As I enjoy a monster bender of Universal monster films this week a few thoughts have surfaced in the swill of grue.
I was recently talking to a teenager, who astutely asked if I thought, like him, that the Mummy was simply a zombie in bandages? Now I must say I didn't have an immediate answer to this as the anatomical borderland between mummification and zombiedom is somewhat blurred to be honest. What do you think readers? Is a Mummy a zombie?
Moving on, a friend of mine informed me of something that I really didn't know. Lou Ferrigno is deaf. Lou came up as I had recently seen him the US TV sitcom King of Queens, where's he's the neighbour of the titular 'king'. Amusingly Lou plays himself and everyone knows who he is in the show! I don't know what this device is called but I like it and I loved watching Lou as the Hulk back when I was a young avenger in the Seventies. I can hear the haunting closing music even now! Did you like Lou's Hulk?
Another super hero entered my life this week as well, one Aquaman. I saw the latest flick with my pal Mark and as we are both big DC fans we were excited and came away aqua-satisfied. The film was screened on a 4XD screen, which means that its visible on three of the four walls of the auditorium! I must say the experience did make me slightly dizzy but that could have been the dizzying nature of the film, with Aquaman and Mera swirling and whirling round Atlantis like crazy seahorses!
I was chuffed to see a nod to Gerry Anderson as the movie contains a short view of a TV showing Stingray! Another bit of fun for me was seeing Mera on screen for the first time. I've admired the Atlantean princess from afar for ages as she featured as a Ideal action doll back in the Seventies, one of the 'Super Queens'. Quite a few of my action figure books picture Mera in all her iridescent mermaidery. Here she is courtesy of Ebay:
Oddly enough I had thought that Mera and the other Super Queens like Batgirl were Mego but they were Ideal toys. I must say I love the box art and I think somewhere I might have a colour scan of the Ideal Batgirl box to make up a repro. No idea where that went. Its Super Queening somewhere in the loft, probably rolled in a tube.
And so Its nearly time to carry on my binge watch of Universal monster flicks. So far this week I've seen Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and currently I'm enjoying Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman.
These American takes on European myths are the very foundation of all monster fandom and it amazes me that they were all created before, during and after the Second World War.
For myself, it was Universal's second wind in the Sixties that made me a monster nut as the monster craze swept the US, the UK and the world and babyboomers everywhere fell in love with Universal's creatures of the night, their second outing in the light of the moon.
Along with the space race, the monster craze fashioned who I was back then and who I still am now. The dual attractions of Apollo and Lugosi swept me up in an irresistible tractor beam toward a friction-drive supernova childhood.
Its clear to me now that I had two sets of parents. My real ones, the dear Woodsies and my other ones, Neil Armstrong and Forry Ackerman, who between all four created the true me and brought me to this moment now writing this on a blog devoted to space and monster toys.
Who were your childhood influences readers? Are they still influencing?
Well...my kindergarten teacher asked me at age 5 what I wanted to be when I grew up.My earnest answer was"A Dinosaur".Two days into my 51st year,I can finally say I have achieved that goal!I don't know if dinosaurs can count as an official influence,but they are just as interesting to me now as then,with new perspectives on how they look and lived,theyre more fascinating than ever.I always was a rock star at heart,lip synching to my old records and playing a tennis raquet guitar as a child,so I guess famous musicians as a collective entity can be considered an influence.I am determined that, at least one more time,I will take the spotlight at some tavern or amphitheater stage and be"The Rock Star" again!
ReplyDeleteA dinosaur Rock star! I love it Brian! Forget T.Rex! Your'e on your way!
DeleteMy childhood influences are alive and kicking, Woodsy. They take the form of the vintage toys, comics, books, and the other old or odd things which populate and clutter our cosy world. I like old things, old movies, bygone telly, and nostalgic songs. I like to live in my own construction of the past. It's got a few chapters, written by an author with no sense of rhythm or continuity - sometimes reflected in the unorthodox pulse of our home.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I did venture into adulthood once. It was a mostly unfriendly place, inhabited by mostly unhappy people, all trying to conform to the norm and act like sensible, successful, grown ups. I didn't like it. Not a fun place for an 11 year old kid who is sometimes wrongly mistaken for a middle-age adult :)
A fab celebration of staying young Tone. 'I did venture into adulthood once'. That made me laugh so much! You really should write a novel!
Delete