# Mona the Vampire

Mona the Vampire is an animated children's television series based on the children's book of the same name written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman (itself adapted to the novel series, itself illustrated by Holleyman and written by Hiawyn Oram). The series aired in Canada on YTV from September 13, 1999, to February 22, 2006; in France, it first aired on France 3 on October 30, 2000.
Mona the Vampire was co-produced by the CINAR Corporation, Alphanim, Animation Services (in Hong Kong; season 3) and YTV in co-production with France 3 (seasons 1 and 2), Canal J (seasons 1) and Tiji (seasons 3 and 4), with the participation of the Independent Production Fund, the Shaw Children's Programming Initiative and Telefilm Canada.

## Synopsis

The series follows the adventures of Mona Parker, who refers to herself as "Mona the Vampire", as well as her two best friends, Lily Duncan ("Princess Giant") and Charley Bones ("Zapman"), and her pet cat, Fang, as they imagine themselves confronting a new supernatural foe, or solving a supernatural mystery, in every episode. There are always rational explanations for what they see.

## Cast
### Main

* Mona Parker ("Mona the Vampire") (voiced by Emma Taylor-Isherwood) – A ten-year-old girl with a vivid imagination and a naive personality who imagines herself as a vampire heroine coming out to save the day. She believes the town she lives in is overrun with supernatural monsters, and she plans to stop them all and save the town on a daily basis. Although Mona's active imagination can cause trouble at times, her imagination has more often than not proven to be helpful.
* Fang – Mona's pet cat, he is a feline sidekick who always follows Mona everywhere. Fang is her accomplice in the nether realms of her imagination. When going with Mona while in her vampire costume, he has fake wings tied to his back.
* Charles "Charley" Bones ("Zapman") (voiced by Justin Bradley in seasons 1–3; Evan Smirnow in season 4) – One of Mona's best friends, he is an intelligent but also timid bespectacled boy in real life. His alter ego is Zapman, who wears a green alien costume and is armed with a Zapp-A-Rama gun, which really is a water pistol, though he can be seen holding another kind of toy gun. Charley's nemesis is the local school bully George.
* Lily Duncan ("Princess Giant") (voiced by Carrie Finlay) – One of Mona's best friends. She has a timid and slightly paranoid personality at times, but she is still helpful to the team. Her alter ego is Princess Giant, who wears a long blond wig topped with a crown and holds a stuffed toy cat.
* Mr. and Mrs. Parker (voiced by Marcel Jeannin and Carole Jeghers) – Mona's parents. Mrs. Parker is shown to be the stricter of the two, while Mr. Parker is more light-hearted and somewhat clumsy, as he is more likely to believe what Mona thinks in her imagination.
* Angela Smith (voiced by Tia Caroleo) – Mona's snobby rival, a rich girl who frequently flaunts her wealth to her classmates. She also regularly enlists George in her schemes to cause problems for Mona. Her parents won the lottery, explaining her sheer wealth and her resulting spoiledness.

### Recurring

* Madeleine Gotto (voiced by Jennifer Seguin) – Mona's teacher. She is very stern, yet also has a habit of falling in love easily. She is often exasperated by Mona's strange ideas and arguments for supernatural occurrences which are ordinary events.
* Principal Ivan Shawbly (voiced by Rick Miller in seasons 1–3; Stephen Spreekmeester in season 4) – The strict principal of Mona's school, St. Faith's Elementary. He easily grows tired of Mona's behaviour and is quick to discipline her.
* Lawrence (voiced by Michael Yarmush) – A friend of Mona and the gang, and student at St. Faith's Elementary.
* Officer Halcroft (voiced by Gary Jewell in seasons 1–3; Richard Dumont in season 4) – The chief of the local police. He's become used to Mona's antics, and is quick to offer a more rational explanation to Mona's stories which, ironically, Mona finds rather outlandish and unbelievable.
* George Jamell (voiced by Oliver Grainger in seasons 1–3; James Harbour in season 4) – A school bully who picks on other kids at school, especially Charley. He is friends with Angela, and often does the job for her schemes, essentially serving as her right hand man.
* Mayor Rosenbaum (voiced by John Stocker) – The town's mayor.
* Mrs. Bryerson (voiced by Sonja Ball) – Mona's elderly neighbour. She has a poodle named Blitzy.
* Reverend Gregory (voiced by Louis Negin) – The local reverend.

