Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The Love of Monsters Is ... Universal!



In years past I've shared pages from this (carefully generic) Universal Monsters coloring book.  Here are some more unshown pages.

As you can see, the visual approach is, I think, dictated by Universal's legal rights department.  You see, the studio owns the characters of Frankenstein's Monster, Larry Talbot the Wolf Man, and such ...  The studio can use these characters as they wish ...

Except they can't use the monsters the way they looked in the Universal movies!  WHY?  Because the estates of the actors who played the roles -- Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and the rest -- would have to be paid a licensing fee!

I imagine it's a thin line to tread between a recognizable monster and a not-recognizable guy INSIDE the monster.

 
So, the lady shown above May or may NOT be Gwen Conliffe, but she is DEFINITELY NOT Evelyn Ankers!  However, her father MAY run a shop as told in the 1941 original, since there appear to be various commodities strewn about in the background.
 
 
This action tableau is pretty dramatic.  You can see the wolf head on the can held by the guy.  And even though the wolf's shape isn't exactly anatomically accurate -- the neck is too long and bent at a funny angle -- you could argue that this is a werewolf and therefore not exactly your run-of-the-moor wolf.
 
Stay tuned for when happens next to our tragic hero!

2 comments:

  1. Hah! I'd love to sit and color this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aren't we ALL colored people in the end!!?

    ReplyDelete

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