Toonsylvania facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Steven Spielberg presents Toonsylvania |
|
|---|---|
Title card
|
|
| Genre | Cartoon series |
| Created by | Bill Kopp Chris Otsuki |
| Written by | Bill Kopp Mike Peters Karl Teorge Chris Otsuki Vinny Montello Steve Ochs Martin Olson Keith Baxter Paul Rugg Russell Bell Pete Cunningham Kate Donahue Scott Kreamer Ken Segall |
| Directed by | Jeff DeGrandis Rich Arons Dave Marshall Charlie Bean |
| Starring | David Warner Wayne Knight Brad Garrett |
| Voices of | Nancy Cartwright Matt Frewer Jess Harnell Jonathan Harris Tom Kenny Valery Pappas Paul Rugg Kath Soucie Billy West |
| Theme music composer | Julie Bernstein Steven Bernstein Paul Rugg |
| Composer(s) | Michael Tavera John Given Christopher Klatman Thom Sharp Carl Johnson Nathan Wang Christopher Neil Nelson Gordon Goodwin Cameron Patrick Jonathan Green Charles Fernandez Billy Martin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 (whole) 82 (segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Bill Kopp Rich Arons Steven Spielberg |
| Producer(s) | Jeff DeGrandis |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | DreamWorks Television Animation |
| Distributor | DreamWorks Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox Kids |
| Picture format | 1:33.1 |
| Audio format | Dolby |
| Original release | February 7, 1998 – January 18, 1999 |
Toonsylvania is a fun cartoon show that aired for two seasons. It first appeared in 1998 on the Fox Kids Network. This show was part of a special block called "The No Yell Motel," which featured other spooky kids' shows like Goosebumps. The famous director Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers, making it the first cartoon series from DreamWorks.
The show featured several recurring cartoon segments in each episode. Unlike some other cartoon shows, Toonsylvania mostly stuck to the same main characters and types of stories. The main parts of the show were "Frankenstein," "Night of the Living Fred," "Attack of the Killer B Movies," and "Melissa Screetch."
Contents
What's the Show About?
A typical episode of Toonsylvania usually starts with a cartoon called "Frankenstein." This segment is a funny take on Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein. It follows the adventures of Dr. Vic Frankenstein (voiced by David Warner), his helper Igor (voiced by Wayne Knight), and their not-so-smart monster named Phil (voiced by Brad Garrett). Igor always tries to prove he's a genius like Dr. Vic.
Before the second cartoon, there's a short animated scene. Igor and Phil are on the couch, and Igor tries to fix the TV remote. But in every episode, something new and funny goes wrong with it. It's a running joke, a bit like the couch gags you might see on The Simpsons.
Next up is "Night of the Living Fred," a cartoon about a family of zombies. This segment was created by the cartoonist Mike Peters. Sometimes, instead of "Night of the Living Fred," you'd see a funny parody of an old, low-budget horror movie, called "Attack of the Killer B Movies."
After that, there's a quick segment called "Igor's Science Minute." Here, Igor tries to teach a science lesson, often with a song. But his lessons always end in a silly disaster!
The last part of the show is "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals." In these shorts, Phil the monster does something wrong, and Igor punishes him. Igor reads a scary story about a naughty girl named Melissa Screetch (voiced by Nancy Cartwright). Melissa never listens to adults, especially her mom, and always faces funny or spooky consequences for her actions.
Changes in Season Two
For the second season, some changes happened behind the scenes. Bill Kopp and Jeff DeGrandis, who helped create the show, left. Paul Rugg took over some of their roles. The show's style also changed, becoming more like a sitcom. Igor, Dr. Vic, and Phil started interacting with new characters.
One new character was Seth Tuber (voiced by Jonathan Harris), a nosy neighbor. He was inspired by Norman Bates from the movie Psycho. Seth would talk to his "immobile" mother by putting his hand over his mouth. There was also a funny group of Transylvanian villagers who were actually cheerful, cool hipsters, a bit like The Beatles. Many of these new characters were voiced by Paul Rugg, who often made up their lines on the spot!
