Frankenstein Walk Around Through The Years

[Gillfan]

Inspired by the thread about Monster Bob's latest addition
http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=21913.0
I thought it would be interesting to do a thread of pix of walk around Frankenstein at Universal Studios through the years. These pix are nt mine but found on the internet.






The Frank above is from Universal in Singapore

[charp13]

Great idea, Gillfan. I'll have to take my family Frankenstein pics. out and scan them . My daughter was a magnet for the walk around monsters. She always had that "please don't pick me" look, and they zeroed in on her, so we have some pics. from the 90s at Universal Orlando.

[Flower]

Great pictures.

BTw ~ I haven't seen a StyleAuto jacket or a cabbage patch doll in years.

[Monster Bob]

Thank you for posting this pic, Gill. The source is a late 60s/early 1960s Universal Studios tour postcard.

The suit that this park Frankenstein is wearing below is an old Fred Gwynne "Herman Munster" suit from the original show. In the mid 1990s, this particular suit was sold by auction house Profiles In History (catalog 4, I think). A friend of mine (Steve Cox) was an acquaintance of owner Joe Maddalena. Cox had just had published his The Munsters-First Family of Fright book (which I was a consultant on), and JM told him they had what they thought was a Gwynne/Munsters costume down at the auction house, and did he know anyone who could examine the suit and confirm it was "right". I happened to be in LA staying with Steve at the time (I believe it was in 1995 for the FM convention at Universal), and jumped at the chance. Indeed, it was a Gwynne Herman, which had been heavily altered for a smaller man, for use by the Uni-Park Frankenstein shown in this pic. It matched up perfectly, was correctly marked, and even still had the same holes in the knees! This suit was a "put-together", as witnessed by the fact that the color of the jacket and pants were different, but the jacket and pants were all authentic Gwynne, for sure. I don't recall if it had a shirt with it (it may have, but if it did, it wasn't Gwynne's), but it did have a pair of Uni-Park boots with it, that definately were more contemporary and not a pair of Gwynne's. The boots in this photo could well be a Gwynne pair...I am betting they are.

[fmofmpls]

Man, that is a great pic! And thanks for the great background info too, Bob!

Why did Universal continue to "dumb down" their in-park Frankenstein throughout the years with bad masks and oversized clothing? I'll tell you why in just two words, as Bob has already noted earlier - "Van Helsing.' That pretty much says it all. Out of touch.

[Gillfan]

Monster Bob- Once again, thanks for the info! That is my second favorite pic.
My fave is:


When I was a wee lad that is what I imagined a visit to Universal Studios would be like, wrestling with Frankenstein.

[marsattacks666]

It it is interesting to see so many variations of  Frankenstein's monster. Very cool photos. I have some photos of myself with the monster.

[horror1o1]

Man, that is a great pic! And thanks for the great background info too, Bob!

Why did Universal continue to "dumb down" their in-park Frankenstein throughout the years with bad masks and oversized clothing? I'll tell you why in just two words, as Bob has already noted earlier - "Van Helsing.' That pretty much says it all. Out of touch.

It seems like most things in recent years get dumbed down. cartoons especially. I seen that Marvel Super Squad show one day and wanted to bitch slap who ever thought that was a good idea.

[Gillfan]

[Monsters For Sale]

[fmofmpls]

Man, I love these pics. I just came from Universal Studios Hollywood. There wasn't a Frankenstein in the whole dang park. 

[fmofmpls]

Looking at the last pic (the postcard), reminds me that at one time Universal had decided upon a juvenile Frankenstein mascot. I can't remember what they called him? Was it Frankenstein Jr.? That would have been real creative.     I seem to remember they even had park merchandise regarding this "Frankenstein Jr." character. I have a felt 70's banner from Universal that features this adolescent Frankenstein.

[Monsters For Sale]

Looking at the last pic (the postcard), reminds me that at one time Universal had decided upon a juvenile Frankenstein mascot. I can't remember what they called him? Was it Frankenstein Jr.? That would have been real creative.     I seem to remember they even had park merchandise regarding this "Frankenstein Jr." character. I have a felt 70's banner from Universal that features this adolescent Frankenstein.

That name was already taken. 

Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles was an American Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1966.

So Universal went with the name "Baby Frankenstein" for their short-lived character.

Here is a link to a short discussion about him with pictures of all of the Baby Frankenstein collectibles I know to exist. 

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=20068.msg331472#msg331472

Do you know of any others?   I'd like to see pictures.

[fmofmpls]

Thanks for sharing that informative thread. Great stuff. It's hard for me though to embrace any collectible known as "Baby Frankenstein."  Bizarre concept to be sure. And as noted here already, it appeared Universal was trying "Disney-fy" their iconic figure in an attempt to sanitize for young and impressionable minds. Fools.


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[Monster Bob]

I think it was a result of the trend to "baby-ize" things back then- Muppet Babies, Warner Bros. Babies, Bozo Babies (gak); I assume the evolution from Cabbage Patch Kids, Garbage Pail Kids, etc.?

Not the following, but didn't they do a short-lived or one shot cartoon about "Monster Babies"?