The Monster Mash has been a certified graveyard smash since 1962, and now the undying Halloween hit will be adapted into an animated film by Miramax. CEO Jonathan Glickman, the producer behind the massively popular Netflix series Wednesday and 2021 film The Addams Family 2, has optioned the rights to adapt the song from the estate of its co-writer Lenny Capizzi (via Deadline).
The Monster Mash was originally performed by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and eventually become one of the most popular spooky songs of all time, thanks to its perennial inclusion in Halloween playlists and too many cover versions to count. Miramax's animated movie will be the second direct adaptation of the song, following a 1995 live-action TV movie. Several other films have borrowed the title without any direct connection to the song.
The Monster Mash tells the story of a party that breaks out in a mad scientist's laboratory, eventually roping in a whole host of popular movie monsters like Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, and Dracula. Oddly enough, the song tells of a dance known as the Monster Mash which the monsters all perform together, though it doesn't communicate how to do the dance itself, so maybe that's something Miramax will figure out.
As an animated project, The Monster Mash will follow such classic kids' monster movies as the Hotel Transylvania series, the slightly more adult Monster Squad, and of course, Rankin-Bass' 1967 stop-motion classic Mad Monster Party, which has a somewhat similar premise revolving around a gathering of well-known monsters.
No release date has yet been announced for the Monster Mash animated movie. While we wait, check out our picks for the 25 best animated movies that aren't just for kids.
