95-minute runtime are devoted to monsters just sort of hanging out. The skeleton band is a highlight, as it watches the monsters dance. Because the film was shot in stop-motion, the characters themselves have a toy-like quality, making “Mad Monster Party?” feel like an eight-year-old’s monster fantasy. There’s something so delightfully pure about it, as though Halloween is finally being understood. “Mad Monster Party?” arrived only five years after the release of Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s novelty ultra-hit “The Monster Mash,” and it visualized a fresh truth about monsters: Not only do they all know each other, but they regularly get together for beastly bailiwicks.
Fun trivia: “Mad Monster Party?” marked the final time Karloff played a character associated with “Frankenstein.” He had been doing so for 36 years prior.
Rankin/Bass made an animated pseudo-sequel to “Mad Monster Party?” in 1972, titling it “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters.” It’s a much less interesting 43-minute TV special. Little needs to be said about it. Of note, Rankin/Bass also teamed with Toho to produce Ishiro Honda’s 1967 live-action kaiju movie “King Kong Escapes,” the film where King Kong fights Mechanikong, his robot duplicate. Those guys knew their monsters.
