''The Mini-Munsters'' is an animated one-hour

telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that was aired as part of ''

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the ABC ...

'' in 1973, and was based on the characters from ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

''. Of the original series' cast, only Al Lewis (

Grandpa Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...

) lent his voice to the special.

Plot

The cartoon begins when some gangsters are asking directions to an oil refinery. After Herman gives them directions, the gasoline company president is seen bound and gagged in the back of the gangsters' car. Soon after, a messenger bat arrives from

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 ...

and the Munsters are informed their cousins Igor and Lucretia are coming to visit them. They go to the airport, where the cousins are found waiting for them on the luggage carousel. Initially Eddie (now a teenager) wants nothing to do with his cousins, at first thinking that they are younger than him, but since they all like playing rock music, they form a band. Herman is annoyed by the music the Mini-Munsters play, so they offer to play their music at school. Since Herman had promised to buy Eddie a car, they go buy a used hearse. When Eddie asks if there is enough room in the back of the hearse for their instruments, Herman stretches it out in the back, and assures them there is. They discover that the old hearse is haunted by the funeral director who owned it when he was alive. Grandpa adds an invention that allows for the car to run on music when it runs out of gas. The device becomes popular, and the gangsters, who have taken over a gasoline company, are infuriated. The gangster boss challenges the Munsters to a race with his sports car, which the Munsters win. It seems the faster Eddie, Lucretia and Igor play their music, the faster the hearse travels. When they beat the gangster boss in a race at the park Grand Prix course, the gangsters capture the Munsters' pet dragon Spot by tricking the family into leaving their house for an award ceremony, which Herman learns was not real. The gangsters then threaten to harm Spot if Grandpa does not destroy his invention. The young Munsters find Spot and thwart the gangsters by getting Spot back.

Cast

* Richard Long -

Herman Munster Herman Munster is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters'', originally played by Fred Gwynne. The patriarch of the Munster household, Herman is one of Frankenstein’s monsters, created in a lab in Germany in the nineteenth cen ...

* Cynthia Adler -

Lily Munster Lily Munster (née Dracula) is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, ''The Munsters'', originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in ''The Munster ...

* Al Lewis - Grandpa

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

Bobby Diamond Robert LeRoy Diamond (August 23, 1943May 15, 2019) was an American actor active in the 1950s and 1960s before retiring from the profession and becoming a lawyer. He is best known as the child lead in the television series '' Fury''. Early life ...

Eddie Munster Eddie Munster is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters''. He was portrayed by Butch Patrick in all episodes of the original series except for the pilot, where he was portrayed by Happy Derman. The only child of Herman and Lily M ...

Henry Gibson Henry Gibson (born James Bateman; September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor and poet. His best-known roles include his time as a cast member of the TV sketch-comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 19 ...

- Mr. Grundy *

Ron Feinberg Ronald Aaron Feinberg (October 10, 1932 – January 29, 2005) was an American character and voice actor who appeared in films and on television. Career At 6' 7", the towering Feinberg played the character Fellini, opposite Don Johnson, in the pos ...

- Various characters *

Stuart Getz Stuart Goetz is a Daytime Emmy Award winning film music editor best known for his music editing roles on The West Wing, The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, among others. Prior to his music editing career, Goetz was a stage actor, appea ...

- Various characters

Production

Development

This movie was created with hopes of developing an animated spin-off of the original ''Munsters'' series, but it was not picked up as a series. The movie aired on October 27, 1973, as an hour-long special, however a shorter, half-hour version was aired in the 1980s.

References

External links

*
Toon Tracker: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movies (Page 3)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mini-Munsters, The The Munsters films 1973 television films 1973 films The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Films directed by Gerard Baldwin