''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' is a 2022 animated

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy comedy film Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on, and parodies of, other works of fantasy. Literature The subgenre ro ...

directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska in their feature-length directorial debuts, from a screenplay by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo, and

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...

. It is the fourth and final installment in the ''Hotel Transylvania'' franchise and a sequel to ''Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation'' (2018). Produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

and

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...

, the film features the voices of

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, musician, writer and producer. He is a member of the comedy music group the Lonely Island, along with childhood friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress. She gained prominence appearing as a supporting actress in a number of comedy films, including '' How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003), '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' (2 ...

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

Molly Shannon Molly Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for playing Joanne ...

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. His comedic style, in both his stand-up material and acting roles, relies heavily on sarcasm and self-deprecation. For his roles on television, Spade h ...

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress and trade unionist. She is currently serving as the national president of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). She pla ...

, Asher Blinkoff, and newcomers Brian Hull and Brad Abrell, who replace

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

and

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), known professionally as Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. He began his career by performing stand-up comedy at clubs on Long Island in the 1980s. He rose to prominence for his portrayal ...

, respectively. The narrative follows Dracula and his son-in-law Johnny as they travel to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

to locate a crystal that can reverse a transformation spell before its effects become permanent. Originally scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on October 1, 2021, the film’s release was cancelled due to concerns related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

sold distribution rights to

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

for $100 million. The film was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on January 14, 2022, and theatrically in China on April 3, 2022. ''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' had a production budget of $75 million and grossed approximately $18.5 million worldwide, primarily from its theatrical release in China. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

During the 125th anniversary celebration of Hotel Transylvania, Dracula plans to retire and leave the hotel to his daughter Mavis and her husband Johnny. After overhearing the news, Johnny enthusiastically shares his

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

plans, prompting Dracula to lie about a “monster real-estate law” that prohibits humans from owning the hotel. Disheartened, Johnny accepts his exclusion.

Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the P ...

offers to help by using a special ray that transforms humans into monsters and vice versa. Johnny becomes a dragon-like creature, but when Dracula tries to reverse the transformation, he accidentally turns himself human and breaks the ray’s crystal. Van Helsing instructs them to retrieve a replacement crystal from the Cave of the Reflexión in

to undo the effects. Meanwhile, Dracula’s friends Frank, Wayne, Griffin, and Murray are transformed into humans after exposure to the ray. Mavis and Ericka confront Van Helsing, who reveals the ray’s effects are unstable and irreversible if not cured in time. They join the others in traveling to South America. On their journey, Dracula and Johnny grow closer, but tensions rise when Dracula confesses he fabricated the real-estate law. Hurt, Johnny mutates further and flees. Mavis finds him and leads him to the cave, but the crystal initially fails to reverse the transformation. Dracula allows Johnny to capture him and expresses his acceptance of Johnny as family. This helps Johnny regain control, and Mavis successfully restores him. Everyone is returned to normal, but the hotel is destroyed by Van Helsing’s pet, Gigi. Dracula decides to let Mavis and Johnny rebuild the hotel. One year later, it reopens with a modernized design.

Voice cast

as Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran, Mavis's husband, Dracula's son-in-law, Ericka's stepson-in-law and Dennis' father *

as Mavis Dracula, Johnny's wife, Dracula's daughter, Ericka's stepdaughter and Dennis' mother ** Victoria Gomez voices a young Mavis Dracula *

as Ericka Van Helsing, Dracula's wife and the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing *

as Professor

Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the ...

, a former monster hunter, Dracula's great-grandfather-in-law and ex-nemesis and Ericka's great-grandfather who invented the "Monsterfication Ray" *

as Wayne, a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

and Wanda's husband *

as Wanda, a werewolf and Wayne's wife *

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

, an invisible man *

as Murray, an ancient

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

* Brian Hull as Count "Drac" Dracula, the founder of Hotel Transylvania and Mavis's father, Johnny's father-in-law, Dennis' maternal grandfather and Ericka's husband. In the previous films, he was voiced by

, who was unavailable to return for the fourth installment due to scheduling conflicts. *

as Eunice, Frankenstein's wife * Brad Abrell as

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

, Eunice's husband. He was originally voiced by

in the first three films * Asher Blinkoff as Dennis, the

dhampir In Balkan folklore, a dhampir () is a mythical creature that is the result of a union between a vampire and a human. This union was usually between male vampires and female humans, with stories of female vampires mating with male humans being rar ...

son of Johnny and Mavis, Vlad's great-grandson, Ericka's step-grandson and Dracula's grandson * Zoe Berri as Winnie, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda and Dennis' best friend. She was originally voiced by

Sadie Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, his accolades include an Independent Spirit Award, alongside nominations for three Grammy Award ...

in the first three films * Asher Bishop as Wesley, a werewolf who is the son of Wayne and Wanda * Tyler "Ninja" Blevins as Party Monster *

as Blobby, a green blob monster * Victoria Gomez as Wilma, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda *

Jennifer Kluska Jennifer Kluska is an American film director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist best known for her work on ''DC Super Hero Girls'' (2018) and '' Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' (2022). Career In 2015, Kluska began her career by serving a ...

as Wendy, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda *

Derek Drymon Derek Drymon (born November 19, 1968) is an American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director, comedian, and producer. He has worked on numerous animated cartoon productions. Early life Derek Drymon was born in New Jersey. t=movies "De ...

as a zombie that was briefly turned into a human

Production

In February 2019,

announced that a fourth ''Hotel Transylvania'' film was in development. In October of that year,

confirmed that he would not return to direct. In September 2020,

and

were announced as directors. Kluska had worked as a storyboard artist on earlier sequels, while Drymon had previously worked on series such as ''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American Television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Joe Murray (animator), Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Australian ...

