Mona the Vampire

Did You Know?

• The series was the second co-production between CINAR and Alphanim, following Animal Crackers.
• Each full episode contains two 11-minute segments.
• In a retrospective review, Luka Costello of The Arcade praised the show's witty dialogue and catchy theme song.

Characters

Mona Parker, voiced by Emma Taylor-Isherwood, is a young girl with a vivid imagination who sees herself as a vampire heroine saving her town from supernatural monsters. Her pet cat Fang follows her everywhere, wearing fake bat wings when she is in costume. Charles "Charley" Bones, voiced by Justin Bradley in seasons 1–3 and Evan Smirnow in season 4, is a timid, bespectacled boy whose alter-ego Zapman wears a green alien costume and carries a Zapp-A-Rama gun. Lily Duncan, voiced by Carrie Finlay, is a timid friend whose alter-ego Princess Giant wears a long blond wig and crown. Mona's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Parker, voiced by Marcel Jeannin and Carole Jeghers; Mrs. Parker is stricter while Mr. Parker is more light-hearted. Angela Smith, voiced by Tia Caroleo, is a snobby rich girl who frequently causes problems for Mona. Madeleine Gotto, voiced by Jennifer Seguin, is Mona's stern teacher who often falls in love easily. Principal Ivan Shawbly, voiced by Rick Miller in seasons 1–3 and Stephen Spreekmeester in season 4, is the strict principal of St. Faith's Elementary. Lawrence, voiced by Michael Yarmush, is another friend at the school.

Production

The series is based on a children's book published in the United Kingdom by Orchard Books in 1990, written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman. The concept was retooled in 1995 with a series of novels written by Hiawyn Oram, with Holleyman still illustrating. Development began in the mid-1990s; after being pitched unsuccessfully to British networks, Ian Lewis and The Farnham Film Company took the project to Canada, where CINAR Corporation picked it up. The series entered development in 1997 and was greenlit for 26 half-hour episodes in early 1998, with production beginning that June. The theme song score was composed by Judy Henderson, with lyrics by Judy Rothman (uncredited), and performed by Lulu Hughes (credited as Loulou Hughes on the official website). A second season of 13 episodes was renewed in early 2000; funding was affected by the CINAR scandal, though CINAR's president stated the funding was not a high percentage of the budget. A third season of 13 episodes was greenlit in 2001, and a fourth season of 13 episodes was renewed in fall 2002, with production wrapping in early 2004.

Broadcast and streaming

The series premiered in Canada on YTV on September 13, 1999, and in France on France 3 on October 30, 2000. For the last two seasons, it moved to Tiji. In the United Kingdom, it aired on Nickelodeon, CBBC, and later on Pop. It was never broadcast in the U.S. during its original run, though attempts were made in the early 2000s. In 2009, Cookie Jar launched the streaming service Jaroo, where Mona was advertised as having its U.S. premiere; the service has since been discontinued. The series finally made its U.S. broadcast premiere on This TV as part of the Cookie Jar Toons block from September 26, 2011 to October 27, 2013. Currently, the first season is available on Roku and Tubi, and the entire series is available on iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play.

Other media

During and after the show's run, several DVDs containing select episodes were released by Cookie Jar Entertainment, sometimes including extra features such as episode and language selection and voiced character descriptions. The complete first season was released in North America by Mill Creek Entertainment, featuring select episodes from various Cookie Jar shows. In the UK, VHS and DVD releases were handled by Abbey Home Media and Direct Source Products. In 2000, Alphanim, Tiji, and CINAR created a bilingual Adobe Flash website at monathevampire.com, featuring games and activities; the domain was deactivated by 2016, and archived versions may be inaccessible due to the discontinuation of Adobe Flash Player.