Transylvania 6-5000 (1963 film)
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''Transylvania 6-5000'' (1963) is a
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
'' Merrie Melodies'' animated
short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...
directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on November 30, 1963, and stars
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...
. It was the last original Bugs Bunny short Jones made for Warner Bros. Cartoons before Jones left for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
to found his own studio, Sib Tower 12 Productions. It was his second-to-last cartoon at Warner Bros. before moving to MGM, and the second-to-last Warner cartoon in 1963. Bugs demonstrates how to handle a pesky
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
with six simple magic incantations. The title is a pun on "
Pennsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common from about 1930 into the 1960s. The number is best known from the 1940 hit song " Pennsylvania 6-5000", a swing j ...
", a song associated with Glenn Miller and referring to the now-archaic system of
telephone exchange names A telephone exchange name or central office name was a distinguishing and memorable name assigned to a central office. It identified the switching system to which a telephone was connected, and facilitated the connection of telephone calls betwee ...
where the first two characters of a telephone number were expressed as letters: "Transylvania 6-5000" stands for "TR 6-5000" which devolves to .


Plot

Bugs is traveling by tunneling underground—and runs straight into a tree. He heads for
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, as he observes "these Pennsylvania hardwoods ain't too soft!", but he does not immediately notice that a sign nailed to the tree reads "Pittsburghe,
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
". He asks a two-headed female vulture (Agatha and Emily) for directions to "Pittsboig" when he realizes that he has not reached the Steel City, but Agatha and Emily are too busy talking about eating him. Bugs leaves them to it, sees an old castle nearby, mistakes it for a motel and calmly approaches it. Upon ringing a skull/chime doorbell (playing " The Hearse Song") Bugs meets a
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
, who introduces himself as Count Bloodcount and invites him in. Although Bugs is only looking for a telephone to call his travel agency, the Count leads him to a guest room beckoning him to rest, informing him that "Rest is good for the blood.". Unable to sleep, Bugs picks up a book titled ''Magic Words and Phrases'', and despite his initial skepticism about their effect, he reads it. The Count sneaks up behind him and is just about to strike when Bugs says "
abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence ...
", turning the Count into a bat. Bugs mistakes the bat/Count for a big mosquito and clobbers him with a fly swatter. As the bat dizzily flies out of the window, Bugs says " hocus pocus", which turns the Count back into a vampire and causes him to fall into the moat surrounding his castle. Agatha and Emily wonder what a splendid-looking specimen the Count is as they watch him take the plunge. Shortly afterward, while Bugs is searching for the house restaurant, the Count sneaks up from behind again, but Bugs is humming to the tune of " It's Magic", substituting "abracadabra" for some of the lyrics, and inadvertently turns the Count back into a bat. Once again mistaking the bat for a mosquito, Bugs sprays the bat with a fumigator. As the bat/Count is hanging his head down from an archway, coughing insecticide out of his lungs, Bugs sings "hocus pocus" during a continuation of his song, and the Count crashes to the floor on his head. Fed up with the situation, the Count confronts Bugs and reveals his true identity as a vampire, resulting in a duel of "magic phrases" in which Bugs transforms into a baseball
umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
. He then turns himself into a baseball bat when the count turns himself into a bat (with "hocus pocus" strangely enough) to hit the bat-vampire on the head (despite the Count putting on glasses in a futile attempt to keep Bugs from doing so). Bugs gets the best of the Count for the rest of the duel by saying "abracadabra" every time the vampire says "hocus pocus", causing him to be crushed repeatedly by a stone slab from the floor that the Count intended to crush Bugs with. By mixing the magic words to "abraca-pocus" and "hocus-cadabra", Bugs causes the Count to become a mixture of human and bat body parts. Afterward he uses "
Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
" and turns him into
Witch Hazel Witch-hazels or witch hazels (''Hamamelis'') are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America ('' H. ovalis'', '' H. virginiana'', and '' H. vernalis''), and one each in Japan ('' H.&nb ...
. Unimpressed ("Wow, I can do better than ''that''"), he uses the incantation "
Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...
", and the Count is turned into a two-headed male vulture. Bugs calls out to Agatha and Emily, and the Count soon finds himself the object of their romantic intentions. The Count flees the castle with the female vulture in amorous pursuit as Bugs watches in amusement. Bugs finally finds a working pay phone (in a coffin), but while waiting for the operator to reach his travel agency in
Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...
, he once again sings "It's Magic", this time substituting "abraca-pocus", which causes his ears to turn into bat wings. Bugs tells the operator to cancel the call, hangs up, and decides to fly home with his new wings.


