What do you get when you cross Frankenstein's monster with Gomer Pyle, USMC? You get Milton The Monster, a delightfully goofy sendup on ghouls, goblins & monsters created by producer Hal Seeger for ABC in 1965. Razorjin uploaded the episode, 'The Hearse Thief", which also includes one of the series' openings:
Seeger's animation style is similar to that of Famous Studios' Harveytoons line of theatrical shorts, which in turn led to Casper transitioning to television, also on ABC. Milton and all of his supporting characters were voiced by one man, Bob McFadden, who would also work on King Features' Cool McCool a year later for NBC. There was also a back-up feature, Fearless Fly, whom we'll discuss in a later post. Milton paved the way for other gentle cartoon monsters, including another Frankenstein parody in the Groovie Goolies, and network executives also saw the potential of turning more established monsters, such as King Kong and Godzilla, into more benevolent characters in animated form. Unfortunately, Milton didn't have a long shelf life. Just a couple of years, and then he was gone.
Could a revival happen? It depends on who holds the rights, be it Seeger's estate or someone else.
Rating: B.
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