## Episodes

There are a total of 65 full episodes of Mona the Vampire. Each episode is approximately 22 minutes long, and each full episode contains two 11-minute episodes. Four seasons of Mona the Vampire were produced. The first season contains 26 full episodes, while seasons 2, 3, and 4 each contains 13 full episodes.

### Series overview

| Season | Segments | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 52 | 26 | 26 | September 13, 1999 (1999-9-13) | February 14, 2001 (2001-2-14) |
| 2 | 26 | 13 | 13 | September 15, 2001 (2001-9-15) | December 9, 2001 (2001-12-9) |
| 3 | 26 | 13 | 13 | February 28, 2002 (2002-2-28) | June 14, 2002 (2002-6-14) |
| 4 | 26 | 13 | 13 | January 26, 2004 (2004-1-26) | February 22, 2006 (2006-2-22) |

### Season 1 (1999–2001)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Attack Of the Living Scarecrow""The Robot Babysitter" | Gerald Lewis & Joseph MallozziJoseph Mallozzi | Éric BergeronJeremy O'Neil | September 13, 1999 (1999-9-13) |
| 2 | 2 | "Von Kreepsula Runs Amok""The Nefarious Computer Virus" | Joseph MallozziGerald Lewis | Olivier PoiretteRoberto Curilli | September 18, 1999 (1999-9-18) |
| 3 | 3 | "The Miserable Phantom Dog""Jurassic Parking Lot" | Anne-Marie Perrotta & Tean SchultzGerald Lewis | Éric BergeronGerry Capelle | September 20, 1999 (1999-9-20) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Whirling Void""There's No Place Like Gnome" | Joseph Mallozzi | Roberto CurilliMitsuho Sato | September 25, 1999 (1999-9-25) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Dreaded Human Spider""The Living Mannequin" | Kim SegalThomas LaPierre | Gerry CapelleÉric Bergeron | September 27, 1999 (1999-9-27) |
| 6 | 6 | "The X-Change Student""Red Moon Monsters" | Gerald LewisIan Lewis | Roberto CurilliMitsuho Sato | October 2, 1999 (1999-10-2) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Skeleton Cowboy""The Men in Darksuits" | Jacques BouchardAnne-Marie Perrotta & Tean Schultz | Gerry CapelleÉric Bergeron | October 25, 1999 (1999-10-25) |
| 8 | 8 | "The Vampire Hunter""The Sounds of Sirens" | Joseph MallozziJesse Prupas | Mitsuho SatoRoberto Curilli | November 1, 1999 (1999-11-1) |
| 9 | 9 | "The Book of the Slimy""The Sam'n Ella Infiltration" | Anne-Marie Perrotta & Tean SchultzGerald Lewis | Gerry CapelleÉric Bergeron | November 8, 1999 (1999-11-8) |
| 10 | 10 | "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb""Freaky the Snowman" | Joseph MallozziGerald Lewis | Mitsuho SatoRoberto Curilli | November 15, 1999 (1999-11-15) |
| 11 | 11 | "The Dastardly Dr. Voodoo""Dancing Underpants Ghoulie" | Amy Jo CooperJoseph Mallozzi | Gerry CapelleÉric Bergeron | November 22, 1999 (1999-11-22) |
| 12 | 12 | "Miss Gotto's Haunted House""Cry of the Swamp Thing" | Joseph MallozziKim Segal | Mitsuho SatoStefan Vermullen | November 29, 1999 (1999-11-29) |
| 13 | 13 | "Spirit of the Woods""The Bogeyman Cometh" | Ian LewisTerry Saltsman | Gerry CapelleÉric Bergeron | December 6, 1999 (1999-12-6) |
| 14 | 14 | "The Man with Nine Lives""Yak of the Yammering Yam" | Gerald LewisAnthony Guadagno | Roberto CurilliStefan Vermullen | August 15, 2000 (2000-8-15) |
| 15 | 15 | "Small Town""The Devious Doppelganger" | Jacques BouchardGerald Lewis | Zoran VanjakaÉric Bergeron | August 22, 2000 (2000-8-22) |
| 16 | 16 | "Creature from the Depths""Mona and the Werewolf" | S.M. MolitorIan Lewis | Roberto CurelliStefan Vermullen | August 29, 2000 (2000-8-29) |
| 17 | 17 | "Garage Sale Genie""Ghouls and Dolls" | Daniel BaldassiMaureen Neilson & Hugh Neilson | Éric BergeronZoran Vanjaka | September 13, 2000 (2000-9-13) |
| 18 | 18 | "Flea Circus of Horrors""Shadow of a Doubt" | S.M. MolitorNatalie Dumoulin | Stefan VermullenRoberto Curilli | September 20, 2000 (2000-9-20) |
| 19 | 19 | "The Fortune Cookie""Pixies" | Sarah Musgrave & Jason BogdanerisAmy Jo Cooper | Éric BergeronZoran Vanjaka | September 27, 2000 (2000-9-27) |
| 20 | 20 | "The Billabong Bunyip""The Subhuman Substitutes" | Gerald LewisJacques Bouchard | Roberto CurilliStefan Vermullen | October 4, 2000 (2000-10-4) |
| 21 | 21 | "Cupid's Mark""The Lost Pirates" | Anne-Marie Perrotta & Tean SchultzLydia Eugene | Zoran VanjakaÉric Bergeron | February 14, 2001 (2001-2-14) |
| 22 | 22 | "Hex of a Dancer""The Two Magicians" | Ken RossIan Lewis | Roberto CurilliStefan Vermullen | October 11, 2000 (2000-10-11) |
| 23 | 23 | "Time Shift""Timeout" | Kristine Van DusenJacques Bouchard | Éric BergeronZoran Vanjaka | October 18, 2000 (2000-10-18) |
| 24 | 24 | "Bird Boy""Flower Power" | Gerald LewisJacques Bouchard | Stefan Vermullen | October 25, 2000 (2000-10-25) |
| 25 | 25 | "Spitting Image""Fourth Dementia Funhouse" | Jacques BouchardGerald Lewis | Zoran VanjakaÉric Bergeron | November 1, 2000 (2000-11-1) |
| 26 | 26 | "Brainwash Boogie""Von Kreepsula's Return" | Kristine Van Dusen | Éric BergeronDenis Banville | November 8, 2000 (2000-11-8) |

