Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2024 film)

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (released internationally as Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation) is an upcoming American animated monster adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Jim Henson Company and release by Walt Disney Pictures. It will be a upcoming of Disney animated feature film, the third installment of Hotel Transylvania franchise, and the sequel to Hotel Transylvania: Escape 2 Internet (2018), it was directed by Joel Crawford, co-directed by Thurop Van Orman, written by Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler and Michael McCullers, and features Sandler, Ryan Reynolds, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Sadie Sandler, Jack McBrayer, Keegan-Michael Key, Asher Blinkoff, Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Rachel Bloom, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson and Danny DeVito reprising their roles, with new additions to the cast including Jayma Mays, J. K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Pharrell Williams, Kumail Nanjiani, Ben Schwartz, Jim Gaffigan, Joe Whyte, Tara Strong, Chrissy Teigen, Awkwafina, Tiffany Haddish, Florence Pugh, Catherine Keener, Kelsey Grammer, Nick Jonas, John Mulaney, Keanu Reeves, Snoop Dogg, Danny Trejo, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, and Crawford, while Chris Parnell, who voiced The Fly in the first two films, voices Stan.

Discussions for a third Hotel Transylvania film began following its the success of second film release and was announced in January 2022 to be released on November 27, 2024 before being pushed forward for a June 2024 release date which was pushed back by Moana 2 (2024). Despite Rich Moore and Phil Johnston initially leaving the franchise, with Crawford confirmed in June 2022 after receiving inspiration from a "miserable" family vacation, Toy Story 3, and the Chevy Chase National Lampoon's Vacation movies. Smigel and Sandler returns to write the film, McCullers was brought on board to write the film, while the rest of the voice cast, including Sandler, Reynolds, and Gomez, reprised their roles. The official title was revealed in November 2022. The film's style is inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. With new technology, the team was able to give the film a painterly style to resemble a fairy-tale story, diverging from the visual style of installments in the Shrek franchise. A two sequels was in development.

Premise
In the film, Dracula finds love with a ship captain named Ericka while embarks on a vacation on a luxury cruise liner with his family and friends, but the Bettermans later discovers that Ericka is actually the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing, Drac's arch-nemesis, who secretly plan to destroy him. Is up to Mavis and his ex-boyfriend, along with Perrito, race against other fairy tale characters seeking the same path, while a sinister wolf hunts Drac and others himself.

