MovieChat Forums > Forbidden Planet (1958) Discussion > Sorry, but the Id Monster: No. Just No.

Sorry, but the Id Monster: No. Just No.

posted 10 years ago by bastasch8647
43 replies | jump to latest

I can understand the producers wanting to break new ground and get away from puppet creatures and stop-motion, but that Disney-derived cartoon monster just doesn't have any gravitas. I saw it in a theater in a limited run/re-release (along with The Time Machine) in maybe 1975. The creature didn't convince even on the big screen - nor does it work in the HD version. A cartoon is a cartoon, and after the massive creepy build-up to the great revelation, we get a sort of cross between Warner Studio's Tasmanian Devil and the Bald Mountain monster in Fantasia. It was a big disappointment in an otherwise very fine film. Botching the central villainous character/central special effect really brings this film way, way down.

Related issue: the Id Monster seems to be huge when we see it illuminated by the perimter beams. Yet before this scene, it is able, invisibly, to get aboard the ship and murder the chief technician. And when it first visits the ship, the camera runs up the stairs to indicate its stealthy entrance. But in its major, lethal, visit, the camera shows the steps bending under its weight.

So are we to gather that at first the monster was smaller and lighter and only gained hugeness as Morbius' unconscious jealousy over his daughter's attraction to Nielsen... or what?

[–] grizzledgeezer 8 years ago

Doesn't the monster have Morbius's necktie?

[–] bwiggins-1 8 years ago

Sorry, OP. Criticizing Forbidden Planet's FX is like criticizing the clock speed of 1956 computers or the image clarity of 1956 TV picture tubes. It's called temporal chauvinism -- using the standards of the present to criticize the past.

The only rational critique of Forbidden Planet is to judge it against the science fiction films of its own time, and those that preceded it.

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 7 years ago

"temporal chauvinism"

Fucking thank you!!! I've been wondering for such a long time if a specific word/term existed for it.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 6 years ago

Yes, that’s a great, and useful, phrase. The monster was created by a process called rotoscoping, where the artist literally paints on the frames of the film. It’s a very painstaking procedure. It should be respected, not sneered at.

[–] strntz (12773) 6 years ago

bwiggins-1 may not even be around anymore to appreciate your comments, but I agree.

I first saw Forbidden Planet as a kid on TV, and that monster was and remains great - even when judged by temporal chauvinist's standards.

[–] brux (14840) 5 years ago

Well said.

[–] sbirdconliff 8 years ago

Scared the bejesus out of me in 1956! Course I was only 7. But I still think it is a great monster!

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I've always thought the depiction of the monster was rather inventive.

[–] MIchiganJFrogg (-35) 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I always liked that monster, its design was original and the presentation was way cool!

I used to have a tshirt with the Id Monster on it, I got it at a local con back in the day.

[–] Xcalat3 (3754) 5 years ago

I think it had its charm, yeah it looked ridiculous but still.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15110) 5 years ago

You need to look at this from an 1956 perspective. We all know it looks like a fake cartoon nowadays, and would never fly with any audience beyond 1965, but this truly was ground-breaking back then. Not to mention that weird "stalking" sound the creature made is actually kinda spooky, even today, and adds to the tension the soldiers guarding the spaceship felt that night.

Imagine how frightening that monster would have been with today's technology.

I was actually able to figure out how it was built just from looking at it (both as a kid, and later viewings). It appeared to have a teardrop-shaped body, with a monstrous, lion-like head and mane, with sharp teeth and tusks, and two leg/arms with huge, elephantine feet with what appears to be gigantic claws. Based on how it squished the stairs when it snuck onto the spaceship, that thing was pretty danged heavy! My best estimate as to its height would have probably been somewhere between 10-15 feet tall, but I'm only guessing there. I'd have to watch it again.

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 5 years ago

I loved it. I thought it was quite impressive. The creature can obviously alter its shape to fit into wherever it is trying to go.