### Season 2 (2001)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 27 | 1 | "Dr. Java & Mr. Hyde""Miss Dewey's Dismal System" | September 15, 2001 (2001-9-15) |
| 28 | 2 | "Polyester Power Suit""The Droll Troll" | September 22, 2001 (2001-9-22) |
| 29 | 3 | "Ventrillo-Creeps""Limo to Loserville" | September 29, 2001 (2001-9-29) |
| 30 | 4 | "The Columbus Triangle""Soccer Sasquatch" | October 7, 2001 (2001-10-7) |
| 31 | 5 | "Cyborg Phantas""Kitten of the Sea" | October 14, 2001 (2001-10-14) |
| 32 | 6 | "Witch Watch""The Hexed Mansion of Agatha Misty" | October 28, 2001 (2001-10-28) |
| 33 | 7 | "Sun Worshippers""Heat Wave" | October 21, 2001 (2001-10-21) |
| 34 | 8 | "The Ninja's Curse""Hal T. Neander" | November 4, 2001 (2001-11-4) |
| 35 | 9 | "Shame on the Shaman""Programmed Pioneers" | November 11, 2001 (2001-11-11) |
| 36 | 10 | "Flu-topia""Chain Letter" | November 18, 2001 (2001-11-18) |
| 37 | 11 | "The Baby Charmer""Monster Trash" | November 25, 2001 (2001-11-25) |
| 38 | 12 | "Granite Goliath""Intergalactic Space Campers" | December 2, 2001 (2001-12-2) |
| 39 | 13 | "Potato Fish Creepers""It's All Relative" | December 9, 2001 (2001-12-9) |