In season two, the B-movie parodies still appeared, and some "Night of the Living Fred" episodes aired. Melissa Screetch also got a new segment called "The Melissa Screetch Show." If Melissa was upset with a friend or family member, she would go under her bed sheets. There, she pretended to host her own show, inviting the person who annoyed her as a "guest star." She would then get rid of them in a funny, ironic way.
Episodes Guide
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 53 | 13 | February 7, 1998 | September 21, 1998 | |
| 2 | 29 | 8 | October 26, 1998 | January 18, 1999 | |
Season 1 (1998)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Darla Doiley – Demon Doll"
"The Importance of Being Urnie" "Igor's Science Minute: Clone or Be Cloned" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: The Boogeyman'll Get You, Melissa" |
February 7, 1998 | |
|
Igor buys Phil a doll that wants to hurt its owners. Zombie kids Fred and Ashley Deadman find their Uncle Urnie, who got mixed up in a bank robbery. Igor teaches about cloning. Melissa Screetch must go home or face the Boogeyman.
|
||||
| 2 | 2 | "Blind Date of Frankenstein"
"Football...and Other Body Parts" "Igor's Science Minute: Helium and Hot Air Balloons" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Stop Making Ugly Faces" |
February 14, 1998 | |
|
Igor makes a girlfriend for Dr. Vic. Fred and Ashley try to prove themselves in a football game. Igor uses Phil to teach about helium. Melissa's ugly faces get stuck, making her play monsters in movies.
|
||||
| 3 | 3 | "Love Potion Number Nein"
"Attack of the Iguana People" "Igor's Science Minute: The Big Bang" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Teeth for Two" |
February 21, 1998 | |
|
Igor uses Dr. Vic's love potion on a ghost, with dangerous results. A monster movie parody about lizard creatures. Igor traps Phil in a popcorn machine to explain the Big Bang. Melissa makes the Tooth Fairy angry by not sharing.
|
||||
| 4 | 4 | "Baby Human"
"Earth vs. Everything" "Igor's Science Minute: Blunder and Lightning" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Little Screetchin' Riding Hood" |
February 28, 1998 | |
|
Igor creates a baby that eats everything. A B-movie parody about a monster called "Everything" wanting to rule the world. Igor teaches about lightning and keeps getting shocked. Melissa Screetch stars in a musical version of Little Red Riding Hood.
|
||||
| 5 | 5 | "Built for Speed"
"Captain Beaumarchais' Fish Flakes" "A Kiss Before Dying" "Igor's Science Minute: Gravity" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Go Stand in the Corner, Young Lady" |
March 7, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic's car is set to explode if it goes too slow. A funny commercial for fish cereal. Ashley sets up a kissing booth. Igor pushes Phil off the Eiffel Tower to teach about gravity. Melissa gets her teacher fired for making her stand in the corner.
|
||||
| 6 | 6 | "Spawn of Santa"
"Dead Hard" "Igor's Science Minute: Periodic Table of Elements" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Don't Swallow the Seeds, Silly" |
March 14, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic swaps Santa's brain with a bank robber's. Fred must escape detention to save his date. Igor sings about the periodic table. Melissa swallows watermelon seeds and turns into a freak.
|
||||
| 7 | 7 | "Doom With a View"
"Dead Dog Day Afternoon" "Igor's Science Minute: Evolution and the Attorney" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Here There Be Monsters" |
March 28, 1998 | |
|
Igor and Phil turn the castle into a bed and breakfast, and the Grim Reaper is their first guest. Fred takes his dead dog to a dog show. Igor sings about human evolution. Melissa Screetch tells her own story of Christopher Columbus and a sea monster.
|
||||
| 8 | 8 | "Love Hurts"
"One for Mall and Mall for One" "Igor's Science Minute: The Brain" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Plain as the Nose on Your Face" |
April 4, 1998 | |
|
Igor, Dr. Vic, and Phil go on a dating game show. The Deadmans go to the mall for a family photo. Igor literally picks Phil's brain to sing about the brain. Melissa's nose grows like Pinocchio's because she keeps lying.
