Forbidden Zone
Encyclopedia
Forbidden Zone is a 1982 musical
comedy film
based upon the stage performances of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
. The film stars Hervé Villechaize
, Susan Tyrrell
and members of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, and features appearances by Warhol Superstar
Viva
, Joe Spinell
and The Kipper Kids
. Originally shot on black-and-white film, the story of Forbidden Zone involves an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family. Directed by Richard Elfman
, who co-wrote the film with fellow Mystic Knights member Matthew Bright
, it was the first film scored by his brother Danny Elfman
. The film was completed in twenty one days over a period of ten months with minimum production costs and Villechaize being the only actor paid for the film.
Forbidden Zone was made as an attempt to capture the essence of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo's live performances on film, and also as a means for both Richard Elfman to retire from music to work on film projects, and to serve as a transition between Oingo Boingo's former cabaret style and a New Wave
-based style. Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, the film was screened as a midnight movie, received positive notice, and developed a cult following
. In 2004, the film was digitally restored, and in 2008, the film was colorized
.
), who tells them that while being violently beaten by his mother, he had a vision of his "sister" (actually his flamboyantly transgendered brother), René (Bright), who had fallen into the Sixth Dimension through the door in the Hercules' basement. Frenchy returns home to confide in her mother, and decides to take just a "little peek" behind the forbidden door in the basement. After arriving in the Sixth Dimension, she is captured by the perpetually topless Princess, who brings Frenchy to the rulers of the Sixth Dimension, the midget King Fausto (Hervé Villechaize
) and his queen, Doris (Susan Tyrrell
). When the king falls for Frenchy, Queen Doris orders their frog servant, Bust Rod, to lock her up. In order to make sure that Frenchy is not harmed, King Fausto tells Bust Rod to take Frenchy to Cell 63, where the King keeps his favorite concubines (as well as René). The next day at school, Flash tries to convince Squeezit to help him rescue René and Frenchy. When Squeezit refuses, Flash enlists the help of Gramps instead. In the Sixth Dimension, they speak to an old Jewish man who tells them how to help Frenchy escape, but they soon are captured by Bust Rod. Queen Doris interrogates Flash and Gramps and then lowers them into a large septic tank. She then plots her revenge against Frenchy, relocating all the denizens of cell 63 to a torture chamber. She leaves the Princess to oversee Frenchy's torture and execution, but when a fuse is blown, the torture is put on hold and the prisoners from cell 63 are relocated to keep the King from finding them.
After escaping the septic tank, Flash and Gramps come across a woman who tells them that she was once happily married to the king, until Doris stole the throne by seducing her, "even though she's not my type". The ex-queen has been sitting in her cell for 1,000 years, and has been writing a screenplay in order to keep her sanity. Meanwhile, Pa Hercules is blasted through the stratosphere by an explosion caused by improperly extinguishing his cigarette in a vat of highly flammable tar during his work break at the La Brea Tar Pit
Factory. After re-entry, Pa falls through the Hercules family basement and into the Sixth Dimension, where he is imprisoned. Finding a phone, Flash calls Squeezit and again asks for his help. Finally, Squeezit agrees to go into the Sixth Dimension to help rescue Frenchy and René. There, he is captured by Satan
(Danny Elfman
), with whom he makes a deal to bring him the Princess in exchange for Satan's help freeing René and Frenchy. After Squeezit accomplishes this task, Satan tells him not to worry about his friends before having him decapitated. Queen Doris sends Bust Rod to keep an eye on the King, and to ensure he doesn't find out where she's hidden Frenchy. King Fausto catches Bust Rod, and forces him to lead him to Frenchy and René, whom he orders to leave the sixth dimension to avoid the Queen's wrath. However, en route to safety, René is stricken with pseudo-menstrual cramps, and they are again captured by the frog. Squeezit's head, which has now sprouted chicken wings, finds the king, and informs him of what has happened. While preparing to kill Frenchy, Doris is confronted by the ex-queen, and the two engage in a cat-fight, with Doris eventually coming out as the victor. Just as she is about to kill Frenchy, King Fausto stops her, explaining that Satan's Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo are holding the Princess hostage, and will kill her should anything befall Frenchy. Flash and Gramps arrive, and Flash is knocked down by Gramps. Ma Hercules enters and, seeing a seemingly dead Flash, shoots Queen Doris. King Fausto mourns Doris, then marries Frenchy. The surviving characters look toward a great future as they plan to take over everyone and everything in the Galaxy.
