See “The Munsters” Opening Credits in Color!
When asked my opinion on the colorization process, when they take old movies and add color to them, I will often say that they should not tamper with the original. That being said, I not so secretly loved to see colorized versions of things filmed in Black & White. It all started when I was a kid and colorized versions of classic films started to creep onto TV as special “Television Events”. Sometimes, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz stepping into a Technicolor dreamland, I “oohed and “aahed” at this jump in entertainment technology. Most of the time I cringed as poor choices were made that made it difficult to sustain my suspension of disbelief.
Nowadays colorization seems to be relegated to the novelty bin, which is probably for the best, although with the advancements in technology you would think more of it would be happening.
While I do not seek it out, when I see something release, I will approach it with the same hopeful curiosity I had as a kid. Most of the time I am disappointed, but occasionally, like with this amazing redo of “The Munsters” intro in color, I am impressed. The color choices are subtle and well-thought-out and researched and to make it more impressive, the work was all done by one person.
This one was done by Pop Colorture, who gives a detailed breakdown of their process and reasoning on their blog post, Bringing the Munsters Back from the Grave. It is amazing how much thought and work is needed for even the shortest bits of film and I am glad there are people who are motivated in this world to keep attempting to breath new life into retro material.
I am not sure if this is how I would like to watch all of my future episodes of “The Munsters”, but I have to admit, it opened my eyes to the potential. The gloominess of the Munsters is replaced by a horror palette that is not overwhelming but adds a moodiness that sits somewhere between Hammer Horror and the cartoons of my youth, which is a pretty amazing spot to be in.
