''Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures'' is a British-American
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
web series
A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
created by
PJ Liguori, Sophie Newton, Louis Grant and Jamie Swarbrick (working collectively under Liguori's username of KickthePJ) and directed by PJ Liguori. The series was produced by New Form Digital and was first aired digitally via
Vimeo
Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...
On Demand. ''Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures'' set a single-day sales record for Vimeo's On-Demand service, according to CEO Kerry Trainor. The episodes were previously available on Vimeo via paid subscription and as of November 2019, they are available on
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
.
The
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
s and costumes are provided by
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is an American animation and special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based in Hollywood, California, United States.
History
Jim Henson's Creature Shop was ...
.
Plot summary
In the British-American web series, Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures is a
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
establishment run by a man named Oscar Tangolius for a gallery of monstrous residents. When Oscar leaves on important "Cosmic Council" business for a week, he entrusts the establishment and the care of its customers to his nephew Oliver, resulting in chaos.
Characters
* Oscar Tangolius (portrayed by Conor Jatter in the pilot, Andrew Ableson in the series) - The proprietor of Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures. According to Oscar, his hotel is reachable through the Forever Train, Red’s Taxi Service, and something else "equally bizarre and weird." When the series was first seen as a pilot, Oscar had a different appearance where he sported a longer beard and puffy hair.
* Oliver (portrayed by Chris Kendall) - The nephew of Oscar who works as his assistant. While Oscar was away for a week, Oliver runs the hotel in his absence. In the pilot, Oliver was a medical student who specializes in magical creatures.
Recurring characters
These characters have a major role in more than one episode.
* Octochef (portrayed by
Mamrie Hart) - A pink
giant octopus that works as the hotel's chef. The costume was designed by Melissa Doss and Robert Bennett, while the face makeup was provided by Nix Herrera.
* Red (portrayed by Mitchell Davis) - A red man with long horns who runs Red's Taxi Service, which brings guests to the hotel. In the pilot, Red had shorter horns.
* Mo Nay (portrayed by PJ Liguori) - A talking portrait that resides in the hotel and is friends with Oliver.
One-off characters
These characters have a major role in only one episode, although they may appear in minor or background roles in prior or subsequent episodes.
* Party Nightmare (portrayed by Jake Roper) - A disco-themed horse-headed human with a demon face within its mouth who can throw parties. Duncan Daydream was once an ordinary clown until he was transformed into the Party Nightmare upon being bitten by a pony. Anyone shot by his gun parties to the death. The costume was designed by Robert Bennett, with special animatronics provided by John Criswell.
* Wiggles the Clown (portrayed by
PJ Liguori) - A clown that resides at Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures. He was the one who told Oliver about Party Nightmare.
* Murray (portrayed by
Thomas Ridgewell) - A balloon security guard.
* Stan (portrayed by Bertie Gilbert) - A balloon security guard.
* Jonathan Dullhead #1 (portrayed by Joe Bereta).
* Jonathan Dullhead #2 (portrayed by Elliot Morgan).
* Rose (portrayed by Meghan Rienks) - An anthropomorphic rose.
* Crazy Wizard (portrayed by Klarity) - A wizard who is crazy.
* Maus (portrayed by Jack Howard) - An anthropomorphic mouse who works as a bellhop.
* Shark Kid (portrayed by Dean Dobbs) - An anthropomorphic
hammerhead shark
The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, named for the unusual and distinctive form of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a Hammerhead shark#Cephalofoil, cephalofoil (a T-shape or " ...
.
* Snow Creature (portrayed by Nix Herrera) - An unspecified humanoid Arctic creature with heads for hands that lives in the hotel's walk-in refrigerator.
* Food Creatures - A tribe of anthropomorphic foods that are found in the back of the hotel's walk-in refrigerator.
** Ginger Root (performed by
Bruce Lanoil, voiced by
Carrie Fletcher) - An anthropomorphic ginger root.
** Brock (performed by Sean Johnson, voiced by
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg) - An anthropomorphic clump of broccoli.
** Carrie (performed by Carla Rudy, voiced by
Marzia Bisognin) - An anthropomorphic carrot.
