“Mad Monster Party?” is a 1969 film by Rankin Bass. Classic monster movies were enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the late 1960’s, and humorous monster shows like The Addams Family and The Munsters were enormously popular. This campy film is a spoof of horror themes, complete with musical numbers and inside jokes.

Mad Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman penned the script, and Mad artist Jack Davis designed many of the characters. Davis was a natural for the job, being famous both for his humor work and his monster stories in the pages of EC Comics. It has long been rumored that Forrest J. Ackerman had a hand in the script, but while the script is rife with Famous Monsters of Filmland-like puns, Ackerman’s involvement has never been confirmed. Although mostly intended as a kid’s picture, the film does feature some of Kurtzman’s typically dark humor and a few mildly risque jokes (in one scene, Francesca falls over, and when Felix struggles to lift her, she says, “I wanted you to know I’m no easy pick-up.”) In another scene, a character briefly has his head replaced with a cooked pig’s… and this is surely the only “kid’s picture” to end with a mushroom cloud!

The cute/ghastly look of the creatures in this film was very influential on “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and other Tim Burton monster designs; in particular, the little monsters seen in the “Stay One Step Ahead” number strongly resemble Burton creations.

In addition to the famous monsters seen in the film, “Mad Monster Party?” also features several celebrity likenesses. Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller’s characters are both designed to look like the actors portraying them, while the hunchbacked lackey named Yetch is a physical and vocal caricature of Peter Lorre. Felix, on the other hand, strongly resembles Jimmy Stewart vocally but not physically.

In 1972, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel of sorts, with the TV special “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters”. This special featured many of the same monster characters, including an imitation of Karloff as the doctor (he died in 1969), although it presumably was not intended as a direct sequel since many of these characters perished at the end of “Mad Monster Party?”. “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” was created using cel animation, rather than stop-motion. While “Mad Monster Party?” still enjoys an ardent cult following, “Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters” has fallen into comparative obscurity.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

-Floyd Bishop

If you double click on the image above and you’ll get a full resolution file, ready for poster printing, of this great birthday poster. It was illustrated by Channel Frederator veteran filmmaker Ben Ross (his film “Lunch” was featured back in episode 2 of Channel Frederator, and “Tofu” is in this week’s episode). Thanks Ben.Suitable for framing.

…from your rock and roll friends at “The Meth Minute 39″.

-Steely Dan Meth

Watch out for the little monsters tonight.

Trick or Treat,

Urban, Cyrus and Squawk

More art from Gullah Gullah Island. That wonderful kids’ show on Nick from a few years ago created and produced by the multi talented Kathy Minton.

It hasn’t been my day today. AT ALL. It’s been quite an adventure getting this email, and episode 104 out to you guys today.
In a nutshell, silly retard me forgets his computer at home today. I realize this at work. So I hop the subway again, make it home, and get the computer.
Mission accomplished, right?
No.
I’m drinking a quick cup of tea at home, and spill it on my new, cool Saxton Moore Tee-shirt.
Great.
So I change shirts. Hopefully no one will notice it’s Urban Outfitters.
Episode 104, Friends, is a Doozy of Awesome!!! We have been around the Internet Block now for 2 years guys! Happy Birthday to US!!! WEEEOOOOOO!!!! We totally RULE!!!
Thanks for hanging out with us thru the good times, the bad times, and the okay times.
We wouldn’t be here without any of you.

You are the Punk to Our Rock.

—Chinese Translation, submitted by Joel Trussel
Whereas War Photographer was a well designed flash piece of brutal epicness, Chinese Translation is a serene, well designed flash piece that feels like the last of the summer breezes. The song is a little reminiscent of Cat Stevens mixed with a bit of musician Iron & Wine, and is also a triumph for our Friend of Frederator Joel Trussel. Thanks Joel!

—Art’s Desire, submitted by Sarah Wickliffe
In Sarah Wickliffe’s hilarious art inspired short, Art’s Desire, she takes us on a journey through many well known art masterpieces inside an art museum through the eyes of the subjects themselves. “Guernica”? I hardly knew her! (bad joke, I apologize)

—Tofu, submitted by Ben Ross
I feel lucky to work alongside my pal Ben Ross. I think Ben Ross is some sort of genius. I wait to see what’s gonna spring forth from his head each day. Tofu is a piece that Ben did with his pal Heather (of Heather and Ben fame), and I’m still wondering how the microphone is also connected to the light in the fridge. Lately, he’s been working on Ultra Kawaii, one of N3’s new shows, helping out with animated bumps and images. Plus, if you want to see what’s going on inside his head, check out: Inside Ben’s Head. You won’t be sorry.

—Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot, submitted by David Chai
I’ve had a terrible bad luck sort of a day, today. So I can relate to this short all too well. Save for the fact that money safes or airline jets aren’t crushing my foot in oblivion… like poor Fumi (and her bad luck foot.) Although with the way today has been progressing, it sure metaphorically feels like it.

