''Mona the Vampire'' is an animated children's television series based on the children's book of the same name written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman (itself adapted to the novel series, itself illustrated by Holleyman and written by Hiawyn Oram). The series aired in Canada on YTV from September 13, 1999, to February 22, 2006; in France, it first aired on France 3 on October 30, 2000. ''Mona the Vampire'' was co-produced by the CINAR Corporation,

Alphanim Gaumont Animation (formerly known as Alphanim and Gaumont Alphanim) is a French animation studio owned by Gaumont founded in February 1997 by Christian Davin. The company's animated catalog comprises over 800 half-hours, broadcast in over 130 ...

, Animation Services (in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

; season 3) and YTV in co-production with

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

(seasons 1 and 2),

Canal J Canal J (stylised as canal J, ) is a French pay television channel dedicated to children's programming. It is aimed at children aged 7 to 12. On 1 February 2019, M6 Group entered negotiations to acquire the television unit of Lagardère Ac ...

(seasons 1) and

Tiji TiJi is a French-Kazakh-Russian preschool television channel for children aged three to six. It is owned by Groupe M6, the media broadcaster based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Ne ...

(seasons 3 and 4), with the participation of the

Independent Production Fund The Independent Production Fund (IPF) is a Canadian private independent foundation that supports the production of Canadian dramatic digital media entertainment content and television series. It also provides professional development services and ...

, the Shaw Children's Programming Initiative and

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...

Premise

The series follows the adventures of Mona Parker, who refers to herself as "Mona the Vampire", as well as her two best friends, Lily Duncan ("Princess Giant") and Charley Bones ("Zapman"), and her pet cat, Fang, as they imagine themselves confronting a new

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

foe, or solving a supernatural mystery, in every episode. There are always rational explanations for what they see.

Characters

Main

*Mona Parker ("Mona the Vampire") (voiced by

Emma Taylor-Isherwood Emma-Rose Taylor-Isherwood (born April 27, 1987Carleton University >> Graduating Class of Spring 2009. URL accessed on November 3, 2009. After graduating from the Arts Canterbury Theatre program Taylor-Isherwood continued performing while atten ...

) – A ten-year-old girl with a vivid

imagination Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...

and a naive personality who imagines herself as a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

heroine coming out to save the day. She believes the town she lives in is overrun with supernatural monsters, and she plans to stop them all and save the town on a daily basis. Although Mona's active imagination can cause trouble at times, her imagination has more often than not proven to be helpful. *Fang – Mona's pet cat, he is a feline sidekick who always follows Mona everywhere. Fang is her accomplice in the nether realms of her imagination. When going with Mona while in her vampire costume, he has fake wings tied to his back. *Charles "Charley" Bones ("Zapman") (voiced by Justin Bradley in seasons 1–3; Evan Smirnow in season 4) – One of Mona's best friends, he is an intelligent but also timid bespectacled boy in real life. His alter ego is Zapman, who wears a green alien costume and is armed with a Zapp-A-Rama gun, which really is a water pistol, though he can be seen holding another kind of toy gun. Charley's nemesis is the local school bully George. *Lily Duncan ("Princess Giant") (voiced by

Carrie Finlay Carrie Finlay is a Canadian actress. She began her professional career as an actress, first appearing as a voice actress in the Canadian-French-Chinese animated television series ''Mona the Vampire'' in 1999. She has had several live-action rol ...

) – One of Mona's best friends. She has a timid and slightly paranoid personality at times, but she is still helpful to the team. Her alter ego is Princess Giant, who wears a long blond wig topped with a crown and holds a stuffed toy cat. *Mr. and Mrs. Parker (voiced by Marcel Jeannin and Carole Jeghers) – Mona's parents. Mrs. Parker is shown to be the stricter of the two, while Mr. Parker is more light-hearted and somewhat clumsy, as he is more likely to believe what Mona thinks in her imagination. *Angela Smith (voiced by Tia Caroleo) – Mona's snobby rival, a rich girl who frequently flaunts her wealth to her classmates. She also regularly enlists George in her schemes to cause problems for Mona. Her parents won the lottery, explaining her sheer wealth and her resulting spoiledness.

