Description:
One of the least heralded but most enjoyable series that arose during the TV monster boom of the mid-'60s (which included The Addams Family and The Munsters), The Milton the Monster Show was the brainchild of Hal Seeger, a former Fleischer Studios animator and comic book illustrator who also created the Batfink cartoon. The program, which ran on Saturday mornings from 1965-66, offered a rotating series of short cartoons, with the adventures of mild-mannered, Frankenstein-like creature Milton and his friends serving as the hub of the show. The other segments concerned "Fearless Fly," a costumed superhero adventure abou
One of the least heralded but most enjoyable series that arose during the TV monster boom of the mid-'60s (which included The Addams Family and The Munsters), The Milton the Monster Show was the brainchild of Hal Seeger, a former Fleischer Studios animator and comic book illustrator who also created the Batfink cartoon. The program, which ran on Saturday mornings from 1965-66, offered a rotating series of short cartoons, with the adventures of mild-mannered, Frankenstein-like creature Milton and his friends serving as the hub of the show. The other segments concerned "Fearless Fly," a costumed superhero adventure about a mild-mannered pest and his mighty alter-ego; "Flukey Luke," a timid cowpoke who ran a detective agency; "Stuffy Durma," a hobo who refuses to give up his wandering ways, despite having inherited a fortune; "Muggy Doo," a fast-talking fox (who, like Stuffy, first saw life in Seeger's comics); and "Penny Penguin," a cute girl penguin with abominable manners. What set Milton apart from most of the kid-TV fare of the period was the quality of the production; scripts were clever, the animation bright and expressive, and the voice talent (which included veterans Bob McFadden, Dayton Allen, and Seeger's own spouse, Beverly Arnold) top-notch. And if some of the premises seem dated by today's standards ("Muggy Doo" and "Penny Penguin," in particular, have not aged well), new viewers should still be able to appreciate the gusto with which the stories are delivered. Shout! Factory's four-disc set includes Milton's entire network run, as well as some terrific archival supplements that should delight longtime fans. The never-aired segment "Wilbur the Wanted" (a sort of Fugitive for kids, with a falsely accused dog in pursuit of a scurrilous rabbit) is chief among the extras, as is an unusual live-action version of "Flukey Luke" shot by Seeger that utilized actors in oversized costumes a la Sid and Marty Krofft. Test footage for the live-action "Luke" is also included, as is a short, silent bit of footage featuring actors in Milton and Fearless Fly costume accompanying Seeger himself to the 1965 Toy Fair in New York. The sight of the life-size Milton waving to downtown crowds from the wagon of a horse-drawn hearse as it makes its way through the Big Apple streets should be, for many, worth the price of the set alone. -- Paul Gaita
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Manufacturer: Shout! Factory
Release date: 20 March 2007
Number of discs: 4
EAN: 0826663103670 UPC: 826663103670
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