Little Dracula

Little Dracula
Author Martin Waddell
Cover artist Joseph Wright
Country United Kingdom
United States
Series Little Dracula
Genre Children's books
Picture books
Publisher Walker Books/Candlewick Press
Publication date
 1986 - current
Media type Book

Little Dracula is a British series of children's books and an American animated television series that originally aired on FOX. Little Dracula revolves around a green-skinned, child vampire who aspires to be like his father, Big Dracula, yet also enjoys rock 'n roll and surfing. Little Dracula also has a monstrous friend named Werebunny, and his Transylvanian family of strange characters is often threatened by the villainous Garlic Man.

Book series

The Little Dracula book series, originally published by Walker Books and later reissued in the US through Candlewick Press, debuted in 1986. It was penned by writer Martin Waddell and illustrated by Joseph Wright; although, a joke book was written by Alan Durant with illustration by Paul Tempest. The paperback stories, recommended for ages 4–8, rely heavily on Wright's gory yet humorous illustrations. They detail Little Dracula's spooky lifestyle which includes bowling with skulls and drinking a glass of blood before sleeping in his miniature coffin. Other morbid scenes include Mrs. Dracula emptying the brain from a severed head into a frying pan for breakfast and children playing tennis with rackets strung with cat guts. Dubbed "too silly to be truly spooky," the series received praise by Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal particularly for its meticulous illustrations which were also regarded as "not for the squeamish."[1]

While the majority of Little Dracula books were released during the 1980s and early 1990s, some were reissued in the US as recently October 2001.[2] This may have been to capitalize on the brief revitalization of the animated series the prior year.

Title Date ISBN
Little Dracula's First Bite October 7, 1986 0-14-050657-8
Little Dracula's Christmas November 4, 1986 0-14-050658-6
Little Dracula at the Seaside July 30, 1987 0-7445-0531-3
Little Dracula at the Seashore (Reissue) March 2, 1992 1-56402-026-6
Little Dracula Goes to School March 2, 1992 1-56402-027-4
Little Dracula's Fiendishly Funny Joke Book May 28, 1992 0-7445-2393-1
Little Dracula's Fangtastic Fun Book May 28, 1992 0-7445-2189-0
Little Dracula's Monstrous Poster May 28, 1992 0-7445-2392-3
Little Dracula's Other Monstrous Poster May 28, 1992 0-7445-2395-8
Little Dracula's Joke Book (Reissue) July 3, 2000 0-7445-7777-2
Little Dracula's First Christmas (Reissue) October 8, 2001 0-7445-7843-4

Animated series

Little Dracula
Voices of Edan Gross
Joe Flaherty
Jonathan Winters
Kath Soucie
Brian Cummings
Theme music composer Andrew Dimitroff, Stephen C. Marston, Barry Trop
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 13 (3 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s) Steven Hahn
Producer(s) Mike Young
Michael Hack
Pawn Evans
Marlene Sharp
Running time 30 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s) Steven Hahn Productions
(entire run)
Sachs Family Entertainment
Bandai Entertainment
Distributor Sachs Family Distribution
Release
Original network FOX (Fox Kids)
M6
Original release September 3, 1991 – October 13, 1999

The Little Dracula animated series was directed by Joe Pearson with original music by Stephen C. Marston under Walker Hahn Productions. It debuted on Fox Kids on September 3, 1991 and, despite the program's brief run, features the voices of several veteran comedians and actors. Thirteen episodes were produced, but only six were aired; five episodes aired the week of September 3-September 6, before its timeslot was given to Beetlejuice. A sixth episode aired on Halloween. It was during this initial run that the Little Dracula franchise made its way to a handful of merchandising deals.

In 1999, Fox Family reran Little Dracula, including four episodes which had not aired during the original run (another three remained unaired).[3] Some Little Dracula books were also republished following this brief revival.

A second season (13 more episodes) was co-produced with France and Germany, by IDDH, M6, and Renaissance-Atlantic Films. It never aired in the United States. In Europe, Little Dracula (Draculito, mon saigneur) is an animated series in 26 episodes.[4][5]

Cast

Episodes

Season 1, part 1 (Fox Kids, 1991)

No. Title Original airdate Prod.
code
1 "The Curse of the Ghastly Minimum Wage" September 3, 1991 103
2 "Little D's First Bite (aka Ghoul Days)" September 4, 1991 102
3 "Little D's Surprise" September 5, 1991 101
4 "Bite Before Christmas" September 6, 1991 105
5 "Little D Goes Hawaiian" September 7, 1991 106
6 "Little D's Halloween" October 31, 1991 104

Season 1, part 2 (Fox Family, 1999)

No. Title Original airdate Prod.
code
7 "Bat Boys" September 12, 1999 107
8 "Easy Biters" September 14, 1999 108
9 "Deadwood's Complaint" September 17, 1999 109
10 "The Chamber of Unspeakable Terror" September 17, 1999 110
11 "The Bite at the Ghoul School Corral" October 3, 1999 111
12 "Midnight Madness" October 11, 1999 112
13 "Deadly Screentest" October 13, 1999 113

Home video releases

Numerous episodes of Little Dracula came to VHS throughout 1993 and '94. Available through Abbey Home Media, they appear to have been made available in PAL format only.

Title Date Format Description Studio
The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Heroes October 4, 1993 PAL VHS Three hours of James Bond Jr., T-Rex, Little Dracula, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Super Mario Bros., Captain N, and The Transformers. 191 minutes. Abbey Home Entertainment and distributed by Tempo Video
Little Dracula's Fangtastic Video October 4, 1993 PAL VHS Includes "Bat Boys" and "Easy Biters." 66 minutes. Abbey Home Entertainment and distributed by Tempo Video
Little Dracula's Video Full of Frightful Surprises December 29, 1993 PAL VHS Includes "Little D's Surprise," "Deadwood's Complaint," and "The Chamber of Unspeakable Terrors." 65 minutes. Abbey Home Entertainment and distributed by Tempo Home Video
Little Dracula's Video: With a Bite December 28, 1994 PAL VHS The adventures of Little Dracula. 66 minutes. Abbey Home Video and distributed by Tempo Home Video

Action figures and other merchandise

The year Little Dracula debuted on Fox Kids, an action figure collection based on the characters hit store shelves. Produced by Bandai, the line includes Little Dracula, Drac Attack Little Dracula, Igor, Maggot, Werebunny, Garlic Man, Twin Beaks, The Man With No Eyes, and Deadwood. They each feature multiple points of articulation, several meticulous accessories, and a unique action feature (Igor's brain pops up when his arm is lifted). Vehicles of Little Dracula include the Coffin Car, Dracster, Easy-biter Motorcycle, and Garlicmobile.

Other merchandise includes costume and roleplaying sets such as Little Dracula's Vampire Kit and Little Dracula's Scepter & Amulet. Starting January 1992, Harvey Comics also published a 3-part Little Dracula comic book mini-series.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Amazon.com: Little Dracula at the Seashore Amazon.com. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ Amazon.com - Little Dracula's First Christmas Amazon.com (October 8, 2001). Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  3. ↑ Fergus, George Little Dracula - A Titles & Air Dates Guide EpGuides.com (August 30, 2006). Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  4. ↑ Draculito, mon saigneur IMDB.com. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Draculito, mon saigneur http://www.allocine.fr. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
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