Overview: Baron Von Frankenstein (voice of Boris Karloff) has decided to retire as the head of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. But first, he must inform the other monsters about his plans. How to deliver the news? How else - through a MAD MONSTER PARTY!

DVD Verdict: The bonus material consists of 3 featurettes - a "Making Of"; a "Music Of"; and a "Secrets Of Animagic". While it was enjoyable to see Arthur Rankin talking about the history of the film, I found it almost unforgivable that the two surviving stars (Phylis Diller and Gale Garnett) were not interviewed for this. Especially when footage of Phylis speaking about MMP already exists and only had to be purchased and tacked on.

What's even worse is that Gale Garnett's name was not even mentioned, I kid you not! Every other person involved with the making of this movie was talked about except for the voice behind two songs in the film, and the most memorable character, Francesca. Apparently it was a legal issue, but one that should most definitely have been resolved.

Also included is the theatrical trailer which was present on the previous release but the TV spots and photo stills gallery which were on the original DVD were omitted from this one.

This "Special Edition" has a better cover but the first DVD has much more attractive menus. If you are a Rankin/Bass fan, you will probably still want to pick up this new release (even if you already have the other one) but I do feel that more effort could have been put out to make this "Special Edition" more special. [JB] This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and come with the Special Features of:

Production and Art Galleries
"Making of a Cult Classic" (14 minutes, 40 seconds)
"It's Sheer Animagic! Secrets of Stop-Motion Animation" (9:30)
"Groovy Ghouls! The Music of Mad Monster Party" (3:40)
Lionsgate Trailers