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I need my fellow Gen-Xers to chime in: 

"When criminals in this world appear / And break the laws that they should fear / And frighten all who see or hear / The cry goes up both far and near / for Underdog!"

Those are the lyrics to the theme song for the 1964 animated series "Underdog," a series about a canine named Shoeshine Boy (Wally Cox) who would occasionally transform into the eponymous flying, super-strong superhero to protect his girlfriend, Polly Purebred (Norma McMillan), from the evils of the mad scientist Simon Bar Sinister (Allen Swift). "Underdog" was in heavy syndication for years, so those of a certain age likely saw multiple episodes without trying. Underdog was an appealing character because he seemed mild-mannered even while in hero mode, and because he always spoke in rhyming couplets. Curiously, Underdog seemed to get his superpowers by popping "super energy pills," which sounds narcotics-adjacent to the modern ear.

For decades, stop-motion animation has brought charm to the uncanny valley, allowing for intricate, immersive storytelling that no other medium can quite achieve. By blending physical craftsmanship with meticulous artistry, stop-motion creates a tactile, often eerie quality that feels both real and otherworldly. In the horror genre, this technique is uniquely powerful, lending itself to surreal visuals and unsettling atmospheres that linger long after the credits roll.

From cult classics to modern masterpieces, stop-motion horror movies showcase the boundary-pushing potential of animation. These films combine technical brilliance with chilling narratives, crafting unforgettable cinematic experiences.

Mad Monster Party Is a Cozy Horror Story Released in 1967

Long before stop-motion became a mainstream animation style, Mad Monster Party? paved the way with its quirky charm and Halloween-themed ghoulishness. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, the same studio behind holiday classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this film brings together a who's who of iconic monsters -- Dracula,...

Jim Knipfel Oct 31, 2018

Rankin-Bass teamed up with Boris Karloff, Mad Magazine, Forry Ackerman, and Frank Frazetta for a Halloween special. What the hell?

Three years after producing 1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer but before going on to make other warm-hearted and sincere animated holiday standards like Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman and the questionable Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass took a hard left turn into the dark, delightfully strange, and intensely geeky with Mad Monster Party.

Predating Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s Nightmare Before Christmas by over a quarter-century, the sinister duo’s stop-motion musical comedy celebration of classic Universal horror, which was released as a theatrical feature before becoming a semi-regular October TV standby, never quite cornered the Halloween specials market as planned. Somehow it was never able to lure audiences away from that damned Great Pumpkin.

Mad Monster Party (1967) is screening at 7pm Thursday, December 5th at Schlafly Bottleworks – 7260 Southwest Ave St Louis, Mo 63143. Doors open at 6:30pm. It’s a fundraiser for Helping Kids Together. Attend wearing a monster costume and you may win a DVD of the film!

“Rankin/Bass” is a moniker long associated with television for the company’s long line of animated specials, the best-known being Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer which first aired in 1964. Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass brought their craft to the big screen the first with Willy McBean And His Magic Machine in 1965, which was a flop as were their primarily live-action Hans Christian Andersen musical The Daydreamer (1966) and the traditionally-animated The Wacky World Of Mother Goose (1967). While Rankin/Bass was soon to become a fixture in holiday television, a fact we were all reminded of every December, the studio tried once more for cinematic success...

By Todd Garbarini

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Mad Monster Party is a relatively obscure stop-motion animated musical treat from 1967 that many non-genre fans are unaware of. Aimed at children, it is the creation of Rankin and Bass, the production team responsible for so many holiday television specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, and The Year Without a Santa Claus. Unlike these specials, however, Mad Monster Party made the rounds to movie theaters as a feature-length film for Saturday and Sunday matinees. It’s the obvious inspiration for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), boasting an infectious musical score that sticks in your head long after the movie is over.

Baron Boris von Frankenstein, the lead character who is voiced by Boris Karloff in one of his last roles, decides to hang up his lab coat and hand...

Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.

This Week’s New Instant Releases…

Promised Lands (1974)

Streaming Available: 04/19/2011

Cast: Documentary

Director: Susan Sontag

Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.

Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)

Streaming Available: 04/19/2011

Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles

Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...

Actor Allen Swift, who voiced classic cartoon characters Might Mouse, Dinky Duck and Howdy Doody, has died at the age of 87.

Swift died on 18 April at his Manhattan home. His cause of death had not been disclosed as WENN went to press.

Swift landed his big break in 1954 when he filled in for Howdy Doody star Bob Smith, after the former host suffered a heart attack.

The role kickstarted his Hollywood career, and helped Swift win over 30,000 television and radio commercials, including promos for Jell-o, the Eveready battery, a toilet plunger for Drano, Vita’s Beloved Herring Maven, Hostess Ho Hos and Sanka decaffeinated coffee.

He also played animated characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff on TV cartoon Underdog, and most of the characters on the Tom and Jerry cartoons made from 1960 to 1962.

He appeared in several Off Broadway productions and in the Broadway plays including How to Make a Man, The Student Gypsy and My Old Friends.

Swift is survived by his wife, Lenore Loveman, a son, two daughters and five grandchildren.

Ira Stadlen was better known as voice actor Allen Swift. He provided the voice of the villainous Simon Bar-Sinister on the Underdog cartoon series from 1964. He was also many of the voices in the 1967 Rankin Bass feature Mad Monster Party? including Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, Felix Flankin, and Yetch.

Stadlen was born in New York City on January 16, 1924. He began supplying most of the voices for the supporting characters in NBC’s The Howdy Doody Show in 1952, and took over the voice of the lead puppet himself when Buffalo Bob Smith suffered a heart attack in 1954. He hosted cartoons as Captain Allen on The Popeye Show for station Wpix in New York in the late 1950s. He voiced the lead roles in the Gaston and Clint Clobber cartoons, and worked on the Tom and Jerry cartoons in the early 1960s. He was the voice of such cartoon characters as Odie Colognie,...

American voice actor Allen Swift, born Ira Stadlen and known as the voice of Tom's owner in "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, died April 18, according to the Telegraph of London. He was 86. Swift took his professional name from two of his favorite satirists, Fred Allen and Jonathan Swift, and did work in the early '50s on "Howdy Doody," voicing various characters including Tooter Turtle, Clint Clobber, and even Howdy. He also did voices in Gene Deitch's early '60s "Tom and Jerry" cartoons and recently guest-starred on "Law & Order."In a letter to the website CartoonBrew.com, Deitch, Swift's longtime friend and collaborator, said, "Allen [had] been suffering with a series of health calamities for several years, since he fell and broke his hip while walking his dog. From that moment, one thing led to another."Swift is survived by, among numerous other relatives, his son: the Broadway actor, mimic,...

For the longest time, Mad Monster Party was available only in the poorest of qualities, lingering on as VHS that was copied from a surviving 16mm film, after the original negative was damaged and lost forever. In the six years since a 35mm copy was finally discovered and digitally remastered, we’ve gotten no less than three DVD editions—two from Anchor Bay, and now this Special Edition from Lionsgate.

How special is this edition? It’s special only in the newly produced featurettes, which are the real incentive to buy this release for fans of the film.

Ever since Universal started playing mix-and-match with the famous monsters at their disposal in the 40’s, the gathering of these classic movie monsters have been the spark of boyhood imaginations. There’s always some kooky plot that one way or another brings the monsters together. In Mad Monster Party, it’s as simple as a party invite.