''Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop'' (known as ''Dr. Globule'' in France) is a 1994–1997

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

created by Tony Barnes and produced by Philippe Mounier

PMMP PMMP is a Finland, Finnish pop rock band fronted by singers Paula Vesala and Mira Luoti and backed by musicians Mikko Virta, Juho Vehmanen and Heikki Kytölä. The name of the band is often said to be an abbreviation of the sentence "Paulan ja M ...

and Fairwater Films, and distributed in the UK by The Sleepy Kids Company Ltd (who also produced '' Potsworth & Co.'' and ''

Budgie the Little Helicopter ''Budgie the Little Helicopter'' is a British animated television series, relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends, based on a series of children's books. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The ...

'') which later rebranded as SKD Media and

Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formerly known as Sleepy Kids PLC and SKD Media PLC) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialised in television shows and cartoons, children's media, films, and distribution. ...

before being dissolved into Classic Media (now

DreamWorks Classics DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenboge ...

) and by PMMP and TF1 International in the rest of the world. 65 episodes were produced. The show aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 20 June 1994 to 21 August 1997, while in France it aired on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

from 4 September 1996. The show ran for four series. The music for the series was composed by Danny Chang and Tony Barnes. A comic strip version of the show was included in '' Buster'' magazine from September 1994 to November 1996. The series was later repeated 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 ...

in the early 2000s until 2004, and had sporadic reruns from 1999 until 2001 (it was put on hiatus in 2002). It was also aired on cable television in Australia, first airing on

and later on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Plot summary

Dr. Zitbag is a pet shop worker who isn't very good at selling any pets, and because of this, he was fired from the local

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n Pet Shop. He decides to set up his own pet shop in an old haunted castle and finds out that he will have to share the place with a skeleton dog, Horrifido. With Horrifido now helping him out, the doctor begins use his inventions to create horrific pets to gain his profit.

Characters

*Dr. Sidney Zitbag (voiced by

Christian Rodska Christian Rodska (born Christian Rodskjaer; 5 September 1945 – 21 March 2024) was an English actor who appeared in many television and radio series and narrated a number of audiobooks, including Sir Winston Churchill's Nobel Prize winning '' T ...

) – The series' protagonist, a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

type of character who wants to become the world's best pet shop owner. After being fired from the town's only pet shop he goes on to buy an old castle from the Exorsisters and sets up his own pet shop creating new and weird pets in his laboratory, but his plans don't always work and certain mishaps do tend to happen. *Horrifido (or Fido as he was known in life) (voiced by

Kerry Shale Kerry Shale (born 4 June 1952) is a Canadian actor based in London, England. His BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama ''The Kubrick Test'' was broadcast in 2020. He is the co-host of ''Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan'', a podcast about Bob Dylan ...

)Kerry Shale - 25 Voices in 5 Minutes
(Horrifido appears at 0:32, Vermin at 3:08) – The pet dog of Capt. Charles De Ghoul, the former owner of the old castle where Dr. Zitbag sets up his pet shop. Initially haunting the castle as a ghost, the doctor inadvertently uncovers the dog's old bones and the ghoul reanimates them, giving him a physical form. Horrifido is a skeleton dog with green ears shaped like a bat's wings, who becomes Dr. Zitbag's assistant. Sometimes Horrifido is seen wearing a pink bow collar around his neck. *The Exorsisters (voiced by Nicolette McKenzie) – Dr. Zitbag's neighbours. Both ladies are twins resembling the

bride of Frankenstein ''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American Gothic science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring ...

. Every so often, Dr. Zitbag always tries to impress them both, but the two often argue with each other. Sinista has purple streaks in her hair and often dismisses Dr. Zitbag, whereas Bimbella has white streaks in her hair and is more willing to give him a chance. *Zombunny – A

zombified "Zombified" is a song by American rock band Falling in Reverse. It was released on January 5, 2022, through Epitaph Records. It was released as a standalone single and was later included on their fifth studio album '' Popular Monster''. The song ...

rabbit who never seems to move. Most of the time, he is seen with Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido, as Dr. Zitbag would use Zombunny as part of his experiments. Zitbag would often throw him aside while saying a cursory "''Excuse'' me, Zombunny". *Officer Deadbeat (voiced by

) – The local police officer of Transylvania and Dr. Zitbag's

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Kerry Shale Kerry Shale (born 4 June 1952) is a Canadian actor based in London, England. His BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama ''The Kubrick Test'' was broadcast in 2020. He is the co-host of ''Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan'', a podcast about Bob Dylan ...

) – Dr. Zitbag's rival. Sinistra and Bimbella sometimes call him to help them, eventually making Dr. Zitbag jealous.

List of episodes

Twelve out of the 65 episodes of the show were released on video.

