ENCOUNTERS IN THE THIRD DIMENSION

CASSANDRA PETERSON - "ELVIRA"
HARRY SHEARER - "NARRATOR"
ANDREA THOMPSON - "RUTH IN THE BOOTH
STUART PANKIN
- "THE PROFESSOR"
- "M.A.X."

"Encounter in the Third Dimension" is a combined Belgium and USA production and is a 3-D film directed by Ben Stassen and Sean McLeod Phillips. It was released in the USA on 31 March 1999.It has been shown in 3-D theaters and released on DVD with 3-D glasses, in both 2-D and 3-D format. From Wikipedia: In his laboratory, the Professor (Stuart Pankin) does an introduction for the Institute of 3-D Technology, but the introduction dies, so the Professor uses the Letter Cannon for the title of the movie. However, it spells the word "third" as "thrid", so the Professor activates the spell correction, resulting in the laboratory's screen being destroyed and several fires being started, which are put out by the Professor's robot assistant, "M.A.X." (Stuart Pankin). The Professor has a new system called Real O Vision for 3-D technology, and to demonstrate has "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" (Cassandra Peterson) perform a haunted house song, but the machine still has some bugs in it and traps "Elvira" between the second and third dimensions. While "The Professor" tries to fix the problem, he has "M.A.X." entertain the audience. When "M.A.X." starts telling jokes, "The Professor" tells him to explain the difference between 2-D and 3-D, which he does, explaining that 3-D has depth to it unlike 2-D. After pictures from the stereographic archives are shown, "The Professor" tries his demonstration again, but this time the machines turn "Elvira" into cardboard. As he tries to fix this problem, he tells the audience about 3-D movies, and several clips are shown, particularly clips where objects or people are thrown at the camera. Afterward "The Professor" opens up the diorama of 3-D videos, such as "Dino Island", "T-2 3-D" and the "Abandoned Mine". "M.A.X." grabs a stick of dynamite, and puts it in his head when "The Professor" tells him to throw it away, and it explodes, briefly popping his eyes out. When he tells "The Professor" it was only a simulation, "The Professor" retaliates by making him enter the simulator, which does a simulation of traveling to the center of the Earth. "M.A.X." explains how 3-D movies are made, and enters the television, but soon becomes trapped inside it by "The Professor", who is tired of being annoyed by "M.A.X.", and mutes the television. Then he begins the demonstration with "Elvira" and the haunted house, which works perfectly. After it is over, however, "Elvira" turns "The Professor" into cardboard and shuts off the television with "M.A.X." still inside. She tells "Ruth in the Booth" (Andrea Thompson) that she will let him out in an hour, but when the machine seems to malfunction she says "Or not." STUART PANKIN From IMDB: Stuart Pankin was born on 8 April 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A familiar face on both the big and small screen, comic character actor Stuart Pankin is a five time nominated, CableAce Award winner for HBO's award-winning series "Not Necessarily The News". He is well known for providing the voice of Earl Sinclair, the blustery father, on the Emmy award-winning "Dinosaurs". (He sang on, and composed two songs for, the Disney album "Dinosaurs: The Big Songs", and performed Earl on the "Dinosaurs: Classic Tales" tape release.) Best-known film (member: AMPAS) credits include "Honey We Shrunk Ourselves" (the first live action made for-video feature), "Fatal Attraction", "The Artist", "The Hollywood Knights", "Mannequin on the Move", "The Dirt Bike Kid", "Second Sight", "Encounter in the Third Dimension" and "Misadventures in 3-D" (IMAX 3-D movies) as the live Professor, and voice of the adorable animated robot. A series regular on nine prime time television productions and pilots, he has guest-starred on over 300 television shows. He has also provided many cartoon voices for the popular series "Animaniacs", "Batman", "Superman", "Aladdin", "Lilo and Stitch" and "Darkwing Duck". On stage, Pankin has performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music Repertory Company, the American Place Theatre, the Repertory Company of Lincoln Center, and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, with "The Winter's Tale", "The Inspector General", "Bartholomew Fair" and "The Three Sisters", among his favorites. He created the roles of Reuben and Queen Victoria in the New York premiere of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". He starred in over seventy Off Broadway, summer, and regional theatre productions. Pankin starred in, co-wrote and co-executive produced the Stuart Pankin Cinemax Comedy Experiment ("Hump!" the musical comedy version of "Richard III"), in which he played five roles, and sang his own original music. The Electronic Retail Association nominated him for Best Celebrity Presenter. CASSANDRA PETERSON From IMDB: Cassandra Peterson was born on 17 September 1951 in Manhattan, Kansas, USA; and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. She worked in several Italian films, including Federico Fellini's Roma (1972) and performed throughout Europe as lead singer of an Italian rock band. Upon returning to the USA, she toured the country as star of her own musical-comedy show, "Mama's Boys". She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four and a half years with Los Angeles' foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the role of horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, "Elvira's Movie Macabre" (1981), and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation. Cassandra has used Elvira's celebrity status to bring attention to many worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her well-known work for animal welfare and raising money and awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and performing in both the local Los Angeles and nationally syndicated television versions of "Movie Macabre", she co-wrote, produced and starred in two feature films, "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" (1988) and "Elvira's Haunted Hills" (2001). In 2010, she returned to syndicated television in a reboot of her original series, "Elvira's Movie Macabre" (2010). She returned in 2014 in a similar show format for Hulu's "13 Nights of Elvira". Her latest endeavors include producing, writing and starring in Elvira's 40th Anniversary, "Very Scary, Very Special, Special" - a 2021 four-hour special streaming on Shudder, and "Dr. Elvira", a Halloween promotional mini-series for Netflix. Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the "Elvira" brand that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre. Portrait of "Elvira" by Dave Dunlap. Portrait of Elvira by Bradley Beard. For more information on "Elvira" use the below link: HARRY SHEARER From IMDB: Harry Julius Shearer was born on 23 December 1943 in Los Angeles, California, USA. His movie debut was with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" (1953), followed by "The Robe" (1953). Probably best known for his "Saturday Night Live" (1975) gigs, his National Public Radio satire program "Le Show" and "The Simpsons" (1989), where he plays 21 characters. His best film may be "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984), where he played bass player Derek Smalls. There was also an episode on "The Simpsons" (1989) where he reprised this role. His film work includes "Godzilla" (1998), in which "Simpsons" cast members Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright also appeared. Shearer has also directed a film, "Teddy Bears' Picnic" (2001), in which he also stars. Andrea Thompson From Rotten Tomatoes: Rebecca Andrea Thompson on 6 January 1960 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. A successful modeling career led Andrea Thompson to the study of acting. Although she made her feature debut as a hooker in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" (1987) and has a handful of other movies to her credit, most of this blonde's work has been for the small screen. Thompson played the vixen Genele Erickson on CBS's "Falcon Crest" for the 1989-1990 season, earning a Soap Opera Digest Award for her performance. From 1994 to 1995, she portrayed the telepathic Talia Winters on the syndicated "Babylon 5" before moving on to her recurring role as Commander Krennick on NBC's "Jag". Thompson then joined the cast of "NYPD Blue" during the 1996-1997 season in the recurring role of Detective Jill Kirkendall, a part which became regular the following season. She has also employed her distinct and unusual vocal talents in a successful voice-over career. Below is a promo for the movie: "Encounter in Third Dimension" - promo from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Encounter in the Third Dimension"	Wikipedia "Encounter in the Third Dimension"	Internet Movie Data Base "Cassandra Peterson"
Internet Movie Data Base "Stuart Pankin"	Internet Movie Data Base "Harry Shearer"	Internet Movie Data Base "Andrea Thompson"

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