Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

image for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 8 (scary scenes, animated violence)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
  • a review of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 19 January 2022.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to scary scenes and animated violence.
Children aged 5–8 Parental guidance recommended due to scary scenes and animated violence.
Children over the age of 8 Ok for this age group, though may lack interest over 13.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: n/a
Length: 88 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

At the 125th anniversary of the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula (voiced by Brian Hull) prepares to announce his retirement and plan to hand over the hotel to his daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez), and her human husband, Johnny (voiced by Andy Samberg). When Johnny accidentally finds out before the announcement and excitedly tells Dracula about all the new things he’ll do with the hotel, Dracula gets cold feet. He lies to Johnny, telling him he can’t inherit the hotel unless he is a monster. Ever the problem solver, Johnny enlists the help of ex-monster hunter, Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan), who uses his monster/human transformation ray, to turn him into a dragon monster. When Dracula finds out, he tries to transform Johnny back before Mavis finds out. In the process, Dracula accidentally turns Wayne the Werewolf (voiced by Steve Buscemi), Griffin the invisible man (voiced by David Spade), Murray the Mummy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), Frankenstein (voiced by Brad Abrell), and himself, human. During the kerfuffle, the transformation ray breaks, and Johnny and Dracula must venture to South America to fix it. Mavis and Dracula’s partner, Erika (voiced by Kathryn Hahn), quickly work out what has happened and chase after them to help. The group must race against the clock as the transformation ray continues to mutate inside Johnny, causing him to quickly become a frightening, brainless monster.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Vampires; Monsters; Transformations.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Mavis accidentally punches human Dracula in the face and breaks his nose.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • All characters (aside from Johnny) are monsters which may frighten some young children (e.g., vampires, ghouls, zombies, witches, mummies, etc.).
  • Van Helsing is part robot and is frightening in appearance – he will likely scare young children.
  • Characters go through physical transformations, sometimes into cute or funny characters, other times into frightening monsters.
  • Johnny and Gigi the hamster are transformed into monsters (these transformations may frighten younger children) – the monster ray continues to mutate throughout the film, causing them to become increasingly more monstrous and scary (gnashing teeth, giant in size, claws, glowing red eyes, etc.).
  • Dracula is attacked by piranhas in a lake – this is comedic but may frighten young children.
  • Dracula and Mavis are attacked and chased by monster Johnny – his appearance and behaviour are frightening and both characters appear at risk of harm during these sequences – this will likely frighten young children.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Mavis is seared by sunlight beams while trying to reach Johnny – this may be more frightening for this age group due to the added element of a time limit to reach Johnny in time.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Sony branded phones and televisions.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • When the invisible man (Uncle Griffin) is turned human, his naked bottom is shown in close up.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Some drinking from goblets but no explicit references to alcohol.

Coarse language

  • None noted.

In a nutshell

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is the fourth instalment in the Hotel Transylvania series. It has a simple plot and slapstick humour, as well as a clear message of acceptance of others and finding the good in life. It will likely entertain young fans of the series and children over 5. Not suitable for children under 5 due to animated violence and scary scenes, and parental guidance is recommended to 8.

The main messages from this movie are to accept others as they are; and to find the good in life, people, and difficult situations.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Considering the perspectives and experiences of others can help us better understand other people, ourselves, and the world around us.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Telling the truth is important – lying can hurt the feelings of others and have unintended consequences.