''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' (also known as ''Hotel Transylvania 4'') is a 2022 American

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

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 ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by Son ...

and released by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

. The fourth and final installment in the ''Hotel Transylvania'' franchise and the sequel to '' Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation'' (2018), the film is directed by

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 of the 1990s and 2000s, best known for his work on ''Rocko's Mod ...

and

Jennifer Kluska Jennifer Kluska is a Canadian-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 ...

(in their respective feature-length

directorial debuts This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

) from a screenplay by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo and

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...

(who directed the prior three films). It stars the voices of

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

(who also served as an executive producer alongside Tartakovsky and Michelle Murdocca),

Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...

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, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

Molly Shannon Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He co-created and co-starred alongside Jordan Peele in Comedy Central's sketch series ''Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) and co-starred in USA Netw ...

, Brian Hull,

Fran Drescher Francine Joy Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader. She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom ''The Nanny'' (1993–1999), which she created and produ ...

, Brad Abrell,

Asher Blinkoff Asher Blinkoff (born November 23, 2008) is an American teen actor. He is best known for his role as Dennis in the ''Hotel Transylvania'' film franchise for Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. Career Asher Blinkoff is the son of ...

, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and Zoe Berri. In the film, Dracula and Johnny, who transformed into a human and monster, must find the way to South America to revert, before their transformations become permanent. Originally planned to be released theatrically in the United States on October 1, 2021,

Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (commonly known as Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

cancelled the film's release plans and sold the film's distribution rights to Amazon Studios for $100 million, due to 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 in late 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021. The ...

in the United States. The film was released exclusively on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

on January 14, 2022 and theatrically in China on April 3. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

During the celebration of the 125th anniversary of Hotel Transylvania, Mavis overhears Dracula's plans to retire and leave the hotel to her and Johnny. She tells Johnny who excitedly tells Dracula his plans to renovate the hotel. Worried about Johnny ruining the hotel, Dracula lies to him saying that there is a "monster real-estate law" which only lets monsters own the hotel, disappointing Johnny. Van Helsing decides to help Johnny using a ray that turns humans into monsters and vice versa; after testing it on his

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

Gigi, he uses it on Johnny who turns into a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

-like monster. Learning about monster Johnny, Dracula tries to turn him back to normal, but accidentally turns himself into a human and breaks the ray's crystal. Van Helsing tells Dracula and Johnny that they can still turn themselves back to normal by getting a new crystal which lies in the Cave of Reflexion in South America, so Dracula and Johnny set off to do so. Dracula's friends Frank, Wayne, Griffin and Murray end up becoming humans as well, as a result of drinking from a fountain that was contaminated by the ray. Mavis and Ericka confront Van Helsing after learning about Dracula and Johnny's whereabouts in the news, but he warns them about the effects of the ray, as humans who become monsters continue to mutate and become more hostile as time goes on. With this in mind, the rest of the gang head to South America to find Dracula and Johnny. While traveling through the South American jungle, Dracula and Johnny begin to bond, and Dracula eventually begins to confess that he lied about the monster real-estate law, but the rest of the group find them. Things turn sour when Dracula admits his deception regarding passing over the hotel to Mavis and Johnny. This prompts an upset Johnny to believe Dracula does not consider him family and to mutate further before running away. Mavis goes to find Johnny while Dracula and the rest of the gang go to the Cave of Reflexion. Mavis finds Johnny, but the transformation has turned him very volatile. She leads him to the Cave of Reflexion where they finally find the crystal. When Mavis tries to turn Johnny back to normal, nothing happens due to him being too frenzied. In desperation, Dracula lets himself get captured by Johnny and goes on a remorseful tangent about how wrong he was about Johnny and how he now sees the best in him, finally acknowledging him as family. This brings Johnny back to his senses, and he is returned to human form. With Dracula and his friends turned back to normal, they return home only to find the hotel has been destroyed by Gigi. After turning Gigi back to normal, Dracula bemoans his loss. He soon decides to let Mavis and Johnny rebuild the hotel to their liking. One year later, Mavis and Johnny show Dracula the re-built Hotel Transylvania which he comes to enjoy.