|
||||
| 9 | 9 | "Phil Feel Smart"
"Voodoo Vacation" "Igor's Science Minute: The Universe" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Melissa, Don't Spoil Your Appetite" |
April 25, 1998 | |
|
Phil becomes super smart after drinking chemicals, and Igor and Dr. Vic try to use him. The Deadmans vacation in Hawaii and are mistaken for a god. Igor sings about the universe. Melissa eats too much candy and wastes away.
|
||||
| 10 | 10 | "WereGranny"
"The Lobster of Party Beach" "Igor's Science Minute: Luck Is Not a Factor" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: The Screetchy Little Mermaid" |
May 2, 1998 | |
|
Igor thinks Phil turned Dr. Vic's grandma into a werewolf. A B-movie parody about a lobster monster at a beach party. Igor explains the science behind luck. Melissa Screetch is a mean mermaid seeking revenge on a prince.
|
||||
| 11 | 11 | "A Family Plot"
"A Zombie is Born" "Igor's Science Minute: Earthquake Boogie" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Melissa and the Three Bears" |
May 16, 1998 | |
|
Igor brings Dr. Vic's ex-wife and her family back to life. Fred and Ashley sign up for the school talent show. Igor sings an Elvis-style song about earthquakes. Melissa Screetch bothers the Three Bears.
|
||||
| 12 | 12 | "Phil's Brain"
"Jurassic Putt" "Igor's Science Minute: Bites and Stings" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: You Keep Bouncing Like That, You're Gonna Hurt Yourself" |
September 14, 1998 | |
|
Igor tries to use Phil's brain to help with chores, but Phil's brain wants a wife. Fred goes on a mini-golf date. Igor sings about bites and stings. Melissa's excessive couch bouncing sends her into space.
|
||||
| 13 | 13 | "The Inferior Decorator"
"Bang!" "Igor's Science Minute: Parasites" "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals: Melissa Screetch, Earth Ambassador" |
September 21, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic makes Igor redecorate, and Igor swaps Phil's brain with an interior decorator's. The Deadmans meet their new human neighbors. Igor sings about having parasites as pets. Melissa Screetch causes an alien invasion during a field trip to NASA.
|
||||
Season 2 (1998–99)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Something Weenie This Way Comes"
"Ideadical Cousins" "Melisserella" |
October 26, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic and Igor get jobs at a hot dog stand, while Phil is mistaken for a video game. Fred and Ashley's French cousin tries to get rid of Ashley. Melissa Screetch is a lazy Cinderella in a musical story.
|
||||
| 15 | 2 | "Igor's Replacement"
"The Deadman Bunch" |
November 9, 1998 | |
|
Igor gets a new job with another mad scientist when Dr. Vic won't give him what he wants. A funny parody of The Brady Bunch starring the Deadman family.
|
||||
| 16 | 3 | "My Fair Monster"
"The Nosey Face" "Shelf Of Brains" |
November 16, 1998 | |
|
Igor trains Phil to win a monster show, like in My Fair Lady. Angry villagers recite a poem about a stranger with a strange nose. Phil sings about all the brains he has in the lab.
|
||||
| 17 | 4 | "The Doomed Odyssey"
"Attack of the Fifty Footed Woman" "Becki with an I" |
November 23, 1998 | |
|
A movie crew takes over the castle, and Igor, Dr. Vic, and Phil fight back. A B-movie parody about a giant woman attacking a town. Becki, a supervisor from a previous episode, complains about being on Toonsylvania.
|
||||
| 18 | 5 | "The Longest Day"
"Take Us to Your Liter" "Escape from Wet Nurse Island" |
December 7, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic, Igor, and Phil have a boring visit to the DMV. A B-movie parody where aliens want America to use the metric system. Melissa Screetch creates her own TV show where her babysitter is sent to a prison island.
