Hotel Transylvania

"Hotel Transylvania" (2012) is an animated horror/comedy starring the voices of Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Andy Samberg and a host of other stars.

The story is about Dracula as a single parent raising his young daughter, Mavis, who is just becoming an adult (at 118 years old!).  Dracula runs a resort for monsters only in a castle he had especially designed in Transylvania.  The resort is a place where monsters from around the world can visit and get away from those pesky humans that are always out to get them.

Mavis is just growing up and yearns to see the world outside of her sheltered life in the castle.  She wants to see humans for herself but her father is a tad overprotective.  One day, a young backpacker named Jonathan somehow finds his way to the castle.  Dracula is horrified that a human has found their sanctuary and tries to get rid of him unsuccessfully.  Instead he makes him up to be a monster so the other guests don't find out.  Of course Jonathan plus Mavis together is going to make for some "zing".

This is a fun movie, especially for kids.  You get to see all the monsters you can think of all hanging out in a spooky castle and having fun to boot!

Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special

It's the first of October and Fall is here.  It's also the month where I start getting into the Halloween spirit!  As a kid, I couldn't wait to see the Halloween specials that would be shown on TV this time of year.  I just discovered this Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special (1978) at the store and couldn't pass it up.  This is a special that contains parts of many different cartoons with a Halloween theme.  Witch Hazel is the main attraction in this special and I always loved her.  She's the witch that would zip off the screen with a "HeHeHe" and her bobby pins would be left spinning in the air behind her.  She's always trying to cook up one of the regulars (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc.).  In addition to Bugs and Daffy, we also see Sylvester and Tweety and Dr. Jekyll, Porky Pig and Sylvester at the haunted hotel, Speedy Gonzales playing Witch Hazel, and Bugs at Count Dracula's castle.  These cartoons were always some of my favorites growing up and I'm glad I could revisit them this Halloween season.