Mad Monster Party Special Edition DVD
Just picked this up today. I'd been reading about it on the Rankin Bass History Blog.
You should definitely pick this up, Don!
It's got three new featurettes:
"Mad Monster Party: Making of a Cult Classic"—a brief history of the beginnings of Rankin/Bass and this project. Interviews with some of the folks behind it and even some shots of Jack Davis' original character designs. I didn't realize that Rankin/Bass did all of their animation in Japan.
"It's Sheer Animagic! Secrets of Stop-Motion Animation" — which is a visit to a company that currently does this type of stop-motion animation and discusses the basics of how it works.
"Groovy Ghouls! The Music of Mad Monster Party"—about the music. I haven't watched this one yet.
I've never actually seen this before, so I'm looking forward to sitting down tonight and watching it for the first time.
I saw this in the store today after reading your post. I almost picked it up but embarrassingly when I was younger, I was terrified of these types of puppets/muppets whatever they are. Fraggle Rock, DC Follies, that Phil Collins video, etc. They all scared the hell out of me. Not sure why. I loved the Muppet show and Sesame Street but some muppets are freaky and while I am not terrified by them, I still find them creepy so I passed on it. Although I have been looking for some good Halloween stuff. I got some stuff from my childhood like chipmunks, halloween town, etc. Any suggestions would be great. My future wife has two young boys and I want them to experience Halloween like I did. Thanks for any suggestions.
I really wish I'd had the chance to see this as a kid, BJ.
I think I would've loved it.
As a grown-up it wasn't very entertaining to me. The jokes were really flat and the vocal performances (excepting Boris Karloff) weren't very good. I'm not a fan of Phyllis Diller.
I can appreciate the craft of it, though. I love the character designs of the puppets and the sets.
While it's not one of Rankin and Bass's best, it still is a lot of fun to watch. I especially like te music. I own a copy of the version thatcame out before this one and I believe it has all of the same extras you mentioned.
It's a fun watch for October!