Cast

 * Adam Sandler as Count "Drac" Dracula, Mavis' father, Count Vlad's youngest son, and Dennis’ maternal grandfather. Centuries after the demise of his beloved wife Martha, he ultimately falls for a human woman and proposes to her.
 * Jayma Mays as Ericka Van Helsing, the captain of the Legacy cruise, Dracula's love interest, and the great granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing who passed away.
 * J. K. Simmons as the Wolf / Death, a black hooded wolf who is initially presumed to be a bounty hunter before revealing his true identity to Dracula, who he wants to personally kill as punishment for Dracula as his job is to deal with the dead. He wields twin sickles that combine into a double-bladed glaive.
 * Ryan Reynolds as Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran, Mavis' husband, Dracula's son-in-law, and Dennis' human father.
 * Selena Gomez as Mavis Dracula, Drac's daughter, Johnny's wife, and Dennis' vampire mother, from whom he inherited his vampire abilities which he first developed on his fifth birthday, as do all pureblood vampires.
 * Steve Carell as Phil Betterman, the patriarch of the Bettermans who had a history with Johnny's parents.
 * Kristen Wiig as Hope Betterman, the matriarch of the Bettermans and Phil's wife.
 * Jim Gaffigan as Professor Abraham Van Helsing, Ericka's great grandfather and Dracula's former rival.
 * Kumail Nanjiani
 * Ben Schwartz as Perrito, a friendly and naïve dog who is initially disguised as Mama Luna's pet cats and wants to become a therapy dog.
 * Kevin James as Frankenstein, Drac's friend who hangs with Murray.
 * Jack McBrayer as Griffin, Drac, Frank, Wayne and Murray's invisible friend.
 * John C. Reilly as Wayne, a werewolf who is friends with Drac, Frank, Murray and Griffin.
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Murray, a mummy who hangs with Frank. Murray was previously voiced by CeeLo Green in the first film.
 * Maya Rudolph as Wanda, Wayne's werewolf wife who is friends with Eunice.
 * Fran Drescher as Eunice, Frank's wife who is friends with Wanda.
 * Asher Blinkoff as Dennis "Dennisovitch" Dracula-Loughran, Mavis and Johnny's dhampir son, Dracula's grandson, and Winnie's love interest. He has his mother's blue eyes and extraordinarily strong vampire abilities, and his father's orange hair and freckles.
 * Sarah Silverman as Vanellope Loughran, who befriends Mavis and is Johnny's sister.
 * Rachel Bloom as Dawn Betterman, Phil and Hope's daughter and only child who befriends Mavis and Vanellope and is Johnny's old friend.
 * Taraji P. Henson as Yesss, an algorithm that determines the trending videos on BuzzzTube, and Vlad's love interest.
 * Florence Pugh as Goldilocks – known as Goldi, the leader of the Three Bears Crime Family who wants to use Last Wish to regain her biological family.
 * Kailey Crawford as Young Goldilocks
 * Catherine Keener as Mama Bear – Papa Bear's wife, Baby Bear's mother and Goldilocks' adoptive mother.
 * Kelsey Grammer as Papa Bear – Mama Bear's husband, Baby Bear's father and Goldilocks' adoptive father.
 * Nick Jonas as Baby Bear – Papa Bear and Mama Bear's son, and Goldilocks' adoptive brother.
 * Alfred Molina as King Poseidon
 * John Mulaney as "Big" Jack Horner, a feared pastry salesman and crime lord who plans to use the Wishing Star to gain control of all magic. He has collected various magical items, creatures and people ever since being denied fairy-tale fame by calling himself "Little" Jack Horner as a kid. His group of henchmen cooks is called "the Baker's Dozen".
 * Sadie Sandler as Winnie, the werewolf daughter of Wayne and Wanda. She is Dennis' best friend and mutual love interest. She is later voiced by Zoe Berri in the next film.
 * Danny DeVito as Count Vlad, an ancient, more experienced and traditional vampire who is Dracula's father, the late Martha's father-in-law, Mavis' paternal grandfather, Jonathan's grandfather-in-law, and Dennis's maternal great-grandfather. Since the end of the third movie, he is Ericka's father-in-law.
 * Chris Parnell as Stan, a fish-man that works on the Legacy. Parnell previously voiced The Fly in the first two films.
 * Joe Whyte as:
 * Tinkles, Dennis' giant pet puppy.
 * Bob, one of the Gremlins who works as a co-pilot on Gremlins' airlines.
 * Pharrell Williams as Kraken, a giant music-loving sea monster that lives near Atlantis.
 * Chrissy Teigen as Crystal, an invisible woman who is Griffin's new girlfriend.
 * Tyler "Ninja" Blevins as Party Monster
 * Awkwafina as Otto
 * Keanu Reeves as Sage
 * Snoop Dogg as The Gambler
 * Danny Trejo as El Diablo
 * Tiffany Haddish as Master of Ceremonies
 * Reggie Watts as Chancellor
 * Joel Crawford as:
 * Blobby, a green blob monster. He was previously voiced by Jonny Solomon in Hotel Transylvania: Escape 2 Internet.
 * Blobby Baby, a spawn of Blobby.
 * Puppy Blobby, Blobby Baby's pet and another spawn of Blobby.
 * Tara Strong as Frankenlady (voiced by Alison Hammond and credited as Frankenginger in the UK release), a female whose right arm is related to Frank from his right hand's side of the family.
 * Jaime Camil as El Chupacabra, a passenger on the Legacy.

Additionally, Crawford, Whyte, Strong, and Teigen also reprised their roles in the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish, and Romanian language dubs of the movie.

