VAMPIRINA

 

VAMPIRINA
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, October 1, 2017-June 28, 2021)
 
Brown Bag Films

 

 

            Vampirina is a computer-animated series created by Chris Nee, creator of Doc McStuffins, based on the Vampirina Ballerina series of books written by Anne Marie Pace, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and published by Disney-Hyperion. Consisting of four books released between 2012-17, the series focused on Vampirina, a young vampire who had aspirations of taking up ballet while overcoming the fact that she is, y’know, a vampire and also has stage fright. The animated series takes loose inspiration from the books, with Vampirina Hauntley (Isabella Crovetti) and her family—mother Oxana (Lauren Graham), father Boris (James Van Der Beek), and werewolf-transforming dog Wolfie (Dee Bradley Baker), omitting the siblings she had in the books—moving from Transylvania to open a supernatural-friendly bed and breakfast called Scare B&B in Pennsylvania. They had to learn to adapt to their new environment so as not to alert the normal humans to their vampiric origins and scare them. Along with the Hauntleys, the series featured Demi (Mitchell Whitfeld), a ghost who loved with them; Gregoria (Wanda Sykes), a 473-year-old gargoyle who acted like Vampirina’s sidekick; Poppy Peepleson (Jordan Alexa Davis), Vampirina’s human best friend; Edgar (Benji Risley), Poppy’s older twin brother who was a monster enthusiast and ran the vlog “Weekly Weirdness”; and Bridget (ViviAnn Yee), Vampirina’s other human friend. Together, Vampirina, Poppy, Edgar and Bridget had a band called the Ghoul Girls.

Vampirina, her friends and family welcoming a guest to the Scare B&B.

            Vampirina debuted on October 1, 2017, simulcast on both Disney Junior the channel and Disney Junior the programming block on Disney Channel. That was followed by a special screening in theaters that Halloween and a DVD release only two weeks later. It was renewed for a second season in January, and for a third that September before the second season even debuted. It was supplemented by music videos shown independently under the title Ghoul Girls Rock. The series’ music was composed by Michael Kooman and Christopher Diamond, with Layla Minoui doing the score. Vampirina was populated by a number of veterans from Doc McStuffins, who would shift to take over the series from Nee when she left Disney after the second season to being a short-lived relationship creating shows for Netflix. The series ended after 75 episodes, racking up 7 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning 1, and a British Academy Children’s Award and Irish Film and Television Award nomination. It was made available to stream on Disney+.