, and had become "sick of lugging around so much stuff with the theatre troupe. Towards the end", Elfman remembers, "it was a big production... there was, like a semi
full of stuff. And that was becoming burdensome. So, for me, the idea of being a band that can fit all their gear into a van and set up in a club, and an hour later be playing, became a goal." Production on Forbidden Zone began during a transitional period when the group was moving from its cabaret style towards a more pop/rock format; by the time the film was completed, the band had shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.
The film was originally conceived as The Hercules Family, a 16mm
musical that consisted of twelve musical numbers and a story loosely constructed around them. But as the project grew to 35mm
and the storyline evolved, Richard Elfman found himself re-shooting many of the original scenes to fit the new film. Two sequences from the original 16mm footage were featured on the 2004 DVD release: one of Danny Elfman, as Satan, performing "Minnie the Moocher
" (later reshot with visual elements borrowed from the original 16mm sequence and alternate lyrics), and another of Marie-Pascale Elfman, singing "Johnny". The sequence with Elfman as Satan, and members of the Oingo Boingo as his minions, came from live shows, in which the band would perform Cab Calloway
tunes like "St. James Infirmary Blues
" in the same costumes.
Marie-Pascale Elfman, at the time of shooting, was married to director Richard Elfman. She designed the film's expressionistic
sets and starred in the film. Actor and former Mystic Knight Gene Cunningham helped fund the film. When Cunningham and Elfman ran out of money during production, Richard and Marie-Pascale Elfman helped finance the movie by selling houses, before Carl Borack put money into the production in order for Elfman to complete the film. According to Elfman, he had originally intended the film to be screened in color, stating that the original plan was to ship the film to China, where each frame would be hand-tinted
, but that this plan was not practical within the production costs.
was a former roommate of co-writer and co-star Matthew Bright
, and was the only actor with a paid salary. Villechaize had previously dated co-star Susan Tyrrell
, but the two had already broken up by the time production on the film began. According to Richard Elfman, Tyrrell and Villechaize fought periodically throughout the production of the film. The Elfmans' grandfather, Herman Bernstein, also appeared in the film, and Richard Elfman's accountant appeared under the name "Hyman Diamond" because Elfman had no idea whether or not he wanted to be credited. Others who worked on the film include The Kipper Kids
(Brian Routh
and Martin von Haselberg), Joe Spinell
and former Warhol superstar
Viva
.
, and Tiptoes
. Bright and director Richard Elfman's only dispute during the screenwriting process was over a scene in which his character, Squeezit, was originally to have been beaten up for eight minutes and having the walls wiped with his blood. Another scene cut from the script would have had Squeezit being castrated. According to Bright, "I didn't have any sense of limits or balance then, at the time, I...you know, I was just, didn't know what I was doing. I needed reining in." During filming, Bright was sitting on the set in costume when a lighting stand fell onto his head, cracking his skull, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. When Bright came back to work the next day, he had a mild concussion and whiplash
, but he continued with filming.
and jazz
music and Max Fleischer
cartoons of the 1930s (such as Betty Boop
). Some of the film's cast was made up of non-professionals cast off the street. In one scene, Richard Elfman brought in a young man to mouth the words of "Bim Bam Boom," but when he was put in front of the camera, he stood there as the scene was shot. Elfman left the scene in the film by editing in Matthew Bright's lips over the actor's face. Another scene featured homeless men.
. Because of the film's low budget, Muto created all of the film's animation sequences himself. Muto made frequent use of airbrush techniques to establish for himself a distinctive style. For sequences in which live-action and animation were combined, the actors were photographed in tight head-on and profile shots, and the photos were cut out and pasted into the animation in a style recalling Terry Gilliam
's work on Monty Python's Flying Circus
. Muto also credits The Fleischer Brothers
as another inspiration.
