Transylvania 6-5000 (1963 film)

This article is about the 1963 cartoon. For the 1985 film of the same name, see Transylvania 6-5000 (1985 film).

Transylvania 6-5000
Directed byChuck Jones
Maurice Noble
Story byJohn Dunn
Produced byDavid H. DePatie
StarringMel Blanc
Ben Frommer
Julie Bennett
Edited byTreg Brown
Music byBill Lava
Animation byBob Bransford
Tom Ray
Ken Harris
Richard Thompson
Layouts byBob Givens
Backgrounds byPhilip DeGuard
Color processColor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • November 30, 1963 (1963-11-30)
Running time
7:01
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Transylvania 6-5000 is a 1963 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Chuck Jones.[1] The short was released on November 30, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny.[2]

It is a comedy film, depicting a confrontation between Bugs and a vampire in Transylvania.

Plot

Bugs Bunny burrows to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but ends up in Transylvania near the castle of Count Bloodcount. He asks directions from the ominous two-headed vulture Agatha and Emily to no avail and tries his luck at the eerie castle.

Although Bugs asks for a phone, the Count insists that he sleep first and escorts him to a bedroom. Unable to sleep, he reads a book on magic words. The Count prepares to strike from behind, but Bugs' recitation from the book turns the vampire into a bat and dunks him in the castle moat. After finishing the book Bugs strolls through the castle with the Count stalking him. A battle of magic words ensues. Bugs' increasingly creative spells turn the Count into another two-headed vulture, and he calls Agatha and Emily over. Smitten with the transformed Count, they chase him into the moonlit night.

Having disposed of the vampire, Bugs locates a telephone and tries to reach his travel agency. While waiting for the connection he sings a magic word that turns his ears into bat wings. Bugs hangs up the phone and proceeds to fly home.

Voice Cast

  • Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny
  • Ben Frommer as Count Bloodcount
  • Julie Bennett as Agatha and Emily, the Two-Headed Vulture

Production notes

Transylvania 6-5000 marked Chuck Jones' departure from Warner Bros. Cartoons to found Sib Tower 12 Productions at MGM, making it his last original Warner Bros. cartoon before the move. Released in 1963, it is also the second-to-last Warner cartoon of that year and Jones' tenure with the studio. The title, "Transylvania 6-5000," is a play on the song "Pennsylvania 6-5000," associated with Glenn Miller, referencing the old telephone exchange system where letters represented numbers in phone numbers.

References in other media

Count Bloodcount also reappeared in the video game Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters as the final boss.

Count Bloodcount also appeared in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Stuff That Goes Bump in the Night" in the segment "Fang You Very Much", where he is adopted by Elmyra Duff while disguised as a bat. In this, the Count repeatedly tries to bite Elmyra in his vampire form, but any time the Count is exposed to light, he turns back into a bat.

The Tiny Toons version of the Count also appears as a boss character in the video game Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose!.

The song "Dracula" by Gorillaz, a bonus track on their eponymous debut album, samples portions of the short where the Count states "I am a vampire!" and "rest is good for the blood".

Portions of the cartoon were used in the 1977's Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special, which repurposed classic Looney Tunes cartoons in a new storyline. In the special, Bugs Bunny gave Witch Hazel a bottle of Hyde formula, which transformed her into Count Bloodcount, leading to her stalking Bugs through her home in reused footage from Transylvania 6-5000 and trying to catch him. When Bugs uses the spell "Newport News", she remains as Witch Hazel for the special's final act. Witch Hazel voice actress June Foray re-dubbed Count Bloodcount in scenes incorporating his dialogue.

Most of the cartoon was used in Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, but some dialogue was redubbed to connect it to the film's main story. Also, the end was changed so that instead of Bugs sprouting bat wings and flying away, he reports his findings to Daffy Duck (although he still sings "abraca-pocus" to himself while in the coffin phone-booth, but the film cuts away before his ears transform), who is displeased to hear from him (saying "What do you think we're running here, a matrimonial agency?!"). Later, Bugs is seen leaving the castle from the cartoon before he answers a nearby payphone as part of the link to the cartoon The Abominable Snow Rabbit.

Count Bloodcount appeared in The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries episode "Fangs for the Memories". He was voiced by Corey Burton.

Count Bloodcount also appears in Looney Tunes Collector: Alert! as a boss character. After the player defeats him, he decides to become an NPC ally of Bugs to find some opportunities in blood.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 345. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ Infogrames (June 24, 2000). Looney Tunes Collector: Alert! (Game Boy Color). Infogrames. Level/area: Count Bloodcount's mansion. COUNT BLOODCOUNT: The rabbit's smart. I'll follow him for now. I may get some blood out of it!
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