Kidzworld checks out the monster animated comedy Hotel Transylvania. Should you take it home?
By: Lynn Barker
Count Dracula as a doting dad? Yep, to a “teen” daughter Mavis who is 118 and more than ready to leave their home; a vacation hotel for monsters!
Story Goes:
After his wife died, Count Dracula (voice of Adam Sandler) built Hotel Transylvania, a resort for monsters where they can escape persecution by evil humans. Problem is daughter Mavis (voice of Selena Gomez) is turning 18 (well 118) and feels more trapped than safe. She dreams of exotic lands and people her age.
Dracula talks to daughter Mavis
At Mavis’s big birthday bash where everyone from Frankenstein to the Wolf Man has gathered, a hapless young hiking human named Johnny (voice of Andy Samberg) stumbles in and it’s love at first sight for him and Mavis. Disguised as Frankenstein’s cousin, Johnny impresses the whole gang with music and fun. Drac is determined to get rid of the lad before Mavis runs away with him.
Special Features:
Goodnight Mr. Foot is a cute animated short film featuring Bigfoot’s attempt to get some rest as a hotel guest while a bumbling witch/housekeeper keeps accidentally waking him. Quite fun but very short.
Dracula with Johnny
Deleted Scenes are presented in both semi-finished animation and storyboards. One series deals with how Dracula met and courted Mavis’s mom Martha. This is very sweet and must have been cut for time. Another deleted scene is a fun rap called “Vampire Girls” that is worth a listen and maybe a dance.
Mavis and Johnny fall hard
In Meet the Staff and Guests: Voicing Hotel Transylvania, we get to see all the major voice actors recording their voices and this is always fun. The producer talks about what certain actors brought to each character. We learn that Adam brought his kids into the booth with him for inspiration and that Selena recorded for hours without a break. It’s great to see this excellent voice cast at work!
Dracula and the gang
Making the Hotel focuses on developing the story and putting the project together. Interesting.
Progression Reels cover every aspect of doing the animation for the movie. In voice-over, an animator takes you through hand drawn vs. 3D computer animation, using “motion blur” to indicate fast movements and other cool “tricks”. You learn about lighting and painting the backgrounds and that a team of animators were sent to the actual Transylvania to get the “look” of the movie right. A very comprehensive “making-of” featurette.
Music Video – “Problem (Monster Remix)” features Becky G. and guests Will.i.am. This is really catchy and fun to dance to.
Drac sings to baby Mavis
Filmmakers’ Commentary is the Director, Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor talking about making the film both funny and scary and balancing the two. Lots of tech info and tidbits on the film’s look. More techy for older kids and teens.
Wrapping Up:
Hotel Transylvania is a cute, if “nothing new” film. It’s predictable and maybe too “silly” at times but still fun enough and worth collecting. The extras on this Blu-ray/DVD set cover just about everything from the “look” of the movie to the actors voicing the roles. Alone, the movie would get 3 stars but with the extras on this set, we’ll go 4.
Hotel Transylvania Blu-ray + DVD Rating: 
Cover Art