, The Nightmare Before Christmas
, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
. The song Witch's Egg was written by Georg Michalski and Susan Tyrrell. In some scenes, characters lip synch to old records, including recordings by Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker
and others. The alphabet
song performed in a classroom scene was inspired by the "Swinging the Alphabet
" song from The Three Stooges short Violent Is the Word for Curly
. For the "Yiddishe Charleston" scene, Richard Elfman had shot the sequence with him lip-syncing to an old recording of the song, but was later unable to acquire the rights to the recording, and had to record a new version of the song while attempting to sync the new recording with the footage.
(because of its satirically surreal use of blackface
), and even anti-Semitism
. According to Elfman, "I was attacked on every level. [...] We were kicked out of theaters; there were arson threats." However, the film has since been rediscovered, and has gained new life as a cult film. The film's soundtrack has also become popular, and its theme song was eventually reused by Danny Elfman, who rearranged it as The Dilbert Zone for use as the theme for the television series Dilbert
. The film was released on VHS in the late 1980s and on DVD by Fantoma in 2004 for Region 1
viewers, and in 2006 for Region 2 by Arrow Film Distributors Ltd.
In 2008, the film was colorized
by Legend Films
. This version of the film is being sold as a download and on DVD from RiffTrax
.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
based upon the stage performances of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
. The film stars Hervé Villechaize
Hervé Villechaize
Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor who achieved worldwide recognition for his role as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, in the television series Fantasy Island...
, Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...
and members of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, and features appearances by Warhol Superstar
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life...
Viva
Viva (Warhol superstar)
Viva is an American actress, writer and a former Warhol superstar.-Career:She was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in Syracuse, New York. She was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film but later used her married last name . She appeared in several of Warhol's films...
, Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell was an American character actor, who appeared in numerous films in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
and The Kipper Kids
The Kipper Kids
The Kipper Kids are contemporary artists who live and work in New York, USA, and Scarborough, United Kingdom.-Biography:Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh are a performance duo...
. Originally shot on black-and-white film, the story of Forbidden Zone involves an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family. Directed by Richard Elfman
Richard Elfman
Richard "Rick" Elfman, , is an American film actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and magazine publisher.-Family:...
, who co-wrote the film with fellow Mystic Knights member Matthew Bright
Matthew Bright
Matthew Bright is an American film director, writer and actor.His first noted credits were as writer and actor in the 1982 film Forbidden Zone, portraying the twins Squeezit and René Henderson...
, it was the first film scored by his brother Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
. The film was completed in twenty one days over a period of ten months with minimum production costs and Villechaize being the only actor paid for the film.
Forbidden Zone was made as an attempt to capture the essence of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo's live performances on film, and also as a means for both Richard Elfman to retire from music to work on film projects, and to serve as a transition between Oingo Boingo's former cabaret style and a New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
-based style. Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, the film was screened as a midnight movie, received positive notice, and developed a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. In 2004, the film was digitally restored, and in 2008, the film was colorized
Film colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
.
Synopsis
The film begins on "Friday, April 17" at 4 pm in Venice, California. Huckleberry P. Jones (Gene Cunningham), local pimp, narcotics peddler, and slumlord, enters a vacant house that he owns. While stashing heroin in the basement, he stumbles upon a mysterious door, and enters it, falling into the Sixth Dimension, from which he promptly escapes. After retrieving the heroin, he sells the house to the Hercules family. On their way to school, Frenchy Hercules (Marie-Pascale Elfman) and her brother Flash (Phil Gordon) have a conversation with Squeezit Henderson (Matthew BrightMatthew Bright
Matthew Bright is an American film director, writer and actor.His first noted credits were as writer and actor in the 1982 film Forbidden Zone, portraying the twins Squeezit and René Henderson...
), who tells them that while being violently beaten by his mother, he had a vision of his "sister" (actually his flamboyantly transgendered brother), René (Bright), who had fallen into the Sixth Dimension through the door in the Hercules' basement. Frenchy returns home to confide in her mother, and decides to take just a "little peek" behind the forbidden door in the basement. After arriving in the Sixth Dimension, she is captured by the perpetually topless Princess, who brings Frenchy to the rulers of the Sixth Dimension, the midget King Fausto (Hervé Villechaize
Hervé Villechaize
Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor who achieved worldwide recognition for his role as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, in the television series Fantasy Island...