'', ''

CatDog ''CatDog'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. The series follows the zany hijinks of orange-furred conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and t ...

'', ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'', and ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

''. Tartakovsky stayed on as screenwriter and executive producer, joined by

, who also voiced the character Mavis. Production was carried out remotely during the

. In April 2021, the film's title was revealed as ''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'', and it was confirmed to be the final entry in the franchise. That same month, Sony announced that

would not reprise his role as

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

. The role was taken over by Brian Hull, who had voiced the character in the short film '' Monster Pets''.

, and

returned to voice their characters, and in May 2021, Brad Abrell was announced as the new voice of

, replacing

. Lynn Hobson served as the film’s editor.

Music

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

returned to compose the score for the film, continuing his work from the previous three installments. The official soundtrack was released by

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired ...

on January 14, 2022. An original song featured in the end credits, “Love Is Not Hard to Find,” was written by Morien van der Tang, Faried Arween Jhauw, Glen Faria, and Jheynner Argot, and performed by

Yendry Yendry Cony Fiorentino (born 27 July 1993) known mononymously as Yendry (stylized as ) is a Dominican-Italian singer and songwriter. Yendry first achieved popularity in Italy in 2012 thanks to her participation in the sixth edition of X Facto ...

. It was also released on January 14, 2022.

Release

''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' was released by

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on January 14, 2022. In February 2019, Sony Pictures Releasing had originally scheduled the film for a theatrical release on December 22, 2021. The release date was later moved to August 6, 2021, then advanced again to July 23, 2021, and subsequently delayed to October 1, 2021, due to the

. In August 2021,

cancelled the film’s planned theatrical release and entered discussions to sell the distribution rights to a streaming platform, citing rising cases of the

SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first detected in India on 5 October 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 202 ...

in the United States. On August 16, 2021, it was reported that Amazon Studios was negotiating to acquire global streaming rights (excluding China) for $100 million. Under the agreement, Amazon would release the film exclusively on Prime Video, while Sony retained home entertainment and linear television rights. On October 6, 2021, Amazon confirmed the release date as January 14, 2022, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the original ''Hotel Transylvania'' film. Although primarily released via streaming, the film had a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on February 25, 2022. It later opened in Chinese theaters on April 3, 2022.

Home media

''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

, and Digital HD on August 15, 2023 by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

Reception

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' holds an approval rating of 47% based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Much like the trio of films it follows, ''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' is middling family viewing — relatively painless, but overall rather uninspired."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews.” Meagan Navarro of ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

'' rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, noting that while it offers lighthearted entertainment, it "never gets as complex as its moral center suggests, therefore never really rising above a wholesome, exuberant amusement ride." Tomris Laffly of ''Variety'' offered a more critical take, writing that the film is "yet another wearisome tale that inelegantly depicts themes like acceptance, understanding, and diversity within a saga that has always been rather clumsy with its messaging around such weighty topics." In a more favorable review, John DeFore of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' acknowledged the film's weaknesses in writing but praised its animation and tone, stating, "''Transformania'' remains sufficiently goofy-sweet to please its target demo; those who find the humor toothless should at least appreciate the distinctive animation, which can be as energetically wacky as classic ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

''."

Accolades

The film was nominated in two categories for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program" and "Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for an Animated Program" at the

1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards The 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards were presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) to honor the best in American children's and family-oriented Broadcast programming, television programming in 2021 and 2022. ...

. At the

2023 Kids' Choice Awards The 36th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards ceremony was held on March 4, 2023, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California with Nate Burleson and Charli D'Amelio serving as hosts. It aired live on Nickelodeon and in a domestic sim ...

won the award for "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie (Female)".

Future

Television series

Although ''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' was intended as the final installment in the franchise, a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

television series titled ''Motel Transylvania'' was announced in June 2024. The series, set to premiere on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2025, will follow

and Mavis as they open and operate a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the Parking lot, parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central Lobby (room), lo ...

Possible sequel

In September 2024,

was asked in an interview with ''Collider'' about the possibility of a fifth ''Hotel Transylvania'' film. While attending the SCAD AnimationFest, where he was being honored with an Award of Excellence, Tartakovsky stated that Sony might consider continuing the series if there is sufficient audience demand. He acknowledged the strong performance of ''Transformania'' during its release on Amazon and indicated that further developments would depend on future interest.

References

External links

* * {{The Invisible Man 2022 American animated films 2020s children's animated films 2020s English-language films 2020s monster movies 2022 comedy films 2022 computer-animated films 2022 films 2022 3D films 3D animated films Amazon MGM Studios films American 3D films American children's animated comedy films American computer-animated films American monster movies American sequel films Columbia Pictures animated films Columbia Pictures films Crossover films Dracula films Films about shapeshifting Films based on The Invisible Man Films directed by Derek Drymon Films directed by Jennifer Kluska Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films scored by Mark Mothersbaugh Animated films set in hotels Animated films set in South America Films with screenplays by Genndy Tartakovsky Frankenstein films Hotel Transylvania MRC (company) films Mummy films Sony Pictures Animation films Amazon Prime Video original films Animated films set in jungles Animated films set in Transylvania Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award–winning films