A fun animation set in a hotel for monsters who fear humans

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2019)

This film opens in 1895 as Dracula is planning to open a luxury hotel where monsters can stay free from the fear that human mobs will burn then, stake them or otherwise harm them... it also means his baby daughter, Mavis, will never have to see a dreaded human. The action then moves forward to the present day and Dracula is about to throw a hundred and eighteenth birthday party for Mavis. She is keen to see more of the world but Dracula has plans to make her change her mind. Then things go wrong... just as the guests arrive a human turns up. He is Jonathan Loughran, a twenty one year old backpacker. Dracula quickly disguises him as a monster so other guests won't think the hotel is unsafe... that is the least of his worries though; Mavis likes him!
There were elements of this film I really liked; the central characters; particularly Dracula, Mavis and Johnathan are a lot of fun. Similarly I liked the child-friendly portrayal of classic horror characters; Dracula, Frankenstein (actually the monster not the scientist), the Mummy and the Werewolf... along with their families. There were plenty of laughs to be had; even if some were a little crude for my tastes. The animation was very impressive even when watched on a small television although it is clear that many shots were designed to make use of 3D in the cinema version. The character designs are good and the voice cast do a fine job bringing them to life. Overall I'd say this is a fun film for fans of computer generated animation... it's not up with Disney/Pixar but it passed the time nicely.