Not many gothic cartoon out there but Hotel Transylvania is a franchise Alexa Wayne fell in love with!

My Obsession

When I first watched Hotel Transylvania, I quickly fell in love with the story even though 3D is not my cup of tea. The characters, the originality and the breath of fresh air the subject brought was fascinating.

Despite my obsession with Vlad The Impaler and Dracula, I was able to look pass that and fall for Mavis and her uncle Frankenstein… then came the series on June 25th, 2017… my jaw dropped.

Not What You Expect

If the fans of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, from Sony Pictures Animation were anticipated a follow up to the movies, they were wrong. Also, if they were expected a faithful prequel to the movies, they were again, wrong.

 

Hotel Transylvania The Series is a 2D animation, awesome for me, “based-on” Hotel Transylvania‘s franchise with characters that we have come to love in the movie franchise and new ones.

Many details are entirely different than the movies and for a good reason. I believe the series wants to be free to introduce certain things they couldn’t because of the movies and it is very well done for the series.

 

A series needs way more freedom than a movie because of its duration. Series are looking for seasons, while animated movies are looking for 90 minutes at the most.

The 2D animation is very well executed and is from Canada, it even won an Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television award. Okay, so that aside, the quality is great and so is the style itself. The look of the cartoon is clean, but has a bit of a sketchy rough line-art in the background that makes it very accessible for everyone.

 

The hotel is true to the movie, despite the colors being more vibrant, but that is expected for a 2D animation series targeting older children and pre-teens. Despite the simplicity of the characters’ drawing, it is very well done and nice to look at, that is to shows less is often more.

Bringing 3D animation to 2D animation is very hard. Because you lose the depth. Instead of the x,y,z (length, width and depth) you have to trick the eye with only x and y (length and width). Also, fans were probably very happy to see that Mavis had the same clothing than she did in the movies and her haircut as well.

The Beloved

Aside from Mavis (Bryn McAuley) and a “once in a blue moon” appearance from her father, Dracula (David Berni) who happens to also be the ruler of the Vampires’ High Council, other beloved characters are shown.

 One of the best quality of the show is keep Dracula away to enjoy the scarce interactions for bigger events. The greatest point of the show is of course, Mavis and her aunt, Lydia.

Dracula is present only when necessary and I believe it to be for the best. He is the main character of the franchise when it comes to the movie, no need for him to be in the cartoon. Which is something rare, but appreciated.

We see the regular Zombies in their hotel uniform moving furniture around and helping the staff while the Witches are still the maids of the hotel and helps with their spells when something goes wrong.

Other regulars are the cook, who I love, Quasimodo and Bigfoot who’s walking around the hotel on one foot, obviously. Frankenstein also makes an appearance once in a while and it’s always a blast when he is dropping by.

Then we have the wolf pups and Winnie (who I LOVE) and she is just as cute in 2D. They have simplified her appearance, making her younger than the first movie of course and it fits her well. She doesn’t speak yet.

Despite Winnie‘s mother being present once in a while, Wayne is not seen and instead, we are introduced to a wolf-man and his wife, a tall wolf-woman blond.

The mariachi trio is often shown, either singing or in the background, they move around the episodes and brings a little music as they do in the movie franchise.

The Newbies

To not have Mavis be lonely like she was in the movies, at 114, she had adorable monster friends who quickly becomes the life of the show with their very distinctive personality.

Frankenstein and his bride, have a son named, Hank N. (Norma) Stein (Gage Munroe). He is a very friendly monster, works for the hotel and is horrified of fire. Hank is always there to help Mavis and his best friend is Pedro.

Pedro (Joseph Motiki) is the mummy friend of Mavis. Despite many thinking he was Murray‘s son, he is not. In the episode Curse Club he mentions his friend, Murray, disproving the rumor.

Pedro is a goofy character, working for the hotel – taking care of a switch and official mummy, always eating something and despite his wraps making him look fully figured, when he is shown unwrapped, he is just this little tiny mummy. It is quite funny.

Then comes Wendy Blob (Evany Rosen) who is Mavis‘ best ghoulfriend. Another rumor came up when she was introduced in the first episode, Enter The Nosepicker. Many thought she was Blobby‘s daughter, when in fact she is Mr. Blob‘s daughter, CEO of the Blob factory.

Wendy and Blobby have no connections to one another as Mr. Blob speak Blobish while Blobby doesn’t. Also, Mr. Blob is clothed, while Blobby isn’t. Distinctions between the characters are clear.