Development and casting
After the critical and commercial success of Hotel Transylvania: Escape 2 Internet (2018), directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston stated that they will not return for the sequel. In February 2019, it was reported that Tim Hill was set to direct the film. However, in March 2021, Mike Mitchell was announced as the film's director, replacing Hill. In Febraury 2022, during the Q1 earnings call, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the third film, under the tentative title of Hotel Transylvania 3, had been set for release on November 27, 2024, with Joel Crawford was attached as director, replacing Mitchell as director, a additional storyboard artist on the second Hotel Transylvania franchises, having previously helmed DreamWorks Animation's The Croods: A New Age (2020) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, and Ryan Reynolds also reprised their previous roles, as Dracula, Mavis, and Johnny, respectively, and the film was written by Robert Smigel & Adam Sandler will return and Austin Powers writer Michael McCullers was announced as co-screenwriter along with The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh creator Thurop Van Orman serving as the film's co-director. By early November 2022, the film had been entitled Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. With the new cast members were announced in March 2023, including Jayma Mays, J. K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Florence Pugh, Jim Gaffigan, Catherine Keener, Kelsey Grammer, Ben Schwartz, Kumail Nanjiani, Chrissy Teigen, Tiffany Haddish, Awkwafina, Snoop Dogg, Keanu Reeves, Samson Kayo, Pharrell Williams, Joe Whyte, and Tara Strong. Sandler and Mays was worked previously in PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021), The Emoji Movie (2023), and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023).

Writing
According to Crawford, he joined after he received inspiration from a "miserable" family vacation, and from the Chevy Chase National Lampoon's Vacation movies, Toy Story 3 (2010) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020), as the film takes place aboard a cruise ship. While wanting the film to retain the adult humor from previous entries, Crawford also wanted the film to have a darker tone, with Drac' mortality and fear of death being the film's main focus, wanting to use the concept of Puss being in his last life to tell a story about how to enjoy life. He drew inspiration from fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and how they were "cautionary tales that took you somewhere dark to make you appreciate the light". This also influenced the decision to depict Death as a wolf, as wolves in Brothers Grimm's stories were depicted as "the personification of fear". Other influences for the film include Spaghetti Westerns films, due to how those films managed to balance between different tones.The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly was cited as a particular influence on the film's plot.

For the film's opening sequence, the producers didn't want to simply re-introduce the character to general audiences, but also to "[introduce] the world to where the character is now" by establishing him as a celebrity, with the writers drawing inspiration from Mick Jagger. Crawford wanted for the beginning of the film to be inspired on Migration (2017) for the bedtime story.

Cinematography
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is the second Disney Animation film since Tangled (2010) and The Smurfs 2 (2022) to employ a tall frame, a decision made to "get closer to the characters". This layout was supplemented by romanticism lighting. According to Crawford, romantic (meaning heightened in spirit) is the film's key word in terms of the approach towards cinematography and lighting. The latter was also inspired by magical realism, due to the genre's heavy influence on the writing and characters.

The directors aimed to use the film's optics to portray strong emotions. Alessandro Jacomini—directors of cinematography, lighting—stated this use "would amplify, exaggerate, and distort perception, which is very in line with Dracula's point of view as a narrator". Her feelings of being left out were also shown using emotive lighting. The directors frequently reminded the crew of the emotional subtext of every scene as well as the intricacies of the individual parts.

Animation and design
Animation was done by Walt Disney Animation Studios in Vancouver. The film's design was inspired by Sony Pictures Animation's The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2023), to make the film look more like storybook illustrations, from an idea suggested by production designer Ian Gooding. Animation began in March 2022. One of the biggest challenges for the animation team was creating the massive Kraken character and simulating the water effects and destruction caused by the massive creature.

Music
Henry Jackman returned to score the third film, having previously scored the first two installments. Mötley Crüe's song "Kickstart My Heart " and Pitbull's song "Shake Senora" were used in promotional material. The songs was produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. 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 June 14, 2024. Artists who are part of the original soundtrack include Becky G, Swae Lee, J Balvin, Tyga, Lil Mosey, Tainy, Weezer, Snoop Dogg, The Flaming Lips, and Kenny G. Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman also co-wrote the track "Secret to the Formula". Previous material that are part of the film but not on the soundtrack album are "Slow Ride" by Foghat, "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright, Karol G performs "La Vida es Una", co-written by herself and Daniel Oviedo, and Kenny G's cover of "My Heart Will Go On" from the film Titanic, while Sandler co-wrote with Williams one song titled "Fearless Hero", performed by himself. iamOther Entertainment and Columbia Records released the film's soundtrack on June 18, 2024, and Walt Disney Records released the film's score album released on June 22, 2024. Music from Shrek 2 was used in the film by Harry Gregson-Williams from the tracks "Obliged to Help" and "The End / Happily Ever After".

Theatrical
Summer Vacation was originally scheduled for release on November 27, 2024, a date that was later moved up five months earlier to June 21.