Recurring

*Madeleine Gotto (voiced by Jennifer Seguin) – Mona's teacher. She is very stern, yet also has a habit of falling in love easily. She is often exasperated by Mona's strange ideas and arguments for supernatural occurrences which are ordinary events. *Principal Ivan Shawbly (voiced by Rick Miller in seasons 1–3; Stephen Spreekmeester in season 4) – The strict principal of Mona's school, St. Faith's Elementary. He easily grows tired of Mona's behaviour and is quick to discipline her. *Lawrence (voiced by

Michael Yarmush Michael Lawrence Yarmush (born June 19) is an American-Canadian actor. He is known for providing the original voice of Arthur Read in the PBS children's animated television series ''Arthur''. Career He was the very first voice actor of Arthur ...

) – A friend of Mona and the gang, and student at St. Faith's Elementary. *Officer Halcroft (voiced by Gary Jewell in seasons 1–3;

Richard Dumont Richard M. Dumont (born 1959 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian voice actor, writer and director who has worked in both Canada and the United States. Dumont is known for playing Sardo, who owned a magic shop called Sardo's Magic Mansion, in ma ...

in season 4) – The chief of the local police. He's become used to Mona's antics, and is quick to offer a more rational explanation to Mona's stories which, ironically, Mona finds rather outlandish and unbelievable. *George Jamell (voiced by

Oliver Grainger Oliver Grainger (born May 9, 1988) is a Canadian former child voice actor. Grainger is the voice actor for Dongwa, Sagwa's older brother, on '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat''. He also is the voice actor of D.W. Read on ''Arthur'' between Se ...

in seasons 1–3; James Harbour in season 4) – A school bully who picks on other kids at school, especially Charley. He is friends with Angela, and often does the job for her schemes, essentially serving as her right hand man. *Mayor Rosenbaum (voiced by John Stocker) – The town's mayor. *Mrs. Bryerson (voiced by Sonja Ball) – Mona's elderly neighbour. She has a poodle named Blitzy. *Reverend Gregory (voiced by

Louis Negin Louis Negin (20 October 1929 – 2 December 2022) was a British-born Canadian actor, best known for his roles in the films of Guy Maddin."Enchantment". ''In Toronto'', September 2011. Career Born in London, England, and raised in Toronto, Onta ...

) – The local

reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Episodes

There are a total of 65 full episodes of ''Mona the Vampire''. Each episode is approximately 22 minutes long, and each full episode contains two 11-minute episodes. Four seasons of ''Mona the Vampire'' were produced. The first season contains 26 full episodes, while seasons 2, 3, and 4 each contains 13 full episodes.

Series overview

Season 1 (1999–2001)

Season 2 (2001)

Season 3 (2002)

Season 4 (2004-2006)

Production

Book basis

Mona the Vampire is based on a children's book of the same name that was published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by Orchard Books in 1990 and was written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman. The book was the first in a ''Mona'' children's book series. Holleyman's original idea of Mona, as represented in the original ''Mona'' books, led more towards a girl with a great imagination who, like many children, likes to experiment with multiple different obsessions. The concept would be retooled in 1995 with the release of a series of ''Mona the Vampire'' novels, this time written by Hiawyn Oram, with Holleyman still illustrating. In these books, Mona is now solely infatuated with her vampire superheroine persona. Four novels would be published from the mid-to-late 1990s, and would serve as the basis for the television series.

Television adaptation

The series started development in the mid-1990s. It was originally pitched around to various British networks, but after no success, Ian Lewis, along with his production company, The Farnham Film Company, took the project to Canada, where it was picked up by the CINAR corporation. The series entered development in 1997, and it would soon be greenlit for 26 half-hour episodes in early 1998. Production would officially begin that June; it was the second series to be co-produced by CINAR and Alphanim, following ''

Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker (food), cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and sli ...

