Most kids love the old, classic monsters, and I am no exception.  Those old classics, somewhat re-imagined, are all present in Hotel Transylvania — Dracula, the Mummy, the Werewolf, Frankenstein’s Monster (simply but incorrectly named just plain Frankenstein), the Invisible Man — along with a host of others.  They travel to the title establishment for a week of safety and relaxation every year; and this year they will help celebrate Dracula’s cute daughter’s 118th birthday, when she finally reaches adulthood.

This cartoon comedy from Sony Pictures Animation and director Genndy Tartakovsky takes a lot of liberties — not all of them welcome — with the original characters and archetypes but still manages to tell an entertaining tale, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense.  The story’s entire structure is built on an erroneous fallacy, and when reality is revealed everything comes together in too neat of a package.  However, the rewards of the film are not rooted in the story, but the characters and the humor.

The characters are nicely developed, even if they do differ markedly from tradition. My favorite is probably the werewolf family, much more realistic than Universal’s Wolf Man conventions.  And Dracula’s daughter, Mavis, is beautifully rendered, with tiny little fangs that are just the cutest!  The celebrity voices behind the pictures fit the characters very well, with Adam Sandler in particular doing an admirable job as protective father-figure Dracula.  The addition of pop music and even rap may keep the youngsters happy, but I appreciate the gentle, nostalgia that these monsters from my childhood provide.  Tartakovsky’s movie is like an updated version of yet another memory from the past, 1967’s Mad Monster Party, a Claymation extravaganza from Rankin-Bass.  I hope these classic monsters never go out of style, because they are lots of fun, even when updated to the present.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  17 October 2012.