Series One (1994)

# Welcome To The Transylvania Pet Shop - first aired: 20/06/1994 (the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

of the show) # Grime Does Not Pay - first aired: 27/06/1994
There was no episode broadcast on 04/07/1994 due to a showing of ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' as a result of schedule changes regarding the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. # Horrybaby - first aired: 11/07/1994 # Food Glorious Pet Food - first aired: 18/07/1994 # Ants In Your Pants - first aired: 25/07/1994 # Every Dog Has Its Show - first aired: 01/08/1994 # Gorilla Thriller - first aired: 08/08/1994 # Where Mouse - first aired: 15/08/1994 # Pirate Parrots - first aired: 22/08/1994
There was no episode shown on 29/08/1994 due to it being public holiday. # Bungle in the Jungle - first aired: 05/09/1994 # Halloween Horse Race - first aired: 12/09/1994 # Double Trouble - first aired: 19/09/1994 # Triassic Lark - first aired: 26/09/1994 - The children demand pet dinosaurs, which causes Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido to construct a time machine in order to travel to prehistoric times so to capture some baby dinosaurs. After minor setbacks such as travelling to before the creation of the Earth and the future, they arrive in prehistoric times, unbeknownst that Officer Deadbeat has snuck on board and has hijinks with a cavewoman. This is the first episode (also applies to every episode beyond) that was only broadcast and never commercially released.

Series Two (1995)

# Inspectre Spector - first aired: 09/06/1995 # Pyramid Pandemonium - first aired: 16/06/1995 # Computer Bugged - first aired: 23/06/1995 # Kangaroo Caught - first aired: 30/06/1995 # Orang-Utans and Lemmings - first aired: 07/07/1995 # Medieval Dread - first aired: 14/07/1995 # Easter Funny - first aired: 21/07/1995 # Happy Horridays - first aired: 28/07/1995 # Transylvania Excess - first aired: 04/08/1995 # Do You Believe in Humans? - first aired: 11/08/1995 # Loch Mess Monster - first aired: 18/08/1995 # Hooray for Horrywood - first aired: 25/08/1995 # The Show Mustn't Go On - first aired: 01/09/1995

Series Three (1996)

# Don't Hoot, I'm Only the Piano Slayer - first aired: 11/06/1996 # Pinball Wizard - first aired: 18/06/1996 # From Transylvania with Love - first aired: 25/06/1996 # Tele Nightmare - first aired: 02/07/1996 # A Close Shave - first aired: 09/07/1996 # Lost Wages - first aired: 16/07/1996 # Son of Zitbag - first aired: 23/07/1996 # Cranksgiving Chaos - first aired: 30/07/1996 # Bride of Horrifido - first aired: 06/08/1996 # Horrorgrammes Horrolympics - first aired: 13/08/1996 # Slime Suspect - first aired: 20/08/1996 # Moby Duck Billed Platypus - first aired: 27/08/1996 # I Was a Teenage Zitbag - first aired: 03/09/1996

Series Four (1997)

# A True Fairy Tale - first aired: 29/05/1997 # For Better or For Curse - first aired: 05/06/1997 # Horrorlection Fever - first aired: 12/06/1997 # Time is Big Money - first aired: 19/06/1997 # Happy Mishmash - first aired: 26/06/1997 # Tele-Zitportation - first aired: 03/07/1997 # A Giant Problem - first aired: 10/07/1997 # My Zister - first aired: 17/07/1997 # The Seventh Art - first aired: 24/07/1997 # Nothing There - first aired: 31/07/1997 # Doc, What's Up - first aired: 07/08/1997 # Terror in Transylvania - first aired: 14/08/1997 # Dances the Hula - first aired: 21/08/1997

Series Five (Unaired)

The following episodes never aired on CITV. # End of Season # Rose Button # Scare Tactics # Hydrious Monster # Zlotys Galore # Bluebald # Dr. Zitbag Against Silly Holmes # Mad Scientific Shenanigans # The Ridiculous Journey # Horrible Horrorscopes # Anarchic Arctic Antics # Word of Horror # Forever Fiends ''Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop'' is currently one of the most requested unreleased DVDs at TVShowsOnDVD.com. Season 1 is currently available for download (In English) from Amazon UK.

In other languages

* *

References

External links

Retro Junk
*

*

Philippe Mounier Marketing Production PMMP (Philippe Mounier Marketing Production) is a French production company that was created in 1987 specializing in animation, and educational contents Productions Series * Costa (100 x 5'), TF1 * Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop (65 x ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop British children's animated comedy television series British children's animated horror television series 1994 British television series debuts 1997 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series Carlton Television DreamWorks Classics Television series by Universal Television ITV children's television shows Nickelodeon original programming Television series by ITV Studios British English-language television shows 1990s British animated television series ITV animated television series Transylvania in fiction Pet stores Television series set in castles Works based on Frankenstein