''. The theme song score was composed by Judy Henderson, who had also helped compose the theme for ''Arthur'', another CINAR production. The lyrics were written by Judy Rothman, though for unknown reasons, she was uncredited. The theme was performed by Quebecoise singer Lulu Hughes. Like Rothman, she was not credited in the actual show, but on the show's official website, she was credited as Loulou Hughes. Her contribution was confirmed by Henderson in 2022. The series was renewed for a second season containing 13 half-hour episodes in early 2000. Due to the then-ongoing

CINAR scandal The CINAR scandal was a major accounting scandal in Canada that came to light in March 2000 at CINAR, one of the world's most successful children's television production companies at the time. It was exposed when investigators revealed that was in ...

and the

Canadian Television Fund The Canadian Television Fund ( / formerly The Canada Television and Cable Production Fund), sometimes abbreviated as CTF (), supported the production and broadcast of Canadian television programs. A non-profit corporation operating as a public- ...

had suspended business with the company. This affected funding for the second season, although Peter Moss, then-president of CINAR, stated that the funding was "not a very high percentage of the budget." A third season, containing an additional 13 half-hour episodes, was greenlit in 2001. After production of the third season wrapped up in spring 2002, production on the series went on a hiatus, before the series was eventually renewed for a fourth season, once again containing 13 half-hour episodes, that fall. Production wrapped up in early 2004.

Reception

Critical response

In a retrospective review from ''The Arcade'', Luka Costello was positive about the show, stating that despite the young demographic, "the show was never too preachy. It had witty dialogue and the simple animation is still admirable. It was definitely the humble origins of my love for the supernatural and that theme song was catchy as hell."

Broadcast and streaming

The series was originally premiered in Canada on YTV on September 13, 1999, and later in France on France 3 on October 30, 2000. For Seasons 3 and 4, the series moved to

. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

, and later on

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

for a brief period. Despite its success in other territories, the series was never broadcast in the U.S. during its original run, though attempts were made in the early 2000s. In 2009, Cookie Jar launched Jaroo, a streaming service that housed a majority of their animated properties, including the DIC library, which they had acquired the previous year. ''Mona'' was available to stream on Jaroo, being advertised as having its U.S premiere on the platform. The streaming service has since been discontinued. It wouldn't be until 2011 when the series would finally make its U.S. broadcast premiere on

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) was an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally ...

, as part of the

Cookie Jar Toons ''Cookie Jar Toons'' (also known as ''This is for Kids'') was a daily children's programming block on the This TV digital broadcast network when it was partially owned by the former Weigel Broadcasting (seven years later, the network was acquired ...

children's programming block. The series would premiere on September 26, 2011, and would run until October 27, 2013. The block was discontinued four days later. Currently, the first season is available to stream for free on

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

. The entire series in full is also available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Vudu Fandango at Home (formerly known as Vudu) is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand re ...

, and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

Other media

Home media

During and after the show's run, several DVDs containing select episodes of the series were released, especially by

Cookie Jar Entertainment The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, now WildBrain, on Dec ...

. These DVDs sometimes included extra features, such as episode and language selection settings and voiced character descriptions by

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

s. The complete first season was later released in North America by Mill Creek Entertainment, which featured select episodes from various ''Cookie Jar'' shows, including episodes from '' Busytown Mysteries'', '' Horseland'', ''

Wimzie's House ''Wimzie's House'' is a Canadian children's television series produced in Montreal which ran in the French language as ''La Maison de Ouimzie'' on Télévision de Radio-Canada in the morning and Radio-Québec in late afternoons beginning Septem ...

'', '' Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings'', ''Happy Castle'' and ''

The Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...

''. In the UK, VHS and DVD releases were handled by

Abbey Home Media Abbey Home Media was a British home media distributor that released content aimed at children. It was founded in March 2002, as the successor company to Abbey Home Entertainment (AHE), which was acquired by the Just Group in 2000. Abbey Home Me ...

and Direct Source Products.

Website

In 2000,

, and

CINAR The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, now WildBrain, on Dec ...

created a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...

-based

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

under the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

monathevampire.com. This website featured several games and activities that included characters and settings from the series. The domain had been deactivated by 2016, but archived versions of the site still exist. Due to the discontinuation of the

Adobe Flash Player Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is a discontinuedExcept in China, where it continues to be used, as well as Harman for enterprise users. computer program for viewing multimedia ...

at the end of 2020, archived versions of the website may be inaccessible.

Notes

References

External links