) and his queen, Doris (Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...
). When the king falls for Frenchy, Queen Doris orders their frog servant, Bust Rod, to lock her up. In order to make sure that Frenchy is not harmed, King Fausto tells Bust Rod to take Frenchy to Cell 63, where the King keeps his favorite concubines (as well as René). The next day at school, Flash tries to convince Squeezit to help him rescue René and Frenchy. When Squeezit refuses, Flash enlists the help of Gramps instead. In the Sixth Dimension, they speak to an old Jewish man who tells them how to help Frenchy escape, but they soon are captured by Bust Rod. Queen Doris interrogates Flash and Gramps and then lowers them into a large septic tank. She then plots her revenge against Frenchy, relocating all the denizens of cell 63 to a torture chamber. She leaves the Princess to oversee Frenchy's torture and execution, but when a fuse is blown, the torture is put on hold and the prisoners from cell 63 are relocated to keep the King from finding them.
After escaping the septic tank, Flash and Gramps come across a woman who tells them that she was once happily married to the king, until Doris stole the throne by seducing her, "even though she's not my type". The ex-queen has been sitting in her cell for 1,000 years, and has been writing a screenplay in order to keep her sanity. Meanwhile, Pa Hercules is blasted through the stratosphere by an explosion caused by improperly extinguishing his cigarette in a vat of highly flammable tar during his work break at the La Brea Tar Pit
La Brea Tar Pits
The La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed, in the urban heart of Los Angeles. Asphaltum or tar has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with water...
Factory. After re-entry, Pa falls through the Hercules family basement and into the Sixth Dimension, where he is imprisoned. Finding a phone, Flash calls Squeezit and again asks for his help. Finally, Squeezit agrees to go into the Sixth Dimension to help rescue Frenchy and René. There, he is captured by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
(Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
), with whom he makes a deal to bring him the Princess in exchange for Satan's help freeing René and Frenchy. After Squeezit accomplishes this task, Satan tells him not to worry about his friends before having him decapitated. Queen Doris sends Bust Rod to keep an eye on the King, and to ensure he doesn't find out where she's hidden Frenchy. King Fausto catches Bust Rod, and forces him to lead him to Frenchy and René, whom he orders to leave the sixth dimension to avoid the Queen's wrath. However, en route to safety, René is stricken with pseudo-menstrual cramps, and they are again captured by the frog. Squeezit's head, which has now sprouted chicken wings, finds the king, and informs him of what has happened. While preparing to kill Frenchy, Doris is confronted by the ex-queen, and the two engage in a cat-fight, with Doris eventually coming out as the victor. Just as she is about to kill Frenchy, King Fausto stops her, explaining that Satan's Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo are holding the Princess hostage, and will kill her should anything befall Frenchy. Flash and Gramps arrive, and Flash is knocked down by Gramps. Ma Hercules enters and, seeing a seemingly dead Flash, shoots Queen Doris. King Fausto mourns Doris, then marries Frenchy. The surviving characters look toward a great future as they plan to take over everyone and everything in the Galaxy.
Production and development history
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were formed in late 1972 by Richard Elfman, as a musical theatre troupe. As Richard's interest shifted to filmmaking, he passed leadership of the band to younger brother Danny Elfman, who had begun to lose interest in musical theatre, and had gained interest in other musical styles such as skaSka
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, and had become "sick of lugging around so much stuff with the theatre troupe. Towards the end", Elfman remembers, "it was a big production... there was, like a semi
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
full of stuff. And that was becoming burdensome. So, for me, the idea of being a band that can fit all their gear into a van and set up in a club, and an hour later be playing, became a goal." Production on Forbidden Zone began during a transitional period when the group was moving from its cabaret style towards a more pop/rock format; by the time the film was completed, the band had shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.
The film was originally conceived as The Hercules Family, a 16mm
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
musical that consisted of twelve musical numbers and a story loosely constructed around them. But as the project grew to 35mm
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
and the storyline evolved, Richard Elfman found himself re-shooting many of the original scenes to fit the new film. Two sequences from the original 16mm footage were featured on the 2004 DVD release: one of Danny Elfman, as Satan, performing "Minnie the Moocher
Minnie the Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics . In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a...
