Gendy Tartakovsky, the animator behind the Cartoon Network series Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Lab and the first Star Wars: Clone Wars series, is gearing up to make his feature film debut with Hotel Transylvania. Part of that preparation is the lining up of a rather impressive group of actors who will be lending their voices to the film. Amongst those in the cast are Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Andy Samberg, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Cee Lo Green and Molly Shannon.
Headling the cast, Sandler will be playing Count Dracula,and Sony’s press release describes the film as follows –
Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s (Sandler) lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free from meddling from the human world. But here’s a little known fact about Dracula: he is not only the Prince of Darkness; he is also a dad. Over-protective of his teenage daughter, Mavis, Dracula fabricates tales of elaborate dangers to dissuade her adventurous spirit. As a haven for Mavis, he opens the Hotel Transylvania, where his daughter and some of the world’s most famous monsters – Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more – can kick back in safety and peace. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis.
James and Drescher will be playing the husband-and-wife pair of Frankenstein and his Bride. The cast’s other married couple are Wayne and Wanda, a pair of werewolves to be voiced by Buscemi and Shannon.
Spade will be be playing Quasimodo, who has moved on from his bell-ringing duties at a Parisian cathedral to become a gourmet chef at the titular hotel. Cee Lo Green will play the former entertainer to the Pharaohs, Murray the Mummy.
While I’m not a fan of some of the folks in the cast, they certainly are smart casting for a studio looking for names to headline a promotional campaign. But for me, the biggest name is Tartakovsky himself. His work on his Cartoon Network shows have always been exciting, stylish and fun and I can’t wait to see how he cuts loose with a feature film.
The film is scheduled for a September 12, 2012 release.
