Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Did You Know?

• Mark Mothersbaugh returned to compose the score, continuing his work from the previous three installments.
• An original song in the end credits, “Love Is Not Hard to Find,” was performed by Yendry.
• A spin-off television series titled Motel Transylvania was announced in June 2024, set to premiere on Netflix in 2027.

Plot

At a party celebrating Hotel Transylvania’s 125th anniversary, Dracula decides to step down and hand the hotel over to his daughter Mavis and her husband Johnny. When Johnny overhears this and excitedly starts talking about renovations, Drac warns him about a supposed “monster real-estate law” that stops humans from owning the hotel. Feeling left out, Johnny accepts the situation. Van Helsing then steps in with a special ray that can turn humans into monsters and monsters into humans. Johnny gets zapped and becomes a dragon-like creature, but when Drac tries to reverse it, he accidentally turns himself into a human and breaks the ray’s crystal. Van Helsing tells them they need to get a replacement crystal from the Cave of the Reflexión in South America to fix things.

Meanwhile, Drac’s friends Frank, Wayne, Griffin, and Murray drink from a fountain that had been exposed to the ray, turning them into humans. Mavis and Van Helsing’s great-granddaughter Ericka find out about this and see Drac and Johnny on the news. They confront Van Helsing, who explains that the ray’s effects are unstable and will become permanent if not reversed in time. The group then heads to South America on Ericka’s airship.

During the trip, Drac and Johnny start bonding, but things get tense when Drac admits the real-estate law was a lie. Feeling betrayed, Johnny mutates into a giant monster and runs off. Mavis tracks him down and leads him to the cave, but the crystal doesn’t work at first because Johnny is too wild and angry. However, Drac lets Johnny capture him and tells him he accepts him as family. This calms Johnny down, and Mavis successfully restores him to normal.

Back home, everyone is changed back, but the hotel has been wrecked by Van Helsing’s pet guinea pig, Gigi, who was also transformed. After reversing Gigi’s change, Drac decides to give the hotel keys to Mavis and Johnny, telling them to rebuild it however they want. One year later, the hotel is rebuilt with some new touches, which amuses Drac.

Voice cast

Andy Samberg returns as Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran, and Selena Gomez voices Mavis Dracula, with Victoria Gomez providing the voice of a young Mavis as well as Wilma. Kathryn Hahn plays Ericka Van Helsing, Dracula's wife and great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing. Brad Abrell voices Frankenstein, replacing Kevin James. Steve Buscemi plays Wayne, David Spade plays Griffin, and Keegan-Michael Key plays Murray. Fran Drescher voices Eunice, Molly Shannon voices Wanda, and Jim Gaffigan plays Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Asher Blinkoff voices Dennis, Zoe Berri voices Winnie, and Asher Bishop voices Wesley. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins voices Party Monster, Genndy Tartakovsky voices Blobby, Jennifer Kluska voices Wendy, and Derek Drymon voices a zombie briefly turned human.

Release

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was released by Amazon Studios on Prime Video on January 14, 2022. Originally scheduled for theatrical release on December 22, 2021, the date was moved several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually being cancelled in August 2021. Sony Pictures sold global streaming rights (excluding China) to Amazon Studios for $100 million. The film had a limited theatrical release on February 25, 2022, and opened in Chinese theaters on April 3, 2022. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released it on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on August 15, 2023.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania holds an approval rating of 47% based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The critical consensus describes it as "middling family viewing — relatively painless, but overall rather uninspired." Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, noting it never rises above a wholesome amusement ride. Tomris Laffly of Variety called it a wearisome tale clumsy with its messaging. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter praised the animation and tone as energetically wacky like classic Looney Tunes.