Bigfoot is having stomach problems in the first trailer for director Genndy Tartakovsky’s new animated comedy “Hotel Transylvania”, which centers on what happens when a backwoods inn for monsters is thrown into turmoil after an actual human (voiced by Andy Samberg) stumbles across it while backpacking.
The trailer for the upcoming film certainly looks decent from an animation standpoint, but it fails to make an impression the way, say, a tease for the latest Tim Burton animated creation (i.e. “Frankenweenie”) might.
Indeed, it’s hard to shake the feeling that while Tartakovsky (a respected animator best known for his TV work on shows including “Star Wars: Clone Wars” and “Dexter’s Laboratory”) and company most likely mean well with this Universal Monsters-inspired effort, it won’t be able to hold a candle to a more visionary animated film like, well, Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” (which is slated to hit theaters a mere week after “Hotel Transylvania”‘s September 28th debut).
In short, Sony had better hope that the film’s bold-faced voice cast, which includes the likes of Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg and Kevin James, can manage to pull in a significant amount of viewers on opening weekend before Burton’s latest inevitably steals its thunder.
My grade for the trailer: C. After viewing it below, rate it for yourself at top left!
Follow me on Twitter @HitFixChris