“Igor” is Sure to Tickle Your Funny Bone!

Hello movie fans!

If you follow my posts regularly, you know I usually post on Fridays. Well, I had a long week this week, so sorry this post is a day late. No matter, because this week’s movie is a definite relic from my childhood that I’m so happy to share with you! Today I’ll be talking about the movie Igor, which tells the story of a hunchback worker for an evil scientist by the name of Igor who wants to become an evil scientist himself. Full of comedy and memorable characters, this movie is perfect for anyone who wants a good laugh instead of a terrible fright this Halloween.

While Igor’s CGI animation is about average, it’s character design is a bit above that. The use of exaggerated features, like Eva’s large body and one dainty arm, or the huge shoulder pads on all of Dr. Schaudenfreud’s outfits, add to the cartoonish and comedic elements of the film. Another part that adds to this movie’s comedic element is the music. With a strange choice of Frank Sinatra songs and other swing singers, the music doesn’t set much of an intense mood, but rather one of enjoyment. Of course, the score does its job to provide background music that sets the mood for the scenes that aren’t so happy, but the swing music is much more prominent.

The main protagonists of Igor are fun characters that are easily memorable.

First is Igor, the henchman to the evil scientist Dr. Glickenstein. Igor was raised to be such a servant, but his real motivation is to be an evil scientist and make his own creations. His wish to become a great evil scientist leads him to have to deceive his greatest creation yet- a Frankenstein’s monster-esque woman named Eva. 

When she was created, she didn’t become evil; she was in fact too nice to hurt a fly. When an attempt to brainwash her into being an evil monster instead turns her into an aspiring actress (who still cannot carry out any evil acts), Igor thinks up a plan to trick her into entering the Evil Science Fair and winning first place. Igor is helped by two of his earlier creations, Scamper and Brain. 

Scamper is an immortal, talking rabbit who is the master of sarcastic, suicidal humor. Brain is just that- a brain in a jar with a robot body. These characters balance each other out nicely, and fit perfectly into the inventive and funny world of Igor. 

One aspect that I feel is rather well done this movie is worldbuilding. In movies that take place in a fantasy world, like the country of Malaria Igor is set in, building a world that is fantastical enough to work the viewer’s imagination yet realistic enough to not seem flat-out silly is crucial. I think Igor pulls this off well. Once a poor, farming-based nation, Malaria faced a major environmental occurrence: the once sunny countryside was now fully enveloped by a menacing cloud cover. Now that they could not farm, the future looked grim for the country, until King Malbert came up with a plan that would put Malaria’s economy back on track. King Malbert told the people that creating evil inventions would be the only way to succeed, and by threatening to unleash the inventions on the planet and getting countries to pay them not to, Malaria would once again by prosperous. From this economic plan that came down to blackmailing the countries of the world with total destruction rose the power of evil scientists, who worked hard to invent monstrous creations and show them off at the annual Evil Science Fair. The winners of the Evil Science Fair prosper in fame and fortune. This is world of Igor, and with its incredibly creative nature, it holds a lot of promise, as does its plot. 

The plot of Igor is rather promising and makes for an interesting twist on the classic story of Frankenstein. Igor is the hunchback worker of Dr. Glickenstein, and he wishes for nothing more than to be an evil scientist himself. When Dr. Glickenstein dies at the hand of his own invention, Igor plans to take his place at the Evil Science Fair, which is only a week away, and unveil his first successful creation. Igor plans to create life: a monster that could level cities and win him first place at the Fair. However, there are many hurdles Igor has to overcome. First, there is the fact that the monster Igor creates isn’t evil at all, and when he attempts to brainwash her into being evil, she accidentally gets brainwashed into becoming an actress instead. He still plans to compete in the science fair, and he does this by telling her that it is an audition for the musical Annie. 

Then there’s Dr. Schadenfreud, a sham scientist who always manages to win first place at the Evil Science Fair by stealing the best invention for himself. This year, he has it out for Igor’s monster. Dr. Schadenfreud also desperately wants to gain enough power to take the throne from King Malbert and become the ruler of Malaria. 

There is also King Malbert himself, who created the cloud cover that ruined the farming economy of Malaria. Since then, King Malbert has been using the blackmailing scheme he came up with to get rich off of the people’s work. When Igor learns this, he makes it his duty to put an end to King Malbert’s reign. 

While the original story that Igor sets up- a henchman nobody who wants to become a somebody, whose invention has a personality that contradicts the original point of its creation- is very unique and promising, it becomes hidden amongst the various other subplots. Dr. Schadenfreud’s desire to become king seems unnecessary when you realize that it distracts from the main plot, and it would’ve been much simpler to have him work to maintain the power that comes with constantly winning the Evil Science Fair. The same with the big reveal that King Malbert created the clouds and has been lying to the people of Malaria: it draws attention away from the main story about Igor and Eva and should’ve been left out entirely. Creative but too overcomplicated surely describes Igor’s storyline. 

It may have seemed lost a bit in the midst of the havoc of Igor’s plot, but there is a main point to this movie. It’s the idea that morality is more important than popularity- that “being a good nobody is better than being an evil somebody.” These words are spoken by Eva when she has a heart to heart conversation with Igor, and they are repeated by Igor when he realizes that being the best evil scientist wasn’t worth manipulating Eva into participating in the Evil Science Fair. In a world where leaders and other important people are corrupt, it’s important to send the message that even with all that power, it is more rewarding to be a good person. Igor sends a great message, and with humor that is entertaining to both parent and child, it is a fine choice for a Halloween adventure.