Jennifer
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7 votesJennifer
commented
Am watching this on Comet right now. I first read about it in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. This does have its charms--the animation, by Osamu Tezuka, is really lovely--but it would make a great candidate for Rifftrax or the new MST3K. In its original Japanese version, it was an adaptation of the Buddhist myth of the Monkey King and the Journey to the West, but the American dub removed all Buddhist references, making this just a "magic kingdom", giving the characters some rather juvenile-sounding names (including changing a Buddhist deity to Merlin The Magician!), and giving the story a catch-all "learn humility and be good to your neighbor" storyline. They also recorded a new soundtrack (and to its credit, it's beautifully orchestrated) with some songs that are obviously trying to follow in Disney's footsteps. There are also quite a few Big Lipped Alligator Moments (some sort of pageant that shows an animal "unzipping" various outer coats like a Russian nesting doll and turning into other animals while doing so). The voice cast is talented, but a little cheesy--Sterling Holloway is the narrator, Jonathan Winters a bumbling pig, Dodie Stevens (singer of "Tan Shoes And Pink Shoelaces") the hero's girlfriend, and Frankie Avalon is Alakazam's singing voice. His speaking voice is provided by Peter Fernandez, aka Speed Racer--which could give riffers a field day. The dialogue is rather ridiculous in spots--full of American idioms and some rather corny jokes (Alakazam to his girlfriend when she pleads to go with him to see Merlin: "Magicians don't like girls. They saw them in half!"). Even without the American re-dub, it seems Tezuka put in some modern visual jokes and references into the ancient myth--as some Disney movies have done. In short, it's got enough virtues to make it not entirely unbearable, but the attempt to shoehorn the ancient story into a Disney mold gives it plenty of riffability.
Jennifer
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Jennifer
commented
The only roadblock to riffing this movie is...it may seem a little cruel to make fun of Sharon Tate in light of what was to happen two years later.
The other interesting thing about this movie is that it inspired a musical, Dance of the Vampires. It originated in Germany and incorporated the pre-existing song Total Eclipse of the Heart. It didn't do so well, however, when they tried to transfer it to America. From what I can see, it forgoes the movie's more comedic tone in favor of a serious, dramatic, romantic one--it seemed as if they were trying to make it a Phantom Of The Opera ripoff. (Original Phantom cast members Steve Barton and Michael Crawford played Krolock in different productions.)
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As a side note...this movie features a ten-year-old named Bart foiling the schemes of an urbane, cultured villain with the last name Terwilliger. Hmm...sound like any long-running prime-time cartoon series you know?