### Season 3 (2002)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 40 | 1 | "The Black Hole""Waxing Nostalgic" | February 28, 2002 (2002-2-28) |
| 41 | 2 | "Lil' Freddy Frosty""Attack of the Bratty Vamp Pack" | March 1, 2002 (2002-3-1) |
| 42 | 3 | "The Transformation of Frank Stein""Taking the Cake" | March 4, 2002 (2002-3-4) |
| 43 | 4 | "Terror in Toon Town""Ghost in the Knight" | March 5, 2002 (2002-3-5) |
| 44 | 5 | "All in a Day's Work""Interchange Intrigue" | March 6, 2002 (2002-3-6) |
| 45 | 6 | "Jack Out of the Box""Crazy Crop Circles" | March 7, 2002 (2002-3-7) |
| 46 | 7 | "Toys Are Us""The Hair Scare" | March 8, 2002 (2002-3-8) |
| 47 | 8 | "Mona vs. Ms. Marvelous""Spelling Bee" | April 5, 2002 (2002-4-5) |
| 48 | 9 | "The Horned Horror""The Legend of Caboose Malloy" | April 8, 2002 (2002-4-8) |
| 49 | 10 | "The Cat Lady's Meow""The Wereclown" | April 9, 2002 (2002-4-9) |
| 50 | 11 | "Ghouls Rule!""The Transylvanian Twist" | May 7, 2002 (2002-5-7) |
| 51 | 12 | "Terminate Her""18 Holes to Oblivion" | May 8, 2002 (2002-5-8) |
| 52 | 13 | "The Case of the Moll Troll""The Alien Magician" | June 14, 2002 (2002-6-14) |

### Season 4 (2004-2006)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original release date |
| 53 | 1 | "Ghastly Gargoyle Galore""Monkey Sea, Monkey Do" | Kim SegalJacques Bouchard | TBA | March 15, 2004 (2004-3-15) |
| 54 | 2 | "The Wrath of Thor""The Pied Piper" | Gerald LewisAnne-Marie Perrotta & Tean Schultz | TBA | August 25, 2004 (2004-8-25) |
| 55 | 3 | "Horrorscope""The Rescue of Queen Mab" | Kim Segal & Travis M. WilliamsGerald Lewis | TBA | August 25, 2004 (2004-8-25) |
| 56 | 4 | "The Sharkman Goeth""Dr. Purrman's Secret Recipe" | Anne-Marie Perrotta & Tean SchultzKristine Van Dusen | TBA | Unaired |
| 57 | 5 | "Atlantis at Last""Invasion of the Shadflies" | Jacques BouchardJason Bogdaneris | TBA | August 26, 2004 (2004-8-26) |
| 58 | 6 | "Gotto Robotto""The Laser Wizard" | Kristine Van DusenGerald Lewis | TBA | January 26, 2004 (2004-1-26) |
| 59 | 7 | "The Ghost of the Flying Trapeze""Bowling Gremlins" | Gerald LewisKim Segal & Travis M. Williams | TBA | August 27, 2004 (2004-8-27) |
| 60 | 8 | "Aliens 1-2-3""Zapman, Myself and I" | Anne-Marie Perrotta & Tean SchultzJacques Bouchard | TBA | May 10, 2004 (2004-5-10) |
| 61 | 9 | "Would You Like Fries with That?""The Haunted School Bus" | Michael F. HamillKristine Vau Dusen | TBA | February 21, 2006 (2006-2-21) |
| 62 | 10 | "Nickelodeon Nightmare""Ready Steady Yeti" | Jason BogdanerisGerald Lewis | TBA | February 22, 2006 (2006-2-22) |
| 63 | 11 | "The Sandman""Von Kreepsula's Day Off" | Kim Segal & Travis M. WilliamsGerald Lewis & Kristine Van Dusen | TBA | March 26, 2004 (2004-3-26) |
| 64 | 12 | "Rockin' Reptile Roundup""The Suck-O-5000" | Jason BogdanerisSarah Musgrave | TBA | March 10, 2004 (2004-3-10) |
| 65 | 13 | "Medusa's Revenge""The Fearsome Forecasts" | Michael F. HamillGerald Lewis | TBA | March 30, 2004 (2004-3-30) |

