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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 10563
Released: September 8, 2009 |
| Our Price: $8.46 |
| Used Price: $7.48 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Baron Von Frankenstein (voice of Boris Karloff) has decided to retire as the head of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. But first, he must inform the other monsters about his plans. How to deliver the news? How else - through a MAD MONSTER PARTY! Von Frankenstein’s guests include a who’s who of Halloween favorites, including the Werewolf, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Mummy, the Invisible Man and more. But who among them is fit to be the new head of the monsters? Find out in this treasured stop-motion classic from the team who brought you "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” "Frosty the Snowman” and other beloved holiday specials.
Mad Monster Party Reviews:
MAD MONSTER MUST 
2009-11-30 - Synopsis:
"Baron von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) invites his allied monsters to his island lab, to announce his retirement and to appoint his successor, who will inherit his new, secret, destructive formula. They all show up. Only the Baron's shapely assistant Francesca (Gale Garnett) knows that mild-mannered soda jerk Felix Flankin will be the new leader of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters, and she conspires with Dracula to take him out of the picture, against opposition from The Bride of Frankenstein. But Felix and Francesca fall in love, just as the monsters close in on both of them, and King Kong appears from the haunted lagoon ..." by Glenn Erickson
There are few classic puppet animation films to shout about and this is one of them. Mad Monster Party is a classic 1967 Puppet animation Film by the masterful creators Rankin & Bass. Artist Jack Davies drawn creations was masterfully animated by Japanese firm, MOM Studios with director' Kizo Nagashima. This feature brings to life a great selection of classic Monsters from the silver screen, It(King Kong), The Invisible Man, The Werewolf, Dracula, The Mummy, Creature From he Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's Monster and Dr Frankin (voices by Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller)to name but a few.
This energetic musical packs a Killer soundtrack (Original Music Maury Laws)and a slap stick story of fun and adventure. A family fun film with lighthearted moments of enjoyment, an Oscar winner ? No. A great classic animated must watch movie ? YES
cool, but not as much as when I was 6 
2009-11-17 - I used to wait for this to be broadcast on tv every year with my older sister. We loved it, and it was a staple of the season. One year it never came back and we were bummed. Now I know why. It's not a great movie. Great stop motion only as Rankin Bass could do back in the day, and even has some decent writing for the music, but the story just moves too slowly to be of any interest to today's kids (including me :) ). I fell asleep in the middle of the day watching it and still don't recall how it ends... I am glad I bought it, as it was a childhood memory that I wanted to give my kids, who did watch and enjoy it some. Not their favorite movie, but if we watch it each year, maybe they will have fond memories of it and the other holiday classics that are from the era. It has some additional things I have not yet explored which I am sure are very cool to watch. Maybe soon, when the weather is too cold to be outside, I will revisit. Not a horrible purchase, just a small disappointment. If you have the other Christmas classics, this is a must. I thought it was lost forever.
Should have been more
2009-09-13 - I completely agree with Joe brando's review. This is a disappointing release, most especially for the lack of even a mention of Gail Garnett, but also because the featurettes appear as rushed and shoddy things. You have to wonder why they even bothered. If you still own the previous DVD -- keep it. There was a nice booklet with the original release that really makes it overall better than this one. But both versions don't properly offer an anamorphic 16X9 transfer, which they should, and it would be nice if the soundtrack were "stereo-ized."
Great Movie - Somewhat Disapointing "Special Edition"
2009-09-10 - Please note that this review is for the "Special Edition" DVD of Mad Monster Party, and not the actual movie, which is an easy 5-star animation classic.
The bonus material consists of 3 featurettes - a "Making Of"; a "Music Of"; and a "Secrets Of Animagic". While it was enjoyable to see Arthur Rankin talking about the history of the film, I found it almost unforgivable that the two surviving stars (Phylis Diller and Gale Garnett) were not interviewed for this. Especially when footage of Phylis speaking about MMP already exists and only had to be purchased and tacked on. What's even worse is that Gale Garnett's name was not even mentioned, I kid you not! Every other person involved with the making of this movie was talked about except for the voice behind two songs in the film, and the most memorable character, Francesca. Apparently it was a legal issue, but one that should most definitely have been resolved.
Also included is the theatrical trailer which was present on the previous release but the TV spots and photo stills gallery which were on the original DVD were omitted from this one. This "Special Edition" has a better cover but the first DVD has much more attractive menus. If you are a Rankin/Bass fan, you will probably still want to pick up this new release (even if you already have the other one) but I do feel that more effort could have been put out to make this "Special Edition" more special.
3 GREAT SPARKHILL documentaries on this NEW DELUXE EDITION! 
2009-07-26 - Just watched the rough cuts and REALLY like what SPARKHILL did! GREAT editing and it makes you want to watch the film all over again! SCREEN NOVELTIES (Seamus and Mark) explain ANIMAGIC perfectly! MAURY LAWS gives some insight to his scoring in a seperate documentary about the soundtrack. Loved seeing ARTHUR RANKIN and DON DUGA talk about their parts and hearing ALLEN SWIFT do the voices again! You will not want to miss this 2009 edition!