" (later reshot with visual elements borrowed from the original 16mm sequence and alternate lyrics), and another of Marie-Pascale Elfman, singing "Johnny". The sequence with Elfman as Satan, and members of the Oingo Boingo as his minions, came from live shows, in which the band would perform Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
tunes like "St. James Infirmary Blues
St. James Infirmary Blues
"St. James Infirmary Blues" is based on an 18th century traditional English folk song of anonymous origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose . Louis Armstrong made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.-Authorship and history:"St...
" in the same costumes.
Marie-Pascale Elfman, at the time of shooting, was married to director Richard Elfman. She designed the film's expressionistic
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
sets and starred in the film. Actor and former Mystic Knight Gene Cunningham helped fund the film. When Cunningham and Elfman ran out of money during production, Richard and Marie-Pascale Elfman helped finance the movie by selling houses, before Carl Borack put money into the production in order for Elfman to complete the film. According to Elfman, he had originally intended the film to be screened in color, stating that the original plan was to ship the film to China, where each frame would be hand-tinted
Hand-colouring
Hand-colouring refers to any method of manually adding colour to a black-and-white photograph, generally either to heighten the realism of the photograph or for artistic purposes...
, but that this plan was not practical within the production costs.
Casting
Actor Hervé VillechaizeHervé Villechaize
Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor who achieved worldwide recognition for his role as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, in the television series Fantasy Island...
was a former roommate of co-writer and co-star Matthew Bright
Matthew Bright
Matthew Bright is an American film director, writer and actor.His first noted credits were as writer and actor in the 1982 film Forbidden Zone, portraying the twins Squeezit and René Henderson...
, and was the only actor with a paid salary. Villechaize had previously dated co-star Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...
, but the two had already broken up by the time production on the film began. According to Richard Elfman, Tyrrell and Villechaize fought periodically throughout the production of the film. The Elfmans' grandfather, Herman Bernstein, also appeared in the film, and Richard Elfman's accountant appeared under the name "Hyman Diamond" because Elfman had no idea whether or not he wanted to be credited. Others who worked on the film include The Kipper Kids
The Kipper Kids
The Kipper Kids are contemporary artists who live and work in New York, USA, and Scarborough, United Kingdom.-Biography:Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh are a performance duo...
(Brian Routh
Brian Routh
-Biography:Brian Routh was born March 9, 1948 in Gateshead, County Durham, United Kingdom. He grew up in a working class family with parents that were considered rebellious talkers and story tellers. Brian Routh's, mother's grandfather “James Diston” was a bare knuckle prize fighter who ran a...
and Martin von Haselberg), Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell was an American character actor, who appeared in numerous films in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
and former Warhol superstar
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life...
Viva
Viva (Warhol superstar)
Viva is an American actress, writer and a former Warhol superstar.-Career:She was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in Syracuse, New York. She was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film but later used her married last name . She appeared in several of Warhol's films...
.
Writing
Forbidden Zone featured Matthew Bright's first work on film, and his only work as an actor (under the name "Toshiro Baloney"). A founding member of the Mystic Knights, Bright later became a screenwriter and director in his own right. Bright's credits include Freeway, Ted BundyTed Bundy (film)
Ted Bundy is a 2002 film by American film director and writer Matthew Bright. The film dramatizes the crimes of serial killer Ted Bundy. It stars Michael Reilly Burke in the title role, and Boti Bliss as Bundy's girlfriend, Lee .-Cast:*Michael Reilly Burke as Ted Bundy*Boti Bliss as Lee...
, and Tiptoes
Tiptoes
Tiptoes is a 2003 film starring Kate Beckinsale, Matthew McConaughey, and Gary Oldman. The film was screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.-Plot:...
