Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (also known as Hotel Transylvania 4) is a 2022 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and released by Amazon Studios. It is the fourth and final feature film in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and the sequel to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018), the film was directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska (in their respective feature-length directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo and Genndy Tartakovsky. It stars the voices of Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez (who also served as an executive producer alongside Tartakovsky and Michelle Murdocca), Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Brian Hull, Fran Drescher, Brad Abrell, Asher Blinkoff, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and Zoe Berri. In the film, Dracula and Johnny (Hull and Samberg) team up to find a crystal in South America to turn themselves back into normal, before their transformations become permanent.

Plans for a fourth Hotel Transylvania film begin in February 2019 and was announced to be released on December 22, 2021. Returning and new cast and crew members were announced soon after, and Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed the score for the first three installments, returned to score, in addition to original song performed by Yendry. Production took place remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally planned to be released theatrically in the United States on October 1, 2021, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film's release plans and sold the film's distribution rights to Amazon Studios for $100 million, due to rising cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the United States.

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on January 14, 2022, and theatrically in China on April 3. The film received mixed reviews from critics with the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus calling it "middling family viewing -- relatively painless, but overall rather uninspired". A spin-off series named Motel Transylvania is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in 2025.

Plot
During Hotel Transylvania's 125th anniversary celebration, Dracula is planning to retire and leave the hotel to Mavis and Johnny. Mavis overhears this and tells Johnny who excitedly tells Dracula his plans to renovate the hotel. Worried about Johnny ruining the hotel, Dracula lies to him saying that there is a "monster real-estate law" which only lets monsters own the hotel and instead falsely announces the expansion of the hotel with an extra bathroom.

Van Helsing decides to help Johnny by using a ray powered by a crystal that turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans. After testing it on his guinea pig Gigi, he uses it on Johnny who turns into a dragon. Learning about Johnny's monster form, Dracula tries to turn him back to normal but accidentally turns himself into a human and breaks the ray's crystal. Van Helsing tells Dracula and Johnny that they can turn themselves back to normal by getting another crystal in the Cave of the Reflexión in South America, so Dracula and Johnny set off to do so.

Dracula's friends Frank, Wayne, Griffin and Murray end up becoming humans as well, as a result of drinking from a fountain that was contaminated by the ray. After learning about Dracula and Johnny's whereabouts on the news, Mavis and Ericka confront Van Helsing, but they are attacked by Gigi, where Van Helsing discovers that the effects of the ray are unstable, as the monster transformation will keep mutating until the subject becomes a mindless beast. The rest of the gang head to South America to find Dracula and Johnny.

While traveling through South America, Dracula and Johnny begin to bond. During a camp-out, Johnny teaches Dracula about how if he only sees the worst in things, he’ll miss out on the best parts. Dracula begins to confess that he lied about the monster real-estate law, but the rest of the group finds them. Things turn sour when Dracula admits his deception regarding passing over the hotel to Mavis and Johnny. This prompts Johnny to believe Dracula doesn’t consider him family and to mutate further before running away.

Mavis goes to find Johnny while Dracula and the rest of the gang go to the Cave of the Reflexión. Mavis finds Johnny, but the transformation has turned him very volatile. She leads him to the cave where they finally find the crystal. When Mavis tries to turn Johnny back to normal, nothing happens. Dracula lets himself get captured by Johnny and makes a speech about how he now sees him as family. This brings Johnny back to his senses, and he is returned to normal.

With Dracula and his friends back to normal, they return home only to find the hotel has been destroyed by Gigi. After turning Gigi back to normal, Dracula decides to let Mavis and Johnny rebuild the hotel to their liking. One year later, Mavis and Johnny have rebuilt and modernized the hotel.

Voice cast

 * Andy Samberg as Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran, Mavis' husband, Dracula's son-in-law, Ericka's stepson-in-law and Dennis' father
 * Selena Gomez as Mavis Dracula, Johnny's wife, Dracula's daughter, Ericka's stepdaughter and Dennis' mother
 * Victoria Gomez voices a young Mavis Dracula
 * Kathryn Hahn as Ericka Van Helsing, Dracula's wife, Mavis' stepmother, Johnny's stepmother-in-law, Dennis' step-grandmother and the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing
 * Jim Gaffigan as Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a former monster hunter, Dracula's great-grandfather-in-law and ex-nemesis and Ericka's great-grandfather who invented the "Monsterfication Ray"
 * Steve Buscemi as Wayne, a werewolf and Wanda's husband
 * Molly Shannon as Wanda, a werewolf and Wayne's wife
 * David Spade as Griffin, an invisible man
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Murray, an ancient mummy
 * Brian Hull as Count "Drac" Dracula, the founder of Hotel Transylvania and Mavis' father, Johnny's father-in-law, Dennis' maternal grandfather and Ericka's husband. In the previous films, he was voiced by Adam Sandler, who had to drop out for the fourth installment due to scheduling conflicts.
 * Fran Drescher as Eunice, Frankenstein's wife
 * Brad Abrell as Frankenstein, Eunice's husband. He was originally voiced by Kevin James in the first three films
 * Asher Blinkoff as Dennis, the dhampir son of Johnny and Mavis, Vlad's great-grandson, Ericka's step-grandson and Dracula's grandson