Keep sending in those comments, voicemails, and loving emails. We really appreciate them and will be highlighting some of our faves in the next new newsletter!!!
Happy “For reals” Halloween too! Be Safe!
-“Jittery” Jeaux Janovsky, Vampire Hunter Lite

via Starpulse

The biggest mystery 20,000 leagues beneath the sea is uncovered when SpongeBob and the gang find the lost city of Atlantis! To celebrate the monumental underwater discovery, Nickelodeon will blow it out of the water all day long with a SpongeBob convergent online and on-air event on Monday, November 12, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Kicking-off the 12-hour marathon of kids’ favorite episodes from “Z to A” will be the theatrical film “The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie” (9-10:30 a.m.). The event will culminate with the premiere of SpongeBob’s “Atlantis SquarePantis” TV movie guest starring David Bowie and the “Behind the Pantis – How We Made Atlantis SquarePantis” special (8-9 p.m.), all times ET/PT. Also integrated throughout the day, Patchy the Pirate (Tom Kenny) will host his own talk-show from the bottom of the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas with special guest star Devon Werkheiser of Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and navigate viewers through the episodes that kids voted for online on TurboNick.

In the TV movie, “Atlantis SquarePantis,” (8-8:45 p.m.), SpongeBob finds the missing half of an ancient medallion believed to be a relic from the lost city of Atlantis and brings it to the Bikini Bottom Museum where the other half is on display. The two sides are reunited, and suddenly a magical van appears that beckons to take SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, Squidward and Mr. Krabs to the legendary city of Atlantis. Each passenger, along with Plankton who has secretly stowed away in the van’s glove compartment, is eager to experience the many riches the city is rumored to contain. When the van finally arrives, they are greeted by Atlantis’ king himself, Lord Royal Highness (voiced by David Bowie), who spares no time in taking the visitors on a tour. Atlantis proves to be even more wonderful than anyone could have imagined, particularly for SpongeBob and Patrick who encounter the Oldest Living Bubble. But when a flash from Patrick’s camera causes a mishap, SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Sandy and Squidward must run from the Atlantean Guards or find a way to make amends.

Be sure not to miss this next part!!

Immediately following the TV movie (8:45-9 p.m.), Nickelodeon will premiere it’s first-ever Nicktoon behind-the-scenes special, “Behind the Pantis – How We Made Atlantis SquarePantis.” The special delves into how the TV movie was created, from the initial story pitch, writing, storyboarding, drawing and animation to the voice recording sessions.

David Bowie and Spongebob may seem like an odd combination, but there has been some weird Spongebob stuff in the past.

-Floyd Bishop

Color photography by Francis Wolff

“Blue Note Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff”

The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff

As I’ve mentioned a few times, I began my careers producing jazz records, and as I moved through I never lost the jazz taste. For years I worked with Mosaic Records, and was proudly associated wtih helping them establish Mosaic Editions, formed to distribute the legacy of Blue Note Records founder Francis Wolff.

…..
Primarily known for his classic black & white documentary jazz photography, Blue Note founder Francis Wolff was able to achieve the same aura with his switch to color in the late 1960s.

Blue Note Records was formed in 1939 by two German immigrants to the USA, producer Alfred Lion and photographer Francis (Frank) Wolff.

Mosaic Records is the brainchild of Charlie Lourie and producer Michael Cuscuna. Early on they focused on the music of Blue Note Records –Michael literally wrote the discography– though neither of them had ever met the legendary founder Alfred Lion.

A few years after they started the business Alfred, retired down South, started a phone relationship with Mosaic, giving them tips and an occasional session photo. When he died, his wife Ruth called Charlie and Michael and offered them custody of Francis Wolff’s personal Blue Note photo archive, which was stored in her bedroom in a trunk, having never been touched since Frank’s death in 1971.

Every Sunday for months, Michael, Charlie and yours truly would painstakingly go through the negatives and contact sheets to archive the stuff. We launched Mosiac Editions to distribute the best work, and eventually Mosiac lublished the two books of Frank’s work referenced above.

Directed by Pixote Hunt, “One By One” tells the story of children in a poverty stricken and somewhat depressing environment, and how they find ways to bring color and fun into their world.

The short was produced by Don Hahn and Roy Disney in 2004, and was intended to be part of the abandoned “Fantasia 2006″.

“One By One” is a great example of an artistic short film. It’s not designed to sell a series, it’s not full of fart jokes, and it features no celebrity voice overs. As far as I know, the piece was never released in theaters, and was not submitted for an Oscar consideration. It’s a shame, because I think it may have stood a great chance of winning.

-Floyd Bishop

It’s hard to believe that only two months have passed since I quietly let our blog readers know we were experimenting with a social network for cartoons, Channel Frederator RAW. I asked a few of you to sign up so we could have 100 members and make the place robust enough that we could see if it was going to have legs.

Well, as usual, you took me up on the offer through yesterday we had about 200 members. So, I figured it was time to move out of tryouts and open on Broadway. Today I invited a few of our closest friends –filmmakers, artists, and fans– from across the world to join. (You can check out some of their cool icons above.) As of five minutes ago we’d increased our membership over 35%, to over 270, adding more every hour. Thanks everyone.

I’m hoping that this increase will only make the experience richer. More discussion, more art and video, more meet-ups. Altogether more camaraderie in the art form we all dedicate our lives too.

A special thanks is due to our original 100 intrepid members. Thanks folks for making this possible for everyone else.

And another inspirational thanks to Zadi and Steve from Jetset who pointed the way with their Mix site, and to my Next New Networks partner Tim Shey who actually set RAW up in the first place. Without you guys there would be no Channel Frederator RAW.

As always, let me know if there’s anything we can do to improve the experience.