. Bright and director Richard Elfman's only dispute during the screenwriting process was over a scene in which his character, Squeezit, was originally to have been beaten up for eight minutes and having the walls wiped with his blood. Another scene cut from the script would have had Squeezit being castrated. According to Bright, "I didn't have any sense of limits or balance then, at the time, I...you know, I was just, didn't know what I was doing. I needed reining in." During filming, Bright was sitting on the set in costume when a lighting stand fell onto his head, cracking his skull, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. When Bright came back to work the next day, he had a mild concussion and whiplash
Whiplash (medicine)
Whiplash is a non-medical term describing a range of injuries to the neck caused by or related to a sudden distortion of the neck associated with extension. The term "whiplash" is a colloquialism...
, but he continued with filming.
Directing
Richard Elfman had never gone to film school when production on the film started, and "I didn't know what I was getting into." The production, from its original 16mm roots to its finish, took three years to make. Cast and crew members would sleep on the film's stage, wearing spare gorilla suits to stay warm. Among the film's artistic influences included 1940s big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music and Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios...
cartoons of the 1930s (such as Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
). Some of the film's cast was made up of non-professionals cast off the street. In one scene, Richard Elfman brought in a young man to mouth the words of "Bim Bam Boom," but when he was put in front of the camera, he stood there as the scene was shot. Elfman left the scene in the film by editing in Matthew Bright's lips over the actor's face. Another scene featured homeless men.
Animation
The film's animation was created by then-unknown animator John MutoJohn Muto
John Muto is an animator, production designer and director who created the animation for Richard Elfman's film Forbidden Zone. He would later move on to larger productions.- External links :...
. Because of the film's low budget, Muto created all of the film's animation sequences himself. Muto made frequent use of airbrush techniques to establish for himself a distinctive style. For sequences in which live-action and animation were combined, the actors were photographed in tight head-on and profile shots, and the photos were cut out and pasted into the animation in a style recalling Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's work on Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. Muto also credits The Fleischer Brothers
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
as another inspiration.
Music
Forbidden Zone was the first film scored by Danny Elfman, who would eventually score, among other films, BatmanBatman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...
, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
. The song Witch's Egg was written by Georg Michalski and Susan Tyrrell. In some scenes, characters lip synch to old records, including recordings by Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
and others. The alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
song performed in a classroom scene was inspired by the "Swinging the Alphabet
Swinging the Alphabet
"Swinging the Alphabet" is a novelty song sung by The Three Stooges in their 1938 film, Violent Is the Word for Curly. It is the only full-length song performed by the Stooges in their short films, and the only time they mimed to their own pre-recorded soundtrack.In 2005, film historian Richard...
" song from The Three Stooges short Violent Is the Word for Curly
Violent Is the Word for Curly
Violent Is the Word for Curly is the 32nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
. For the "Yiddishe Charleston" scene, Richard Elfman had shot the sequence with him lip-syncing to an old recording of the song, but was later unable to acquire the rights to the recording, and had to record a new version of the song while attempting to sync the new recording with the footage.
Response
The film was given limited distribution during its initial theatrical release, and not well-received by critics. Some of the film's sequences and characters led to director Richard Elfman being accused of racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
(because of its satirically surreal use of blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
), and even anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. According to Elfman, "I was attacked on every level. [...] We were kicked out of theaters; there were arson threats." However, the film has since been rediscovered, and has gained new life as a cult film. The film's soundtrack has also become popular, and its theme song was eventually reused by Danny Elfman, who rearranged it as The Dilbert Zone for use as the theme for the television series Dilbert
Dilbert (TV series)
Dilbert is an animated television series spin-off of the comic strip of the same name, produced by Adelaide Productions, Idbox, and United Media and distributed by Columbia TriStar Television...
. The film was released on VHS in the late 1980s and on DVD by Fantoma in 2004 for Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
viewers, and in 2006 for Region 2 by Arrow Film Distributors Ltd.
Arrow Films
Arrow Films is a UK distributor of classic, horror, and cult films on Blu-ray and DVD.-Arrow Films:Arrow Films is one of the UK's leading independent distributors of world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films...
In 2008, the film was colorized
Film colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
by Legend Films
Legend Films
Legend Films, a San Diego-based company, was founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the conversion of feature films, both new release and catalog titles, and commercials from their native 2D format into 3-D film format utilizing proprietary technology and software...
. This version of the film is being sold as a download and on DVD from RiffTrax
RiffTrax
RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital...
.