It’s time for the annual monster convention, held annually on the island fortress of Baron Boris Von Frankenstein and every famous monster has been invited….well almost everyone…”It” was not invited because it is a “crushing bore, and yes it crushed all the island’s wild boars the last time it was invited.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…Remember Rankin/Bass? Yes the people who’s stop motion television specials marked the entrance of the holiday season. Well in 1967 they did something both ambitious and utterly unexpected…they gathered Frankenstein, his monster (and “the” bride), the Werewolf, The Invisible Man, the Mummy, Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Count Dracula together in one film and all a part of the “Worldwide Organization of Monsters”
Featuring the voices of Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, and Phillis Diller, the film details Dr. Frankenstein’s discovery of a secret formula, capable of total global destruction. Armed with his latest discovery, he feels has enough of a deterrent, that he can retire and hand the organization over to his nephew, a human hypochondriac named Felix Flanken. and the Dr. has decided to convene the Monster convention to announce his decision.
Just like any other evil monster family, there is enormous dysfunction, and when the monsters discover the dr’s intent they plot and scheme and back stab each other vying to be the next in line for the throne.
Worst of all, the Baron’s own assistant, a red haired bombshell, named Francesca, not only has aligned herself with Count Dracula, but when her plans fall apart she invites “IT” (who turns out to be King Kong) to the island as the ultimate party pooper.
As Dr. Frankenstein realizes all his monster family is too evil to function together after he is gone, he uses his ultimate formula to blow himself, all the monsters, and the entire island away in a giant mushroom cloud, leaving Francesca and Felix (who have fallen in love) together in a tiny row boat in the middle of the sea.
(and in one final twist) we discover that both Francesca and Felix are actually robotic creations of the Doctor as well.
The movie was a treasured part of my childhood, and another discovery on KTLA’s Family Film Festival. And while it never attained the holiday tradition status of Frosty, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town, it was a feature length tour-de-force of stop motion animation, and magically allowed the monsters to act quite monstrous without losing the family friendly sensibility of Rankin/Bass other “Animagic” stop motion specials.
It also marked the last time Boris Karloff was involved in a Frankenstein film property, and featured a delightful musical soundtrack with highlights that include Phillis Diller singing a love song to her Frankenstein Monster mate “Fang”, entitled “You’re Different”, and a sultry James Bond 60’s style torch song titled
Never Was a Love Like Mine” sung by Francesca (Gale Garnett) to Felix when she discovers her surprise love for him.
The film has had several video releases and I’m very pleased to report is available on iTunes and Amazon for online rental or purchase. It is absolutely one of my favorite monster movies and a huge part of the reason I learned to love the classic horror monsters at a very early age.
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