Hotel Transylvania - The series

DIRECTOR; Nelvana (Corus EntertainmenT, Disney)

The challenge? Take one of the highest grossing animation brands of all time and adapt it from the big screen to the not-as-big TV screen. No big deal…

How? The feature films’ tone needs to remain intact, but why not change the ‘look’? That way, we create a stand-alone project, while standing on the shoulders of a really great Sony project. Fortunate for me was the early decision to go with a “2-D” look, which is right up my alley. 

Taking inspiration from the animation giant Maurice Noble, and mixing that with a smidgen of my early Beetlejuice approach, we landed on a beautiful style that says dramatic, magnificent, theatrical, and funny horror show for children! Check out how artists Joe Sherman and Violeta Nikolic shaped the visual evolution of the hotel's look.

One of our first big character design puzzles to solve was finding a tough-love replacement for Dracula. In our series, Drac is away at the Vampire Council most of the time and his older sister is sent in to keep a domineering eye on the hotel, and especially his precious daughter, Mavis.

The show is fast paced and played for laughs. The biggest issue was the tsunami of characters and keeping their storytelling clear, simple and funny. As a director, the best way to achieve that is to live in the edit room, and hone the story into a rock-solid blueprint that both the crew and our big-wig partners (Disney and Sony) can count on.

I draw and I draw a lot! My job is to nail the gags pacing, clarify the blocking and stay true to the diverse cast of characters shaped by our fabulous story editor, Mark Steinberg…oh, and keep it funny. That’s kind of the point.

Characters

If you want to see process of character design, check out how head designer Rachel Chalk and I evolved the new lead character, Aunt Lydia. The more scribbly sketches are yours truly.