Hotel Transylvania

I think it’s time to look at another animated movie that is just right for this month and is perfect for little kids. Let’s take a look at the 2012 animated comedy, “Hotel Transylvania.”

At “Hotel Transylvania,” they do the monster mash – and play monster shuffleboard, break-in the monster mini-bar and visit the monster spa.

Whether you’re a kid who likes to play around with plastic fangs or an adult who never misses the classic horror flicks like “Mad Monster Party” or “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” you’ll be happy that you watched this feature.

An impressive debut for Genndy Tartakovsky, the TV animator who brought us the classic Cartoon Network cartoons like “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Samurai Jack,” “Hotel Transylvania” may lack the emotional liveliness of some of Pixar’s best work, but it makes up for it with rapid-fire restrains and an unflagging pace that makes this a rare film for everyone.

In this film, monsters are actually nice who just want to relax without being chased by humans carrying torches and pitchforks.

After the death of his wife, Count Dracula (SNL alumni and beloved comedian Adam Sandler) swears to protect his daughter, Mavis, (singer who started her career on the Disney sitcom “Wizards of Waverly Places,” Selena Gomez) from the animal-like cruelties of humans, so he builds the hotel, a generous castle where the Frankenstein Monster (Kevin James from “The King of Queens,” while Fran Drescher from “The Nanny” voices his wife), Wayne the werewolf (Steve Buscemi, while Molly Shannon voices his wife), Murray the mummy (rapper Cee-Lo Green), Quasimodo (another SNL alumni, the great Jon Lovitz), and Griffin the Invisible Man (another SNL alumni and also was in the hit sitcom “Just Shoot Me,” David Spade) can relax, take a shvitz and enjoy disgusting, insect-filled gourmet cuisine.

Alonso Duralde said in his review of this film, “And yes, technically, he should be named “Frankenstein’s monster.” But that’s one of those subtle delineations along the lines of counting 1990 as the last year of the 1980s: technically correct, but no one cares.”

After more than a century trapped in the hotel, Mavis finally turns 118, and she’s ready to see the world. Her dad is of course scared so he sends her to the nearby village (where he’s dressed up the hotel’s zombie bellboys as evil, monster-hating townspeople) to discourage her of the idea. Little does Dracula know that human backpacker Jonathan, voiced by another SNL alumni who currently stars in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Andy Samberg, follows the zombies back to the hotel, or Jonathan and Mavis will fall in love when they first see each other.

Forced by condition to let Jonathan stay for the huge 118^th birthday party, Dracula dresses the boy up as a cousin of the Frankenstein Monster’s and warns him about falling in love with Mavis.

However, Dracula finds himself warming up to the first mortal he’s seen in so many years, particularly after the two have a mid-air fight involving flying tables.

In the same way that Noah Baumbach gave the “Madagascar” franchise a chance when he co-wrote the third film, “Hotel Transylvania” ends up being much funnier than you’d think, thanks to the involvement of screenwriters Robert Smigel (the man who voices Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) and Peter Baynham (whose work varies from controversial British TV Comedy “Brass Eye” to “Arthur Christmas”). They dive into these horror icons and turn them into new versions that are affectionate and fresh.

Duralde said in his review, “Not many people were hoping for a Sandler/Samberg re-teaming after the nightmare of “That’s My Boy,” but here they generate a real comic rapport.” Sandler’s Dracula is one of the funniest characters we’ve seen in a long time (if that’s not negative with weak praise) and Sandberg creates a dummy that’s still believably appealing.

I agree with Duralde when he says in his review, “Tartakovsky underscores the comic zip of his performers by sticking bizarre and hilarious sight gags throughout, filling in the margins like the artists who created MAD magazine in the 1950s. He and his crew mine the comic potential for ambulatory skeletons, floating brains, blobby aliens and out-of-control werewolf children for every gag possible.”

“Hotel Transylvania” is the type of film that many will consider to be “merely” entertaining, and even if it’s not as scary as “ParaNorman” or as original as “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” it’s a energetic joyride from start to finish.

For any parent who is reading this blog, take my advice and sit down and watch this with everyone in the room. All of you will have an enjoyable time laughing at this film because I sure did.

Look out for tomorrow when I post the next entry in “Halloween Month.”