Let's celebrate Bela Lugosi's 128th birthday today with some cartoon incarnations of Count Dracula. Enjoy.
Mad Monster Party? (1967)
Groovy Goolies (1970)
The Goolies were a group of hip monsters, many of whom were, in look and sound, pop-culture echoes of the classic horror-film monsters created in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly by Universal Pictures. The group sang a pop song each episode. Drac (voiced by Larry Storch) was the short-tempered Count Dracula surrogate who is the head of Horrible Hall.
Count Chocula (1971)
In 1971, the first two General Mills monster cereals were introduced, Count Chocula and the strawberry-flavored Franken Berry. Boo Berry, reputedly the first blueberry-flavored cereal, was released in 1973, and Fruit Brute the following year. Fruit Brute was discontinued by 1983 and replaced in 1987 by Fruity Yummy Mummy, which also had a short life as it was discontinued in the 1990s.
Sesame Street - Count Von Count's first appearance (1972)
Count von Count, often known simply as The Count, is one of the Muppet characters on Sesame Street, performed by Jerry Nelson. The Count is a vampire modeled after Béla Lugosi's interpretation of Count Dracula.
The Count's main purpose is educating children on simple mathematical concepts, most notably counting. The Count has a love of counting (arithmomania); he will count anything and everything, regardless of size, amount, or how much annoyance he is causing the other Muppets or human cast. For instance, he once prevented Ernie from answering a telephone because he wanted to continue counting the number of rings.
The Count debuted on Sesame Street in Season 4 (1972–73), and was conceived by Norman Stiles, who wrote the first script. The Count was performed by Jerry Nelson, who brought the character to life. He was originally made out of the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet pattern.
Electric Company - Morgan Freeman as Dracula (early 1970s)
Morgan Freeman had a recurring skit as Count Dracula on The Electric Company. In this one, he sings about the joys of taking a bath in a casket.
Electric Company - Tom Lehrer's L-Y Song (1972)
Dracula appears at the end of Tom Lehrer's song "L-Y" from The Electric Company; "You enter a very dark room, and standing there in the gloom...is DRACULA! Now how do you say goodbye?/Immediately, Immediately, Immediate L-Y! Bye-Bye!"
Super Friends - Attack of the Vampire (1978)
Count Dracula appears as a villain on Super Friends in an episode entitled "Attack of the Vampire", originally released on October 14, 1978. In the episode, Dracula arises and tries to turn the whole Earth's population into vampires. The Super Friends battle Dracula, who transforms Superman and the Wonder Twins into vampires. Dracula uses intense beams from his eyes to transform his victims into vampires.
Drak Pack - Dr. Dred is a Shrinker (1980)
Drak Pack was an animated television series. It aired in the United States on CBS Saturday Morning between September 6, 1980 and September 12, 1982. The series centred around three young men (apparently in their late teens): Drak (called Drak Jr. in the opening segment, but almost never in the series; voiced by Jerry Dexter), Frankie and Howler (both voiced by William Callaway), descendants of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and a werewolf. To atone for their ancestors' wrongdoings, the three, united as the Drak Pack, became superheroes.
Dingbat and the Creeps - Window Washouts (1980)
The first season of Heathcliff called "Heathcliff and Dingbat" ran for 13 episodes and included backup segments with Dingbat and the Creeps, who were created for the show. "Dingbat and the Creeps" revolved around the adventures of three monstrous characters who were self-employed as "Odd Jobs, Inc." which consisted of Dingbat, a vampire dog who used a bat-shaped novelty straw to eat most foods, Sparerib, a strangely rotund skeleton with the ability to change himself into useful items (such as a floor lamp, which he did in the opening credits), and Nobody, a gravelly-voiced jack-o-lantern who led the team and often found them various work.
Mini-Monsters - Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Claws (1987)
"Mini-Monsters" was part of the "Comic Strip" flop cartoon hour. The characters were all kid monsters: Werewolf, Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, a witch, Dracula, and Mummy. With the exception of two human children. They all get shipped off to some summer camp together, and get caught up in a bunch of mishaps. The community every now and then realizes there's monsters near by and freak-out.
DuckTales - Ducky Horror Picture Show (1987)
Count Drakeula appeared in this episode of Disney's DuckTales.
Count Duckula - No Sax Please (1988)
Count Duckula is a British animated television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall, and a spin-off from DangerMouse, a show in which the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. The show is a loose parody of the story of Count Dracula. Set in Transylvania, Duckula lives in a spooky castle known as Castle Duckula, alongside his butler Igor, and his large nanny (always referred to as "Nanny" and perpetually wearing an arm sling). Almost all of the characters in the show are anthropomorphised birds.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show - Count Koopula (1989)
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show featured an episode titled "Count Koopula," which, as the title suggests, featured Bowser as a vampire who sucked on tomato sauce. Dracula himself appeared in a live-action segment of the series.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - Spatula, Prinze of Dorkness (1990)
At first, Zoltan was a failed experiment originating from when Igor accidentally had placed old movies into their programming stage instead of training videos, causing him and his gang of five to be lazy and to imitate old movie characters occasionally (such as legendary actor James Cagney). Perhaps echoing what the future was to hold for Zoltan, he underwent a transformation into a vampire tomato, dubbing himself "Spatula, Prince of Dorkness" (shown in the episode of the same name) and proceeded to kiss people on the neck to transform humans and tomatoes alike into vampires (a stipulation that the Censor Lady put into place in fear of showing the biting and bloodshed associated with vampires on a Saturday Morning cartoon).
Animaniacs - Draculee, Draculaa (1993)
In an attempt to head towards their ancestral home of Pennsylvania (since their parents are pencils), the Warners end up at the estate of Count Dracula in Transylvania.
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