Miramax Conjures an Animated Monster Mash Feature, Reviving Bobby Boris Pickett's Classic

I did not have this on my 2025 bingo card: Miramax is turning Bobby 'Boris' Pickett's 'Monster Mash' into an animated feature. Yes, the novelty Halloween track that takes over every October is now a movie. Honestly, it makes a weird kind of sense.

The project

Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman has optioned the rights to 'Monster Mash' and is developing it as an animated musical for all ages. Glickman, who had a hand in bringing Netflix's 'Wednesday' and the recent 'Addams Family' animated films to life, is partnering with Reservoir Media and the Pickett and Capizzi families on the adaptation.

"For more than 60 years, nothing has said Halloween quite like the 'Monster Mash.' We’re thrilled to be entrusted by the Pickett and Capizzi families and to be partnering with Reservoir Media to bring this iconic song to life as an animated musical for all audiences. It’s a project that celebrates the fun and spirit of the original — and should become a perennial 'graveyard smash' for years to come."

The song's wild backstory

Back in May 1962, singer/songwriter/comedian Bobby 'Boris' Pickett sat down with Leonard Capizzi to whip up a spoof of the dance-craze hits of the day, filtered through Pickett's obsession with classic horror (he spent a lot of time at the theater where his dad was the manager). Two hours later, they had 'Monster Mash.' Producer Gary S. Paxton agreed to release it in the U.S., they recorded the thing in one take, and it became a hit. Six decades on, it's still the default soundtrack of Halloween playlists.

What the song actually gives you to adapt

This is the part that could be fun or a challenge, depending on your tolerance for building a movie out of a verse-and-chorus gag. The lyrics are told in first person by a mad scientist whose monster rises from the slab one night and busts out a brand-new dance. The vibe is very early-60s, with the move riffing on the Mashed Potato. From there, it turns into a monster rager.

• Setting: the scientist's lab in a castle, with a cutaway to a vampire-packed master bedroom.
• The dance: the Monster Mash catches on instantly and becomes "the hit of the land."
• Guest list: Wolfman, Igor, Mummy, Dracula and his son, and vocal group The Crypt-Kicker Five. Zombies are having fun, coffin-bangers are en route, Igor is literally on chains with baying hounds.
• Conflict (such as it is): Dracula pops out of his coffin annoyed, asking "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?" Then he joins the band anyway.
• Button: by the end, the Mash is a sensation for monsters and the living alike. If you show up, tell them Boris sent you.

Why this could work

There's not a lot of plot on the bones, but there's a clear tone: goofy, hooky, monster-party chaos. If you have someone who knows how to world-build around a chorus and sprinkle in fresh songs and jokes, you can absolutely spin this into a 90-minute Halloween staple. And given Glickman's track record shepherding spooky-family fare, the fit is there.

For now, that's the pitch: animated musical, Miramax, with the rights locked and the families involved. If they nail the balance between nostalgia and new gags, it could be, well, a graveyard smash.

Would you watch a 'Monster Mash' movie, or is this better left as a seasonal earworm? I want to hear it.