Monster Mash

This is a very different animated feature. Its funny in some parts and the animation is good but different. The voices are cool! The famous Monster Mash song is present as are some other songs and the original Monster Mash song is included after the end credits! If you would like to watch a different animated feature around Halloween time then this is it!

I'd say this was the worst Halloween special ever made, except nobody ever saw it, and if they did, it was so forgettable that they probably didn't remember seeing it. The animation is low quality, often re-using animation. The songs are terrible, with the only one that was bearable being the titular song, and they do admittedly try to add a new touch to it by remixing it as a dance song, but it has no connection with the story itself. The characters have no character, especially the main family. The big running joke with them is that they're fat (hyuk, hyuk!) and all their personalities are stereotypes. Meanwhile, it sucks away all the dignity of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman, while completely misunderstanding the original stories (Frankenstein didn't WANT to scare people; it's like they've never even seen the original movie). The only characters that were likable were the villains, based on the Alien from Alien, Chucky from Child's Play, and one who was a combination of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees; only problem is, they never get any development in it. The slapstick isn't funny, with its sloppy movement and predictable and corny jokes and gags making me believe that its creators need to take a lesson from Tom and Jerry. The voice acting is hilariously bad, taking talented voice actors such as Scott McNeil and Tabitha St. Germain and forcing them to read such bad dialogue with silly voices. But the worst part is the script, which at the end decides to deliver a heavy-handed message about how the old movie monsters are better and scarier than the new ones. No, after delivering such juvenile entertainment, you do not have the right to put a message like that. And it's a contrived one, too; the old monsters aren't better, they were scary for their time but then became less so, and then they were replaced but then those monsters became less scary, and then they were replaced afterwards, etc. By the year it was released (2000), the characters who the villains were based on had already decayed, so this movie was obsolete even at the time it was released. It's quite forgettable, and I think DIC Entertainment wants the audience to forget they ever saw it. They shoved it on the same DVD as two much more entertaining Halloween specials (from Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Archie), and it's quite short, just barely over an hour long. I guess it was intended for really little kids, but all I can say is, I feel sorry for the parents who have to watch it with them.

We saw this movie on the library streaming site first. Daughter (now 6) watched it 10 times before we bought our own copy, last year.

She still watches it at least every couple months, all year round.

We have a debate on whether Stella is a girl or boy.

This is an awesome kid-friendly tribute to the classic monsters and a look at how they hold up against the monsters of modern-day. I liked this one upon first viewing. Some films need to grow on a person and others are enjoyed the first go-round. "Monster Mash" is the latter. I can promise you that.

The story is very well written. The voice cast is phenomenal. Unfortunately, the quality of animation is a little low (If you've seen TV's "Sonic Underground" -also from DiC- this is more of the same) but that is the only blemish I could see. I'm not going to spoil the plot for anybody other than we see Frank, Drac, and Wolf (you know what their full names are) attempt to scare a typical family (with hilarious results). But, I will say this is an awesome Halloween party flick for the kids and adults will enjoy this as an alternative to the gory slashers that are all special effects and no performance.

I give "Monster Mash" 9 out of 10 stars. The one negative star is for the afore-mentioned low quality animation (We've all seen better come from DiC). This title might be difficult to obtain outside the Halloween season but, if you could locate a copy, get it! I just wish the DVD would have a "Scene Selection" but that's just personal preference.