Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop facts for kids

Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop (known as Dr. Globule in France) is a 1994-1997 animated television series created by Tony Barnes and produced by Philippe Mounier PMMP and Fairwater Films and distributed in the UK by The Sleepy Kids Company Ltd (who also produced Potsworth & Co. and Budgie the Little Helicopter) which was later changed to SKD Media and Entertainment Rights and then dissolved into Classic Media (now DreamWorks Classics) and by PMMP and TF1 Intl in the rest of the world. 65 episodes were produced.

The show originally aired on TF1 and it was later dubbed for English audiences as well; even the show's title got a name change. It aired in the United Kingdom on ITV; starting 13 June 1994 and finishing 21 August 1997, the show ran for four series. Music for the series was composed by Danny Chang and Tony Barnes.

A comic strip version of the show was included in Buster magazine from September 1994 to November 1996. The series was later repeated on Nickelodeon in the early 2000s until 2004, and had sporadic reruns on ordinary TV from 1999 until 2001 (it was put on hiatus in 2002).

It was also aired on cable television in Australia first airing on Nickelodeon and later on Cartoon Network.

Plot summary

Dr. Zitbag was a Pet Shop worker who wasn't very good at selling any pets at all and because of this he was fired from the local Transylvanian Pet Shop. So he decides to set up his own Pet Shop at an old Haunted Castle and finds out that he will have to share the place with a skeleton dog, Horrifido. With Horrifido now helping him out, the doctor begins use with his inventions to create Horrific Pets to gain his profit.

Characters

• Dr. Sidney Zitbag (voiced by Christian Rodska) - The main character of the show, he is a mad scientist type of character who wants to become the world's best pet shop owner. After being fired from the only town pet shop he goes on to buy an old castle from the Exorsisters and sets up his own pet shop creating new and weird pets in his laboratory, but his plans don't always work and certain mishaps do tend to happen.
• Horrifido (voiced by Max Andre) - Horrifido, or Fido as he was known in life, was the pet dog of the former owner of the old castle (Capt. Charles de Ghoul) where Dr. Zitbag sets up his pet shop. Initially haunting the castle as a ghost, the doctor inadvertently uncovers the dog's old bones and the ghoul reanimates them, giving him a physical form. Horrifido is thus a skeleton dog with green bat winged like ears, who becomes Dr. Zitbag's assistant. Sometimes Horrifido is seen wearing a pink bow collar around his neck.
• The Exorsisters (voiced by Nicolette McKenzie) - The Exorsisters are Dr. Zitbag's neighbours. Both ladies are twins resembling the bride of Frankenstein. Every so often, Dr. Zitbag always tries to impress them both, but the two often argue with each other. Sinista, the sister with purple streaks in her hair, often dismisses Dr. Zitbag, whereas Bimbella, the sister with white streaks in her hair, is more willing to give him a chance.
• Zombunny - Zombunny appears to be a zombified rabbit who never seems to move. Most of the time, he is seen with Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido, as Dr. Zitbag would use Zombunny as part of his experiments. Zitbag would often throw him aside while saying a cursory "Excuse me, Zombunny".
• Officer Deadbeat (voiced by Kerry Shale) - Officer Deadbeat is the local police officer of Transylvania and Zitbag's antagonist. He appears to have no neck and so his head is floating at where his would be neck should be. He has a personal grudge against Dr. Zitbag, believing that the doctor is a con-artist. If he ever arrests the doctor for good, his ultimate goal is to claim the old Haunted House as a new police station, as the one he has got is very small and he often bumps his head off.
• Professor Sherman Vermin (voiced by ?) - Zitbag's rival. Sinistra and Bimbella sometimes call him to help them, eventually making Dr. Zitbag jealous.

List of episodes

Twelve of a total of 65 episodes were released on video.

Series One

1. Welcome To The Transylvania Pet Shop - first aired: 13/06/1994 (the obvious pilot episode of the show)
2. Grime Does Not Pay - first aired: 20/06/1994
3. Food Glorious Pet Food - first aired: 27/06/1994
4. Bringing Up Horribaby - first aired: 04/07/1994
5. Every Dog Has Its Show - first aired: 11/07/1994
6. Ants In Your Pants - first aired: 18/07/1994
7. Bungle in the Jungle - first aired: 25/07/1994
8. Pirate Parrot - first aired: 01/08/1994
9. Double Trouble - first aired: 08/08/1994
10. Halloween Horse Race - first aired: 15/08/1994
11. Where Mouse? - first aired: 22/08/1994
12. Gorilla Thriller - first aired: 05/09/1994 (most sources say 'Double Trouble' and 'Halloween Horse Race' are the last two episodes, but the last two episodes in series one are actually 'Where Mouse?' and 'Gorilla Thriller') [though these are only the last two episodes in series one; not the last two episodes of the whole show]
13. Triassic Lark - first aired: 12/09/1994 - The children were demanding dinosaurs for pets, which caused Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido to construct a time machine in order to travel to prehistoric times so to capture some baby dinosaurs. After minor setbacks such as travelling to before creation and the future, they have arrived, unbeknownst that Officer Deadbeat had snuck on board and had his hijinks with a cavewoman.

Series Two

1. Inspector Spector - first aired: 09/06/1995
2. Pyramid Pandemonium - first aired: 16/06/1995
3. Hooray for Horrywood - first aired: 25/08/1995

Series Three

1. Don't Hoot I'm Only the Piano Slayer - first aired: 11/06/1996

Series Four

1. A True Fairy Tale - first aired: 29/05/1997
2. What's Up Doc? - first aired: 07/08/1997
3. Dances the Hula - first aired: 21/08/1997

Transylvania Pet Shop is currently one of the most requested unreleased DVDs at TVShowsOnDVD.com.

In other languages

• Italian: Pazze risate per mostri e vampiri

• PMMP Philppe Mounier Marketing Production

See also

In Spanish: La pajarería de Transilvania para niños