What is adorable about Wendy, is that despite her father being a multi billionaire, she is nothing but sweetness and cuteness. She speaks English, contrarily to her father and always follows Mavis in her adventures trying to get her out of trouble. Wendy is also a lover of glitter, dancing, singing and unicorns.

Uncle Gene (Patrick McKenna) is one of my favorites! He loves Mavis, looks quite a bit like Nosferatu if you ask me and is on a steampunk-ish type of wheelchair, living in what looks like the basement of the hotel, playing video games all night long.

“But, I wouldn’t do that if I were you…”

Hotel Transylvania — The Series, Uncle Gene

I love his voice, his looks and mostly, his way of answering Mavis‘ questions. He would answer her question, then when leaving, he end saying not to do it.

Dr. Gillman is the doctor of the hotel, looking like The Creature of the Black Lagoon, he has ponds in his office and treats the patients of the hotel with his strange methods. Clumsy doctor, he is a very funny character and helpful to Mavis and her friends.

Klaus, he is not a regular character, but was shown in three episodes of the first season as Mavis‘ cousin. He is shown to be jealous of Mavis‘ lifestyle and her friends and would like to be accepted by them, but his personality is unlikable and all he tries to do is put Mavis into big trouble so her aunt would ground her.

Lydia, The Dark Baroness

When Dracula is called to leave for the Vampires’ High Council, he leaves his older sister in charge of the hotel. She is a traditionalist vampire, who despises humans and rules with an iron fist.

Of course, it is very predictable that Mavis and her wouldn’t get along, but their relationship is not as bad as you would think. Lydia (Dan Chameroy) is truly looking after her niece, while she is always getting into trouble.

Aunt Lydia is a very old vampire, with abilities of freezing people, vanishing, turning into a bat like all other bats, inflicting intense static shocks. She is a real bad-ass vampire that I would LOVE to see go against villains. She is not afraid of anything and fun fact about her, she is allergic to pop music and the result is aging her.

“A face that should be welcoming guests instead of spending what seems to be like an eternity looking at you… now, get back to work! Lydia, out.”

Hotel Transylvania — The Series, Aunt Lydia

Aunt Lydia has a minion, Diane, who is a chicken. She follows Lydia everywhere on by sitting on her staff. Provides her theatrical entertainment and keep an eye out on Mavis to make sure she does her job.

She is the favorite of many fans of the show, probably older fans like me, who cannot have enough of this kick ass female character. Everyone is afraid of her, including Dracula himself. But she is not the “b” word, she’s a strong vampire who wants to maintain order in the hotel by keeping the traditions going.

The Humans

That is one thing entirely different than the movie franchise. In the movies, Mavis had never seen humans before going to the fake city her father build to have her traumatized by the villagers, then met Jonathan.

In the series, the Cartwright family lives across the bridge to the hotel. Mr. and Mrs Cartwright, along with their baby, the Nosepicker, are a perfectly normal family living their lives aware of the monsters going at the hotel.

The wife is a best-selling author who writes books about monsters, with titles such as “Monsters Are Not Your Friends” and so on.

Often, Mavis and her friends will find themselves involved in adventures bringing them to the Cartwright‘s house, even when shutting down the hotel in the episode, Dude, Where’s My Garlic, the whole hotel staff has to move in the house while the Cartwrights are gone on vacation.

The best involvement with the Cartwrights was in the episode finale, The Fright Before Creepmas, when Mrs. Cartwright is finally face to face with Aunt Lydia.

Just as Aunt Lydia is a badass vampire, Mrs. Cartwright is a psychotic monster hater.

Shaky Start

The series was very well anticipated, when Disney Channel acquired the rights to the show, I was scared a second season would not happen as they are very demanding in popularity and Hotel Transylvania The Series was not in the high percentage.

I was often looking at IMDB to try to see the latest news about the show without any success. It was very hard trying to find any information about it. But then, when the reruns of the first season hit the screen, the popularity of the show hit the roof!

So impressively, that it went from a poor 6/10 to an 8.5/10 and suddenly, two days ago I heard on Teletoon (the Canadian version of Cartoon Network) that new episodes are about to start in June.

Gothically Amusing

I cannot stop watching the show. I’m such a fan that even when my birthday came around, last January, my best friend came over and we made the “worm cakes” for the occasion.

The refreshing taste of a monster nerd cartoon was well overdue. It is filled with puns from all classic horror movies, the choice of food is creepy, but still sounds somewhat tasty! And the humor, sarcastic and tastefully delivered is always a charm.

This cartoon is made for children maybe, but it can be very much appreciated by any age. It’s a really Gothic treat!

My rating: 9.5/10.

The OCD Vampire,
Alexa Wayne