Monsterpalooza 2014: Back to the Bat Cave -or at least Bob's Big Boy!

Karen: Howdy friends. You might have noticed that I've been absent from our comments for a few days. That's because I headed out to Burbank, California once again to enjoy Monsterpalooza! This annual celebration of all things monstrous has become a great escape for me and my pal Larry and this was our third year meeting up at the show. This time we decided to get to Burbank early and we enjoyed spending the morning and afternoon of Friday, March 28th, exploring the area (since the show wouldn't start until 6 pm).

We headed out that morning to Griffith Park, intent on finding Bronson Canyon, the site where many films and TV shows have been shot, perhaps best known to people as the hidden exit of the bat cave on TV's Batman show. Larry and I trekked the short distance up a trail towards the caves, only to have two park ranger trucks pass us by headed in the same direction. We wondered what could be going on. We soon found out. The rangers had yellow tape in hand and were getting set to close off the caves to visitors! We asked what the problem was, and they told us a tractor digging on the other side had come across human remains! Holy crime scene, Batman! We asked if they could please let us snap a few pictures before they taped it off, and they obliged. We were sad that we could not go into the caves, but at least we had a chance to see where the Batmobile would come racing out on its way to Gotham City.

Bat cave prior to crime scene shut-down

Bat cave post Rangers

Robby Reed's Dial B for Blog has a nice article on the Batman TV show and discusses how the Batmobile was filmed exiting the narrow Bronson Canyon cave, if you're interested in learning more.

We went up to the Griffith Observatory and enjoyed a tremendous view of smoggy Los Angeles. Unfortunately the observatory itself wouldn't open for another hour yet, so we headed off to do some shopping. Right in Burbank are two shops that would send any geek into spasms of delight: Creature Features and Halloween Town. Creature Features had an incredible selection of figures, toys, CDs, books -you name it. They were also hosting an Outer Limits art exhibit that had some absolutely stunning sculptures and paintings. Here I am with a friend (courtesy of FX whiz Greg Nicotero):

Halloween Town is owned by Rob Zombie, and there are actually two store just blocks apart. One is a costume shop and the other -the one we went in -has a little bit of everything. There were t-shirts, toys, Halloween decorations, posters, you name it. I wound up buying two t-shirts, a King Kong shirt -I'd been trying to find one - and possibly the coolest t-shirt of all time:

We had lunch at a historic Bob's Big Boy restaurant. It was the oldest family-owned Bob's still around -been there since 1949! The burgers were delicious. I hadn't been to a Bob's Big Boy in more than 20 years, so that was fun. I think they may be just a west coast phenomenon. Anyone know?

So what about the show? As usual, it was a feast for the eyes. There were so many amazing and fantastic things to look at, it's hard to know where to begin. It always feels like half-trade show, half- fan convention. There are plenty of booths with make-up vendors, sculptors and artists plying their trade, and effects houses showing their work. There's quite a few celebrities just walking around too. Friday night we saw actor/director Jon Favreau and his family just taking it all in like everyone else. Friday night was fairly low-key for us this year -we mostly spent it looking around the dealers' room. I did however get an autograph from Haruo Nakajima on my War of the Gargantuas lobby card. Mr. Nakajima not only played Gaira, the green gargantua, but was the original Godzilla, and played him in several films. He also did the duties in other films, like Rodan. He's the godfather of Japanese monster men! So it was an honor to meet him.

Saturday is always the busiest day of the con (like most cons). We sat in on three really fun panels: the first was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Actress Julie Adams was there, along with the underwater Creature, Ricou Browning. Gorilla man and all-around great guy Bob Burns rounded out the group, as they discussed the making of the film, the monster suit, the process that went into the design of the Creature, and a lot more. The second panel I saw featured Garner Holt, whose production company creates animatronic creatures for all sorts of customers, including Disney! His personal story was quite amazing. The final panel of the day once again featured the inimitable Bob Burns and was a video tour through his various Halloween shows that he's done over the years. He was joined by a group of folks, all talented FX professionals, who have worked on the shows. It was hilarious and you can tell how highly everyone thinks of Bob and Kathy.

