When Hotel Transylvania first came out in 2012, it made vampires loveable, relatable creatures. We’ve been conditioned since young that vampires are evil creatures of the night that would suck our bloods dry. But in this movie, the humans were the ones who came at vampires, and they, along with other mummies and monsters, are terrified of humans. The success of the first movie led to an equally lovable sequel that introduces the next generation, leading to a fresh storyline and scenarios that parents can relate to.
In this third movie, the gang is back, and they’re going on a vacation. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation brings Dracula and his family and friends on board a luxury monster cruise, taking a break from his work at the hotel.
While everyone is having fun with activities on board the cruise, Drac yearns for some company, and things get tricky when he starts to fall for the mysterious captain of the ship. Before you catch Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, let’s take a trip back to the first two movies, and who plays who in this latest movie.
Hotel Transylvania
Dracula is mindful of humans and their hurtful ways, and thus, runs a lavish five-stake hotel for monsters to take a break and be who they want to be, not having to watch their backs for any humans. Suffice to say, it’s a human-free zone, until a human backpacker accidentally ventures into the hotel… and not just on any day, but the day that his daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday celebrations, and Drac has invited famous monsters like Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a werewolf family, and more for the party.
Things went awry when the human- Johnny, and Mavis meet and are interested with each other. Drac, an over-protective father, went all sorts of crazy to stop Mavis from getting close to Johnny.
Hotel Transylvania 2
It’s been some time after the events of the first movie and Mavis and Johnny’s love has blossomed into the eventuality of marriage, much to Drac’s fear of losing his daughter. Shortly after, Mavis finds herself pregnant and soon gives birth to a boy with a red mob of hair, just like his dad.
A few years have gone by and Drac tries his darnest to ignite the “monster” in Dennis, his grandson, because he wants to better connect with him, leading to some disastrous yet hilarious situations.
Meet the Cast:
Adam Sandler (Dracula)
As Dracula, Sandler tweaked his voice and adopt an accent (much like how Steve Carell does to Gru in Despicable Me). He plays Drac with a part threatening, part comedic and fully expressive voice that brings life into the traditionally fearsome Drac. While Sandler is a veteran actor, the Hotel Transylvania series is his first at voiceover.
Selena Gomez (Mavis)
The singer/actress brings a maturity to the oppressed “teenage” Mavis, who’s ready to see the world but is shackled at the ankles by her overprotective father. Having a singing background definitely gives Gomez an edge with her voice expressiveness.
Adam Samberg (Johnny)
More known for his character as Jake Peralta in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine series and Saturday Night Live, Samberg injects a laidback drawl to bumbling Johnny, making his character a likeable human who accidentally stumbled into the monster world.
Steve Buscemi (Wayne)
As the papa werewolf too overwhelmed with having too many scrambly kids, Buscemi makes Wayne a rambling character who’s always a bit skittish. Buscemi is no stranger to doing voice-over work, he’s previously appeared in The Boss Baby (2017) and Monsters Inc series.
Kevin James (Frankenstein)
James makes Frankenstein or “Frank” for short, a spritelier monster than the one that we’re traditionally familiar with. He’s a little unsure and not at all frightening. In fact, he’s very warm and friendly.
Fran Drescher (Frankenstein's wife- Eunice)
Who knew Frank has a chatty wife? And no one has a “chattier” voice than Fran Drescher. With her heavy nasal tone, Drescher makes Eunice seem like a normal housewife, but up a few notches on her flamboyance.
David Spade (the Invisible Man- Griffin)
As the Invisible Man, Spade mainly just groans and complains. Because being invisible means he usually gets ignored or bumped into. And Spade’s higher toned-voice makes the Invisible Man that constantly agitated feel.
Keegan-Michael Key (Ancient Mummy- Murray)
This mummy isn’t like the mummies we’ve seen and read about. Key’s Mummy is a lot more timid, and hardly menacing at all. He’s also a lot more rotund in his size, and looks more like a jolly good fellow wrapped in white rags. Key’s no stranger to this voiceover business. He’s done voice-acting work for movies like Storks (2016), The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and TV series like American Dad and The Simpsons.
Mel Brooks (Vlad)
Vlad is an ancient, experienced vampire and Dracula’s father, and who could play him better than veteran actor Brooks? Grumpy yet cool, a spritely 92-year old Brooks injects plenty of spunk in this centuries old creature.
NEW CAST:
Chrissy Teigen (Crystal)
A new character to the series, Teigan, better known as John Legend’s wife, plays the girlfriend to the Invisible Man. Although it makes us wander how this relationship happened, since both of them can’t be seen. Yes, Crystal is Ms Invisible.
Joe Jonas (Kraken)
Transitioning from singer to actor, the second Jonas brother plays a giant sea monster that lives near Atlantis. And he’s hungry. With the cruise being in the sea and all, it seems like Joe’s Kraken might be interested in eating some monsters.
Kathryn Hahn (Ericka Van Helsing)
She’s better known as the rowdiest of the trio of Moms in the Bad Moms movie, but in Hotel Transylvania 3, she is the chirpy captain and cruise director of the cruise ship Legacy. And if you find her surname familiar, yup, that’s right, she is from the famous Van Helsing family and she’s out for some monster-busting.
