I can’t tell you enough about the child-like joy I felt when I knew that I was going to write about Hotel Transylvania. For real. First and foremost I love the Hotel Transylvania animated movies. All of the three movies. Love them all. Secondly, I love writing about animated movies in general. Not just about the Hotel Transylvania franchise. Just recently I had the pleasure to write about Scrat, probably the all-time great character from the Ice Age franchise. And last but not least I relish about the opportunity to write about the one and only Genndy Tartakovsky.
Genndy Tartakovsky Is The Man!
Who is Genndy Tartakovsky you might ask? Well before creating Hotel Transylvania he basically did every single one of your childhood animated series. I’m not joking about this. Batman: The Animated Series, The Critic (check this one out if you have the chance) and Dexter’s Laboratory. But I’m not done. Oh no. Far from it. Furthermore, he’s responsible for the Power-puff Girls, Samurai Jack, The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy (my personal favorite), and Star Wars: Clone Wars (another great series). Most recently he showed us Primal, and frankly, the sky is the limit with this man’s talent. There’s nothing that he can’t do indeed.
But this particular Hotel Transylvania post was inspired by the cool Hotel Transylvania video game. We have it here at IndieGala, and it’s great. That’s right. Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard is the name and is fun as you can imagine. But what’s so special about Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard you might ask? Well let’s find out, shall we?
Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard (What’s the game all about?)
Dracula, Mavis and their monster friends are now on mysterious Lost Islands. So with no help anywhere on the horizon, only you (and the lovable little creatures, the Impa) can save them!
The game allows you to explore the islands, discover new Impa abilities. Not to mention that it allows you to rescue Frankenstein, Murray and Wayne from fearsome enemies. But hurry! There’s no time for shenanigans. The Drac-Pack’s lives are at stake, and their survival depends solely on you! Among some of the cool features in the game, you’ll have the opportunity to save the monsters from a mysterious storm. Also, you can explore the legendary lost islands and even meet new friends.
Fun fact! One Steam user said this about the game:
“This review request is from my kids. But I’m thankful they pushed me towards it because Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard is a fantastic experience on the system.“
Hotel Transylvania movies are not just for kids!
Indeed a fourth Hotel Transylvania movie is scheduled to be released next year. I can hardly wait to be honest, but for now, I’m going to be mentioning the first three of the franchise. Let’s start with the 2012 Hotel Transylvania. It’s in fact, Genndy Tartakovsky’s feature-length movie debut. I remember taking my nephews to this one because I thought that it’s the last time I’ll be able to make them watch an animated movie. They were 6 and 8 at the time, and they surprisingly stayed glued to their seats the whole time. They loved it, but I must admit I did too. I love pretty much everything from Tartakovsky so this one is a guilty pleasure for me (since i’m not 8 year old child).
It has lovable characters, quirky humor, but the real treasure in this movie is the presence of Adam Sandler and Tartakovsky’s well, pretty much everything. His character development, the animation, the design. And of course his direction. Oh my GOD, it’s incredible as one can expect from the man. But I loved that the movie is focused on every parent’s obsession. To protect their child from harm. It can teach us a great deal about accepting the differences and letting out children find their path in life. All we can do is be there for them whenever our help is needed. Fun fact! Since Transylvania is in present-day Romania, The license plate on Dracula’s hearse is Romanian. How cool is that?
The sequel is a gem too
The second Hotel Transylvania movie had three generations of the Dracula family in the focus. We witnessed the struggles of Drac to make a vampire out of his little grandson and to connect with his father Vlad (voiced by Mel Brooks). Unsurprisingly, the animation and character design are top-notch once again. A most noteworthy thing in the sequel is the fact that Adam Sandler is one of the 3 credited screen-writers. And you can clearly see Adam Sandler’s influence on the finished product.
The annoying potty humor is very much present, the corny dad jokes are there and so is the chemistry. And because of Sandler’s presence, you can safely say that the premise of the movie feels new and fresh, but the execution remains the same. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but at times the movie seems a bit outdated and repetitive. Did you know that the parents of Jonathan (Andy Samberg) are voiced by real-life husband and wife? Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. Furthermore, if you take a closer look, you’ll notice that Jonathan’s vampire disguise outfit has lots of inspiration from Gary Oldman’s elderly version of Dracula. The one from Bram Stoker’s Dracula of course. Personally I love the 1992 version of Dracula and I think it’s a great nod to the movie.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
As expected my nephews informed me that they’re too much of grown-ups. And of course refused to come with me to the movie theaters for the third movie. I guess they were too cool for kid-friendly movies. Well, the kid in me would disagree. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation was awesome as well. Luckily for me, I had an ace in my sleeve and took their baby sister (my niece Michaela) to watch this movie. So, you can say that I lucked out. Also, as expected she loved it, and I pat my shoulder for turning another child into a Genndy Tartakovsky fan. Because you have to start with the conversion from an early age.
However, much like the title suggests, Drac and his family are on a vacation and funny things will eventually happen on that vacation. For instance, Drac finds a love interest (finally) but that newfound happiness would turn out to a be biter-sweet one. Did you know that Genndy Tartakovsky found inspiration (well partly to be honest) for the third installment, because he also went on a horrible family vacation? That’s right. The other part of the inspiration came from National Lampoon’s Vacation movies, but there are some real life events in the script as wel.
So, yeah. I adore all three Hotel Transylvania movies. What’s your favorite? Do you have a favorite among the three movies? Tell us in the comment section. We’d love to know.