Bob Burns, Ricou Browning, Julie Adams

Saturday night was a special treat: we got to see the original Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D! It looked fabulous, the 3D effects were solid, and the whole crowd was very into it. Larry and I made sure to bring popcorn, as you can see. The bag was appropriate as well!

Sunday's big highlight was the War of the Gargantuas reunion panel. Mr. Nakajima was joined by Russ Tamblyn for Q&A with the fans. Kenji Sahara, who played a scientist in the film, was feeling under the weather and only came out at the end of the panel for photographs. Tamblyn was hilarious, recounting that he only took the role because it was a chance to go to Japan and he assumed no one would ever see the film. Little did he know it would be shown over and over again in Los Angeles ( I saw it many times on KTLA growing up and it quickly became my favorite Japanese monster film) and many other cities. Tamblyn also said, to the room's delight, that he ad-libbed much of his dialog, such as his character's remarks about the college students who saw the gargantua 'being on acid.' This didn't go over well with American producer Henry Saperstein but there wasn't much to be done about it as they had to get the film done quickly. Nakajima answered questions through an interpreter and so it made things slightly more difficult. He said he based his movements as the gargantua off of wrestlers. He also said that when he would finish a film and he thought he'd done a good job, he'd reward himself with some sake! But overall, playing the monsters was very hard work.

Russ Tamblyn, Haruo Nakajima, Kenji Sahara

Monsterpalooza is one of those shows where you just never know what you're going to see, but you're constantly blown away by the high degree of skill and artistry. I can't possibly show you everything but in the pictures below I hope to give you a taste of what you might experience. It's a wonderful show and the show staff and the Marriott staff are all fantastic. Can't wait for next year!

Face-Off: The Batcave vs. The Fortress of Solitude

Karen: OK, we've discussed team headquarters recently. But I promised we'd get to solo hero HQs. I realized though, that there aren't that many great ones. Sure, Dr. Strange has his sanctum sanctorum, but that's really just his house. The only two hideaways really worth discussing belong to the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader. So weigh in: Batcave or Fortress?

Karen: Let's look at the Batcave first. Of course, it's just packed with coolness. You've got all the gear -cars, planes, boats, the massive computer system. I don't know if Batman still uses a nuclear reactor to power the place, but I always thought that was darned cool. Besides all the practical stuff, he also keeps his trophies here. The most famous of these are probably the giant penny, the (mechanical?) Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the giant Joker playing card. But being such a successful crime-fighter, Bats has a bunch of other nifty stuff too. On top of all this, it's a real cave! There are honest to goodness bats and it's dank...it's kind of spooky, exactly the image the Darknight Detective wants to project.

Doug: If I could be so bold as to butt in for a moment, I wanted to add some artwork. Several years ago I had the true pleasure of meeting Golden Age Batman artist Dick Sprang at the Chicago Comicon (these were the days before Wizard took over the show). He was the most wonderful man, really an engaging personality. He was set up at a vendor's booth, hawking a print that he'd been commissioned to draw. He said that he wasn't allowed to sign autographs except on the print; while thoroughly disappointed, I understood, and wished I'd had enough cash to purchase the art. Anyway, it's right below, and should enlarge to a see-able proportion when you click on it. OK, Karen -- back to you!

Karen: Of course, Superman is no slouch either in the HQ department. His fortress is a pretty amazing place. First off, he used to have this big giant key he kept outside the place. It was like he was daring somebody to break in. Of course, he's about the only person who could lift the thing.

Karen: Nowadays most people probably think of the movie version of the Fortress (which is also the version Smallville uses), with its crystalline structures and stark looks. I think they've adapted this somewhat to the comics as well, although I'm not a follower of Superman. But regardless of the appearance of the Fortress, Superman has been known to keep all sorts of amazing super-scientific gizmos there, some of Kryptonian origin. The Phantom Zone projector and the bottle city of Kandor are also to be found here. Kal-El honors his Kryptonian heritage with statues of his birth parents, Jor-El and Lara. He also had a zoo that was made up of creatures from all across the universe. Supes could kick back and relax as his vast army of Superman robots took care of the place.Karen: Personally, although I dig them both, I have to go with the Batcave. I love all of Batman's toys. But what do you think?