Voice cast

as Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran, Mavis' 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, Mavis' stepmother, Johnny's stepmother-in-law, Dennis' step-grandmother and the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing *

as Professor

Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his ...

, 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 (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

and Wanda's husband *

as Wanda, a werewolf and Wayne's wife *

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, an invisible man *

as Murray, an ancient

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

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

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

in the first three films *

Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...

, Frankenstein's wife * Brad Abrell as

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

, Eunice's husband. He was originally voiced by

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on ''The King of Queens'' from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Emmy ...

in the first three films *

as Dennis, the

dhampir In Balkans folklore, dhampirs (sometimes spelled ''dhampyres'', ''dhamphirs'', or ''dhampyrs'') are creatures that are the result of a union between a vampire and a mortal human. This union was usually between male vampires and female mortal huma ...

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 a friend of Dennis. She was originally voiced by Sadie Sandler 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 *

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

as a zombie that was briefly turned into a human * Aaron LaPlante as: ** Gremlin Pilot ** Gremlin Stewardess * Melissa Sturm as: ** Airbag Monster ** Voice on Phone * Chloé Malaisé as Female Newscaster * Scott Underwood as Male Newscaster * Michelle Murdocca as Witch * Will Townsend as Zombie

Production

In February 2019,

announced that a fourth film had been in development. In October 2019,

confirmed that he would not direct the film. In September 2020,

and

, a storyboard artist on the first two ''

Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American animated media franchise created by comedy writer Todd Durham and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It consists of four feature films, three short films, a flash-animated TV series, and several video ...

'' sequels and a former crew member of ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'' and ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'', respectively, were confirmed to be the film's directors, while Tartakovsky would write the screenplay and serve as an executive producer alongside

, who voices Mavis in the series. Production took place remotely during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

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

would not reprise his role as

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 ...

. The role was given to Brian Hull after voicing the character in the short film '' Monster Pets'', while

, and

were confirmed to reprise their roles. The following month, it was announced that Brad Abrell had replaced

as the voice of

. Lynn Hobson served as editor.

Music

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

returned to score the film, having previously scored the first three installments. The soundtrack was released on December 16, 2022 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 by S ...

. Additionally, the original end credits song ''Love Is Not Hard to Find'' were written by Morien van der Tang, Faried Arween Jhauw, Glen Faria & Jheynner Argot) and performed by Yendry and released on January 14, 2022.

Release

''Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' was released by

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service prim ...

, on January 14, 2022. In February 2019,

scheduled the film for release on December 22, 2021. In April 2020, the film was moved up to August 6, 2021. In April 2021, the film was moved up again to July 23, 2021. In June 2021, the film was rescheduled to October 1, 2021, due to the

. In August 2021,

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

cancelled the film's theatrical plans and entered discussions to sell the distribution rights to a streaming service, in response to the rising cases of the

in the United States. On August 16, 2021, it was reported that Amazon Studios was in negotiations to acquire the distribution rights to the film for $100 million from Sony and would release it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video worldwide, excluding China, where Sony would release it theatrically on an undetermined date. Sony would also retain home entertainment and linear television rights to the film. On October 6, 2021, Amazon set a release date of January 14, 2022. The film had a

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

on February 25, 2022. On March 7, 2022, it was announced that the film would have a theatrical release in China beginning April 3 of that year.

Reception

Critical response

Accolades

The film was nominated for an Children's & Family Emmy Awards for ''Outstanding Special Class Animated Program'' and ''Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for an Animated Program''.

References

External links

* * {{The Invisible Man 2020s American animated films 2020s children's animated films 2020s English-language films 2020s monster movies 2022 comedy films 2022 computer-animated films 2022 films 3D animated films Amazon 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 Films set in hotels Films set in Transylvania Films set in South America Films with screenplays by Genndy Tartakovsky Frankenstein films Hotel Transylvania Mummy films Sony Pictures Animation films Werewolves in animated film Amazon Prime Video original films