## Production
### Book basis

Mona the Vampire is based on a children's book of the same name that was published in the United Kingdom by Orchard Books in 1990 and was written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman. The book was the first in a Mona children's book series. Holleyman's original idea of Mona, as represented in the original Mona books, led more towards a girl with a great imagination who, like many children, likes to experiment with multiple different obsessions.
The concept would be retooled in 1995 with the release of a series of Mona the Vampire novels, this time written by Hiawyn Oram, with Holleyman still illustrating. In these books, Mona is now solely infatuated with her vampire superheroine persona. Four novels would be published from the mid-to-late 1990s, and would serve as the basis for the television series.

### Television adaptation

The series started development in the mid-1990s. It was originally pitched around to various British networks, but after no success, Ian Lewis, along with his production company, The Farnham Film Company, took the project to Canada, where it was picked up by the CINAR corporation. The series entered development in 1997, and it would soon be greenlit for 26 half-hour episodes in early 1998. Production would officially begin that June; it was the second series to be co-produced by CINAR and Alphanim, following Animal Crackers.
The theme song score was composed by Judy Henderson, who had also helped compose the theme for Arthur, another CINAR production. The lyrics were written by Judy Rothman, though for unknown reasons, she was uncredited. The theme was performed by Quebecoise singer Lulu Hughes. Like Rothman, she was not credited in the actual show, but on the show's official website, she was credited as Loulou Hughes. Her contribution was confirmed by Henderson in 2022.
The series was renewed for a second season containing 13 half-hour episodes in early 2000. Due to the then-ongoing CINAR scandal, Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Television Fund had suspended business with the company. This affected funding for the second season, although Peter Moss, then-president of CINAR, stated that the funding was "not a very high percentage of the budget."
A third season, containing an additional 13 half-hour episodes, was greenlit in 2001. After production of the third season wrapped up in spring 2002, production on the series went on a hiatus, before the series was eventually renewed for a fourth season, once again containing 13 half-hour episodes, that fall. Production wrapped up in early 2004.

## Reception
### Critical response

In a retrospective review from The Arcade, Luka Costello was positive about the show, stating that despite the young demographic, "the show was never too preachy. It had witty dialogue and the simple animation is still admirable. It was definitely the humble origins of my love for the supernatural and that theme song was catchy as hell."

## Broadcast and streaming

The series was originally premiered in Canada on YTV on September 13, 1999, and later in France on France 3 on October 30, 2000. For Seasons 3 and 4, the series moved to Tiji. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Nickelodeon, CBBC, and later on Pop for a brief period.
Despite its success in other territories, the series was never broadcast in the U.S. during its original run, though attempts were made in the early 2000s. In 2009, Cookie Jar launched Jaroo, a streaming service that housed a majority of their animated properties, including the DIC library, which they had acquired the previous year. Mona was available to stream on Jaroo, being advertised as having its U.S premiere on the platform. The streaming service has since been discontinued.
It wouldn't be until 2011 when the series would finally make its U.S. broadcast premiere on This TV, as part of the Cookie Jar Toons children's programming block. The series would premiere on September 26, 2011, and would run until October 27, 2013. The block was discontinued four days later.
Currently, the first season is available to stream for free on Tubi. The entire series in full is also available on iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play.

## Other media
### Home media

During and after the show's run, several DVDs containing select episodes of the series were released, especially by Cookie Jar Entertainment. These DVDs sometimes included extra features, such as episode and language selection settings and voiced character descriptions by child voice actors. The complete first season was later released in North America by Mill Creek Entertainment, which featured select episodes from various Cookie Jar shows, including episodes from Busytown Mysteries, Horseland, Wimzie's House, Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, Happy Castle and The Wombles.
In the UK, VHS and DVD releases were handled by Abbey Home Media and Direct Source Products.

### Website

In 2000, Alphanim, Tiji, and CINAR created a bilingual Adobe Flash-based website under the domain name monathevampire.com. This website featured several games and activities that included characters and settings from the series. The domain had been deactivated by 2016, but archived versions of the site still exist. Due to the discontinuation of the Adobe Flash Player at the end of 2020, archived versions of the website may be inaccessible.