 * Zoe Berri as Winnie, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda and a friend of Dennis. She was originally voiced by Sadie Sandler in the first three films
 * Asher Bishop as Wesley, a werewolf who is the son of Wayne and Wanda
 * Tyler "Ninja" Blevins as Party Monster
 * Genndy Tartakovsky as Blobby, a green blob monster
 * Victoria Gomez as Wilma, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda
 * Jennifer Kluska as Wendy, a werewolf who is the daughter of Wayne and Wanda
 * Derek Drymon as a zombie that was briefly turned into a human

Production
In February 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that a fourth film had been in development. In October 2019, Genndy Tartakovsky confirmed that he would not direct the film. In September 2020, Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon, a storyboard artist on the first two Hotel Transylvania sequels and a former crew member of Rocko's Modern Life, CatDog, SpongeBob SquarePants and Adventure Time, respectively, were confirmed to be the film's directors, while Tartakovsky would write the screenplay and serve as an executive producer alongside Selena Gomez, who voices Mavis in the series. Production took place remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2021, the film's title was revealed to be Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and it was confirmed that it would be the final film in the franchise. That same month, Sony confirmed that Adam Sandler would not reprise his role as Dracula. The role was given to Brian Hull after voicing the character in the short film Monster Pets, while Kathryn Hahn, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, and Keegan-Michael Key were confirmed to reprise their roles. The following month, it was announced that Brad Abrell had replaced Kevin James as the voice of Frankenstein. Lynn Hobson served as editor.

Music
Mark Mothersbaugh returned to score the film, having previously scored the first three installments. The soundtrack was released on January 14, 2022 by Sony Classical. Additionally, the original end credits song Love Is Not Hard to Find were written by Morien van der Tang, Faried Arween Jhauw, Glen Faria & Jheynner Argot) and performed by Yendry and released on January 14, 2022.

Release
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was released by Amazon Studios on Prime Video, on January 14, 2022. In February 2019, Sony Pictures Releasing scheduled the film for release on December 22, 2021. In April 2020, the film was moved up to August 6, 2021. In April 2021, the film was moved up again to July 23, 2021. In June 2021, the film was rescheduled to October 1, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2021, Sony Pictures cancelled the film's theatrical plans and entered discussions to sell the distribution rights to a streaming service, in response to the rising cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the United States. On August 16, 2021, it was reported that Amazon Studios was in negotiations to acquire the distribution rights to the film for $100 million from Sony and would release it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video worldwide, excluding China, where Sony would release it theatrically on an undetermined date. Sony would also retain home entertainment and linear television rights to the film. On October 6, 2021, Amazon set a release date of January 14, 2022.

The film had a limited theatrical release on February 25, 2022. On March 7, 2022, it was announced that the film would have a theatrical release in China beginning April 3 of that year.

Home media
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on August 15, 2023 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Critical response
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting rates it 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania never gets as complex as its moral center suggests, therefore never really rising above a wholesome, exuberant amusement ride." Tomris Laffly of Variety gave the film a mixed review, writing, "The result is yet another wearisome tale that inelegantly depicts themes like acceptance, understanding and diversity within a saga that has always been rather clumsy with its messaging around such weighty topics." John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing, "Never much to write home about in the script department — Tartakovsky excels in more stylish, less verbal fare like Samurai Jack — Transformania remains sufficiently goofy-sweet to please its target demo; those who find the humor toothless should at least appreciate the distinctive animation, which can be as energetically wacky as classic Looney Tunes."

Accolades
The film was nominated in two categories for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program" and "Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for an Animated Program" at the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards. At the 2023 Kids' Choice Awards, Selena Gomez won the award for "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie (Female)".

Future
Although Transformania was made as the final entry to the franchise, in June 2024, Motel Transylvania, a television series set to debut on Netflix in 2025, was announced. The series is set to focus on Dracula and Mavis opening a motel.