''Mad Mad Mad Monsters'' is a 1972 traditional animated

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

produced by

Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usua ...

in the United States and animated overseas by

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wi ...

in Japan. The special aired on September 23, 1972 as an episode of ''

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the ABC ...

''. It is "related" to the 1967

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animated film '' Mad Monster Party?''

Plot

After Baron Henry von Frankenstein creates a

Bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the '' bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, bri ...

for his

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

, he decides to make arrangements for a lavish wedding at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel. Henry's assistant

Igor Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling * ...

is jealous of the Monster and wants the Bride for his own, much to the annoyance of Henry. Arriving at the hotel, Henry gets the wedding booked on Friday the 13th while having the hotel manager Harold write down the required foods. He does turn down the flaming shish-kebabs idea since some of the guests are allergic to fire. Another thing Henry asks is for him to watch his pet

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

Rosebud and make sure he stays in his cage during the event since he does not want him bothering his guests. Many monsters are invited to the wedding including

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

, his son Boobula and Boobula's pet black cat, Ron Chanley the

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

, the

Mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

, the Creature, Claude the

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship ...

, his invisible wife Nagatha, his invisible son Ghoul, and Ghoul's invisible dog Goblin when Harold's

mailman A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

brother Harvey delivers the invites. Following his visit to a therapist, Harvey is asked by Harold to watch over the hotel while he takes a vacation. Once the wedding guests arrive, they terrify the guests and staff as the bellhop Norman gets the autographs of the monsters (since he believes them to be movie stars). Norman even talks to Count Dracula and Claude about a rumor that the Wicked Witch of the East will emerge from the cake at midnight during the bachelor party. Henry arrives to see that the Transylvania Astoria is as he likes it. He also reminds Harvey to keep an eye on Rosebud and make sure he stays in his cage. When the bachelor party occurs, Count Dracula and Claude talk about the Monster's various moments in the past while Nagatha advises them not to embarrass the Monster. When the Bride is shown, the monsters are fascinated and start fighting each other (all except Claude and Nagatha who continue eating their dinner) and the two pets chase each other. As midnight happens, the Wicked Witch of the East does indeed emerge from the cake. Igor begins to steal the Bride the next day when instructed to hide her until the wedding which does not go at all according to plan when the Bride ends up snatched up by a

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 ...

and lands in the clutches of a giant

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

named Modzoola. Running back to the Transylvania Astoria, Igor uses charades to inform Henry what happened. While Harvey stays behind, Henry leads the monsters and Norman to rescue the Bride. When they catch up to Modzoola, they work to rescue the Bride. Just then, Modzoola's wife Mrs. Zoola shows up and Modzoola releases the Bride as Mrs. Zoola drags him off to deal with him. When the wedding approaches, the Monster is nervous until Henry and Norman help him get over it and have his suit specially made. Due to the priest not showing up, Harvey is enlisted to wed them. When the monsters kiss as the Bride's face is shown, they release massive electrical energy that destroys the Transylvania Astoria. Sometime later, Harvey visits the therapist again who tells him that monsters are not real. The therapist turns out to be Dr. Jekyll. When he drinks his elixir, Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde and chases Harvey. As the credits roll, the Creature, Count Dracula, Ron Chanley's werewolf form, the Mummy, Boobula, Claude and Ghoul, the Monster, his Bride, and their newborn child all join Mr. Hyde in chasing Harvey. Norman runs after them in order to get Mr. Hyde's autograph which will complete his collection of the monsters' autographs.

Cast

Bob McFadden Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His most popular television cartoon characters included Mil ...

as Baron Henry von Frankenstein, Harvey *

Allen Swift Ira Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, best known for voicing cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ''Underdog'' cartoon show. He took his pro ...

, the Monster, Claude the

, Ghoul the Invisible Boy, Boobula ( Count Dracula's son), Ron Chanley the

, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Rosebud the

, Harold, Post Office Boss *

Bradley Bolke Bradley Bolke (October 1, 1925 – January 15, 2019) was an American voice actor. Early life Bolke was born on October 1, 1925, in New York City. He later lived in Dobbs Ferry, New York Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York ...

as Norman the

bellhop A bellhop (North America), or hotel porter (carrier), porter (international), is a hotel employee who helps patrons with their luggage while check-in, checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform (see bell-boy hat), like certain other Page (a ...

, additional voices * Rhoda Mann as the Bride, Nagatha the Invisible Woman, Wicked Witch of the East, additional voices

Credits

* Produced and Directed by:

Arthur Rankin, Jr. Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and writer, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion animation ...

and

Jules Bass Julius Bass (September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft Internat ...

* Written by: William J. Keenan and Lou Silverstone * Associate Producer: Basil Cox * Animation Production by: Mushi Studios ** Animation Supervision: Steve Nakagawa ** Key Animation and Layout by:

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is a Japanese animator, manga artist, and anime director. He is best known for being the character designer and animation director of the original ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' anime, which began in 1979. That same year, he began working as a manga art ...

(uncredited) * Sound Engineers: David Scott, Robert Elder * Editorial Supervisor: Irwin Goldress * Music:

Maury Laws Maury Laws (December 6, 1923 – March 28, 2019) was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina. Biography In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home st ...

Reception

It was called "visually stunning" but, because of the poor storyline, a "disappointing outing".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Monster Party 1972 animated films 1972 films 1972 television films 1972 television specials 1970s American animated films 1970s science fiction comedy films 1970s monster movies 1970s American television specials 1970s animated television specials The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie American science fiction comedy films American vampire films Crossover films Dracula films Films scored by Maury Laws Television shows directed by Jules Bass Television shows directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. Frankenstein films Mummy films American werewolf films Rankin/Bass Productions television specials 1972 comedy films 1970s English-language films pt:Mad Monster Party