Transylvania 6-5000 is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble.
Title[]
The title is a pun on "Pennsylvania 6-5000", a song made famous by Glenn Miller referring to the old telephone exchange mnemonic of two letters plus a digit, instead of a three-digit exchange, for example PE6-5000 vs. 736–5000.
Plot[]
Bugs is heading for "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", but instead ends up in "Pittsburghe Transylvania", upon hitting a tree. Initially he asks a two-headed female vulture named "Agatha" and "Emily" for directions to "Pittsboig", but the girls seem to be talking about making him into a meal. Bugs sees an old castle nearby, mistakes it for a motel, and calmly makes an exit.
At the castle, Bugs meets a vampire, who introduces himself as Count Bloodcount and invites him in. Although Bugs is only looking for a telephone to call his travel agency, the Count leads him to a guest room and says, "Rest first, telephone tomorrow. Rest is gooood for the blooood."
Unable to sleep, Bugs picks up a book titled "Magic Words and Phrases" because all the other books' subject matter was blood. As Bugs begins to read the phrasebook, the Count sneaks up behind him and is just about to strike when Bugs says "Abacadabra", turning the Count into a bat. Bugs mistakes the bat/Count for a big mosquito and clobbers the bat with a fly swatter. As the bat dizzily flies out of the window, Bugs says "Hocus pocus", which causes the Count to turn back into a vampire and fall into the moat surrounding his castle. Agatha and Emily watch the Count take the plunge, while they wonder who he is. "Anyone we know, Agatha?" "No. Splendid-looking specimen, though."
Shortly afterward, Bugs is searching for the house restaurant. The Count sneaks up from behind again, but Bugs is humming "It's Magic", and inadvertently turns the Count back into a bat with "Abacadabra". Once again mistaking the bat for a mosquito, "Another one? They oughta screen this place!", Bugs sprays the bat with a fumigator. As the bat Count is hanging his head down from an archway, coughing insecticide out of his lungs, Bugs sings "Hocus pocus" during a continuation of his song, and the Count crashes to the floor on his head.
Fed up with the situation, the Count reveals his true identity to Bugs, resulting in a duel of "magic phrases" in which Bugs transforms into an umpire. The Count transforms into a bat, while Bugs turns into a baseball bat and whacks the Count. After retreating to the floor, the Count tries to smash Bugs with a brick tile, but Bugs yells "Abracadabra" every time the Count uses "Hocus pocus" to transform back into a vampire to transform him back into a bat, smashing the Count instead. Eventually, the Count is too injured to say anything as he dizzily crawls out of the floor.
Bugs says "Abraca-pocus" which gives the Count his vampire body but with his bat form's head, then says "Hocus-cadabra" and the vampire now his normal head with his bat form's body and wings. Afterward he uses "Newport News" and turns him into Witch Hazel. Unimpressed, Bugs comments to himself, "I can do better than that." Then finally he uses the incantation "Walla Walla, Washington," and the Count is turned into a two-headed male vulture. Bugs calls out to Agatha and Emily, who are just outside the castle; and the Count is horrified to find himself the object of their amorous pursuit. The Count flees the castle with the female vulture in pursuit as Bugs watched in amusement.
Bugs finds a working pay phone inside a coffin, but while waiting for the operator to reach his travel agency in Perth Amboy, he mumbles "Abraca-pocus", and his ears turn into bat wings. Bugs hangs up and decides to fly home with those wings.
Availability[]
Looney Tunes After Dark
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc One
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5, Disc 1
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volumes 4-5 Repack
Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, Disc 5
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- On the ABC airing of this cartoon, the following parts were cut, mostly for time reasons:
- Most of the beginning, specifically the parts over the opening credits, as the original rings/credits were not allowed to be used in the anthology shows at the time.
- The part where Bugs rings the castle bell by pulling on a noose.
- Count Bloodcount's line, "No, it's never too late" was cut.
- The sequence where Count Bloodcount escorts Bugs through the castle had Bugs' comments on all the ghostly objects (including Bugs' line that the castle would be "a wonderful place for a vacation") muted.
Notes[]
- Portions of the cartoon were used in the compilation film Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special. Before the footage of the cartoon began, Witch Hazel is transformed into Count Bloodcount by some Hyde formula that Bugs brought with him, so when Bugs uses the phrase "Newport News," she remains as Witch Hazel. Some of the dialog from the cartoon had been edited for the special.
- Most of the cartoon was used in Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, but some dialogue was redubbed in order to connect it to the film's main story. Also, the end was changed so that instead of Bugs sprouting bat wings and flying away, it leads into the link to "The Abominable Snow Rabbit" where he reports his findings to Daffy Duck (although he still sings "abraca-pocus" to himself while in the coffin phone-booth), who is displeased to hear from him when Bugs specifically mentions "getting two couples together" ("What do you think we're running here, a matrimonial agency?"). Later, Bugs leaves the castle from the cartoon before he answers a nearby payphone as part of the same bridging sequence.
- This was the last Chuck Jones theatrical cartoon released in the Golden Age of American Animation to feature Bugs Bunny.
- "The Iceman Ducketh" (1964) directed by Phil Monroe (from Chuck Jones' unit) would be the last classic Bugs Bunny cartoon that the Jones team worked on.
- When Bugs mentions he has not eaten since he left "Cu-ca-monga", this is a reference to The Jack Benny Program.
- This cartoon lacks a "Bugs Bunny In" title card.
- It would also be the final Bugs cartoon in the theatrical era that does not include the mentioned card.
- Bugs Bunny's ears turning into bat wings at the end would later be incorporated into the character of Bunnicula from the 2016 series of the same name, loosely based on the books by Deborah and James Howe.
- The path of Bloodcount's descent over the moat is not punctuated by the bomb whistle effect common in The Canyon Fall Gag, but by a comically ominous score and wildly flailing motions.
- A clip from this cartoon was featured at the beginning of the 2010 vampire horror film Lost Boys: The Thirst.
- Count Bloodcount’s lines from the cartoon "I am a vampire" and "Rest is good for the blood" were sampled in the Gorillaz song "Dracula".
Gallery[]