** Brie (performed by Russ Walko, voiced by
Daniel Howell) - An anthropomorphic brie cheese slice.
** Rash (performed by Patrick Johnson, voiced by
Phil Lester) - An anthropomorphic bacon strip.
** Sir Loin (performed by Artie Esposito, voiced by
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor.
Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...
) - An anthropomorphic steak.
* Box Death (portrayed by
Olan Rogers) - A bunch of boxes in a humanoid-like shape that rules the Box-World-Afterlife.
* Snow Pea (portrayed by
Gabbie Hanna
Gabrielle Hanna (February 7, 1991) is an American internet personality, singer-songwriter, author, and YouTuber. She rose to prominence on the video platforms Vine and YouTube before releasing her debut single, " Out Loud", in 2017. Her debut ...
) - A long-nosed female from the Box-World-Afterlife.
* Seksiman (portrayed by Rob Michael Hugel) - A half-man, half-goat who lives in the Box-World-Afterlife.
* Hermit (portrayed by
Grace Helbig) - An anthropomorphic
hermit crab
Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...
who lived in a cave that's underneath the hotel. Her costume was designed by Melissa Doss.
* Manny (portrayed by
Steve Zaragoza
Esteban "Steve" Zaragoza (born June 9, 1982) is an American online personality, singer-songwriter, musician and web series host, notable for his work on the current events and news series ''SourceFed''. Zaragoza became a host on the series in 2012 ...
) - An anthropomorphic mantis who works as the hotel's landscaper.
* Finn the Carp (portrayed by
Emma Blackery
Emma Louise Blackery (born 11 November 1991) is an English singer-songwriter, YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and author. Active since 2012, Blackery has garnered over a million subscribers on her YouTube channel and released two studio albums ...
).
* White Spirit (portrayed by
Anna Akana
Anna Kay Napualani Akana (born August 18, 1989) is an American actress, comedian, filmmaker, musician, and YouTuber. She has appeared in TV series, web series, films, and music videos that include Ray William Johnson's ''Breaking Los Angeles'' ...
) - A tentacled creature that destroys paintings with her paint-thinning abilities. Her costume was designed by Gypsy Taylor and her makeup was provided by Chloe Sens.
* Mo Nay Lisa (portrayed by
Olga Kay) - A character with a thought bubble above her head that lives in Artlandia.
* Statue Guy (portrayed by Jarrett Sleeper) - A living statue that lives in Artlandia.
* Cubisto (portrayed by Mitchell Davis) - A cube-themed character that lives in Artlandia.
* Sonny (portrayed by Benjamin Cook).
* Queen Bee (portrayed by
Hannah Hart) - An anthropomorphic queen bee who is the Queen of Busybody. Her makeup was provided by
Nix Herrera.
* Norbert (voiced by
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award ...
) - A purple anthropomorphic fish that works with Albert as a Repossession Fish for the company Magical Bill.
* Albert (performed by Kenny Stevenson, voiced by
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
) - A green anthropomorphic fish that works with Norbert as a Repossession Fish for the company Magical Bill.
* Fly (portrayed by
Toks Olagundoye
Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke "Toks" Olagundoye (born 16 September 1975) is a Nigerian actress known for playing Jackie Joyner-Kersee on '' The Neighbors'', Hayley Shipton on ''Castle'' and Olivia Finch on ''Frasier''. She also voices Nanefu ...
) - An anthropomorphic fly.
* Bill the Worm (portrayed by Mike Falzone) - A green worm that is used in worm racing.
* Jake the Worm (portrayed by
Meghan McCarthy) - A purple worm that is used in worm racing.
* Marzo (portrayed by Mary Doodles) - An insect card dealer that works in the hotel's casino.
Episodes
Awards and nominations
In 2015, ''Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures'' was nominated at the
Shorty Awards
The Shorty Awards (also known as "The Shortys") are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achiev ...
in the Best Web Series category. At the
2016 Streamy Awards, the series received four nominations and won three awards.
References
External links
Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creaturesat
Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
{{The Jim Henson Company
American comedy web series
Fictional hotels
British comedy web series
Web series featuring puppetry
Fantasy comedy web series