Voice Cast

* Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny *Ben Frommer as Count Bloodcount *
Julie Bennett Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress and later talent agent and realtor. Early years Bennett was born in Manhattan, New York, on January 24, 1932. Acting career A native of Hollywood, Bennett worked as a ...
as Agatha and Emily, the Two-Headed Vulture


References in other media

Count Bloodcount also reappeared in the
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters ''Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters'' is a Looney Tunes platform video game released for the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 2000, and is an indirect sequel to the 1999 game '' Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time''. It also came on a Twin Pack CD bun ...
'' as the final
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
. Count Bloodcount also appeared in the ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'' episode "Stuff That Goes Bump in the Night" in the segment "Fang You Very Much", where he is adopted by
Elmyra Duff The ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' animated television series features an extensive cast of characters. The show's central characters are mostly various forms of anthropomorphic animals, based on Looney Tunes characters from earlier films and shows. ...
while disguised as a bat. In this, the Count repeatedly tries to bite Elmyra in his vampire form, but any time the Count is exposed to light, he turns back into a bat. The ''Tiny Toons'' version of the Count also appears as a boss character in the video game '' Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose!''. The song " Dracula" by Gorillaz, a bonus track on their eponymous debut album, samples portions of the short where the Count states "I am a vampire!" and "rest is good for the blood". Portions of the cartoon were used in the 1977's '' Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special'', which repurposed classic Looney Tunes cartoons in a new storyline. In the special, Bugs Bunny gave Witch Hazel a bottle of Hyde formula, which transformed her into Count Bloodcount, leading to her stalking Bugs through her home in reused footage from ''Transylvania 6-5000'' and trying to catch him. When Bugs uses the spell "Newport News", she remains as Witch Hazel for the special's final act. Witch Hazel voice actress
June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...
re-dubbed Count Bloodcount in scenes incorporating his dialogue. Most of the cartoon was used in ''
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters ''Daffy Duck's Quackbusters'' is a 1988 animated compilation film featuring classic Warner Bros. Cartoons shorts and animated bridging sequences, starring Daffy Duck. The film was released to theaters by Warner Bros. on September 24, 1988. It was ...
'', but some dialogue was redubbed to connect it to the film's main story. Also, the end was changed so that instead of Bugs sprouting bat wings and flying away, he reports his findings to
Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...
(although he still sings "abraca-pocus" to himself while in the coffin phone-booth, but the film cuts away before his ears transform), who is displeased to hear from him (saying "What do you think we're running here, a matrimonial agency?!"). Later, Bugs is seen leaving the castle from the cartoon before he answers a nearby payphone as part of the link to the cartoon ''
The Abominable Snow Rabbit ''The Abominable Snow Rabbit'' is a 1961 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and co-directed by Maurice Noble, with a story by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on May 20, 1961, and stars Bugs Bunny and Da ...
''. Count Bloodcount appeared in ''
The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' episode "Fangs for the Memories". He was voiced by
Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformer ...
. Count Bloodcount also appears in '' Looney Tunes Collector: Alert!'' as a boss character. After the player defeats him, he decides to become an NPC ally of Bugs to find some opportunities in blood.


See also

* List of American films of 1963 * List of Bugs Bunny cartoons


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Transylvania 6-5000 (1963 Film) 1963 films 1963 animated films 1963 short films Merrie Melodies short films American vampire films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny films Films about shapeshifting Films set in castles Films set in Transylvania 1963 comedy films Films directed by Maurice Noble Vampires in animated film Films scored by William Lava 1960s Warner Bros. animated short films 1960s English-language films