|
||||
| 19 | 6 | "For Your Info-Mation"
"In Or Out" "Melissa Makes A Wish" "Madame Olga's Lament" |
December 21, 1998 | |
|
Dr. Vic sells his youth potion on a TV infomercial. The Deadman kids get kicked out of school for being dead. Melissa wishes for a special helicopter. Dr. Vic's maid, Madame Olga, sings about her secrets.
|
||||
| 20 | 7 | "Some Weird In Time"
"Vittles With Vic" "Parents Opposed to Television Inappropriateness" "Toonsylvania Presents: Phil and Igor in "Don't Axe, Don't Tell"" "News from Around the World" "A Man of No Importance" "Swamp Thingy" |
January 4, 1999 | |
|
Igor, Dr. Vic, and Phil travel through time. Dr. Vic hosts his own cooking show. A TV censor speaks out against the show's violence. An Igor/Phil segment is toned down by the censor. A newsreel shows how the Deadman family changed history. An extra points out his scenes in the show. A B-movie parody about a swamp monster wanting a vacation.
|
||||
| 21 | 8 | "Cyranot"
"Igor III" "Running of the Bullies" "Troop 664" |
January 18, 1999 | |
|
Phil falls for a female monster, but Dr. Vic steals her. A parody of Shakespeare's Richard III with Igor as the main character. The Deadman kids fight back against bullies. Melissa Screetch's wilderness group gets lost in the woods.
|
||||
Music
The music for Toonsylvania was created by several composers, including Michael Tavera and Keith Baxter. The main theme song was written by Steve and Julie Bernstein, with lyrics by Paul Rugg.
Voice Cast
- David Warner – Dr. Vic Frankenstein
- Wayne Knight – Igor, Igor's reflection
- Brad Garrett – Phil, Bunny Wunny, various other characters
- Nancy Cartwright – Melissa Screetch (in her segments)
- Matt Frewer – Dedgar Deadman (season one)
- Jess Harnell – Dedgar Deadman (season two), Wink Dracula, Johnny Vermin, Igor's singing voice, various
- Jonathan Harris – Seth Tuber (season two)
- Tom Kenny – Ace Deuce, various
- Valery Pappas – Stiffany Deadman, Melissa Screetch's mother, various
- Paul Rugg – Seth Tuber's mom (season two)
- Kath Soucie – Ashley Deadman, Kyle Screetch
- Billy West – Fred Deadman, Newark, Toy Store Clerk/Mall Clerk, Dr. Earl Schwartzberg, various
- Charlie Adler – Customer, Dr. Vic's grandmother, various
- Jocelyn Blue – Mama Bear, Gertrude
- Corey Burton – Death, Debbie the bank robber
- Cam Clarke – Various
- Jim Cummings – Army general, Santa Claus, Coach, various
- Sandy Fox – Darla Doiley, Baby Bear, various
- Bill Kopp – various
- April Winchell – Liz
Production Team
- Bill Kopp – Executive Producer, Writer, Creator, Voice Director
- Jeff DeGrandis – Producer, Director
- Steven Spielberg – Executive Producer
- Keith Baxter – Writer, Music
- Lee Mendelson – Creative Consultant for "Night of the Living Fred"
- Vinny Montello – Writer
- Steve Ochs – Writer
- Martin Olson – Writer
- Chris Otsuki – Creator of "Melissa Screetch," Writer
- Mike Peters – Creator of "Night of the Living Fred," Writer
- Karl Teorge – Writer
Home Video Release
On August 31, 1999, a VHS tape of Toonsylvania was released. It included a selection of episodes, mostly from season one, but used the season two opening. The tape featured episodes like "Darla Doiley, Demon Doll," "Voodoo Vacation," and "Phil's Brain," along with several "Igor's Science Minute" and "Melissa Screetch's Morbid Morals" segments.
Video Game
A Toonsylvania video game was made for the Game Boy Color in 2000. It was developed by RFX Interactive and released by Light & Shadow Production and Ubi Soft.
Merchandise
You could find Toonsylvania action figures and playsets made by Pangea Corporation and Toy Island. For a short time, Burger King also gave out Toonsylvania toys in their kids' meals.
