'Hotel Transylvania' Short Film Lands Online; Final Theatrical Sequel Coming Out Sooner Than Expected

Here's a double dose of good news for the Hotel Transylvania fans out there. Monster Pets: A Hotel Transylvania Short, which is currently playing in Cinemark theaters, has made its way online in advance of this weekend's Pets Day on April 11. (No, you're not the only one who had no idea that Pets Day was a thing.)

The other piece of good news is two-pronged and a bit more bittersweet. The fourth installment of the film franchise has received a new official title: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, and its release date has moved up on the calendar, so fans won't have to wait as long to see it. It will now debut on July 23, 2021 instead of August 6. For fans, the bittersweet part is that Sony Pictures Animation has confirmed this will indeed be the final entry in this franchise. Check out the new Hotel Transylvania short film below.

I've admittedly never seen any of the Hotel Transylvania films, but this is pretty cute as far as tie-in shorts go. Something sounded slightly off about the voice of Drac, who is typically played by Adam Sandler in the feature-length movies, and a quick glance at this short's credits confirm that the character is voiced by Brian Hull instead. (Couldn't get Sandler to record his lines remotely for this one, eh? Weird.)

Genndy Tartakovsky executive produced this short alongside Michelle Murdocca, but it was written by Jennifer Kluska and directed by Kluska and Derek Drymon, the duo who will be taking over the directing reins from Tartakovsky on the upcoming theatrical sequel.

"What would it be like if the Drac Pack all owned pets? We couldn't be more excited to jump back into the world of Hotel Transylvania, and explore all the fun and lovable frustrations of pets through a monster lens," Kluska and Drymon said in a statement. "What happens when your golden retriever is 5 stories tall? Or your chihuahua breathes fire? Being able to introduce an all-new group of characters in Monster Pets who are just as funny and weird as the Drac Pack was an absolute blast. We hope audiences enjoy the short, and look forward to seeing the monster pets make an appearance in the upcoming Hotel Transylvania: Transformania!"

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (which, as the logo indicates in a post-credits reveal in the short, seems to have something to do with electricity) is the fourth and final entry into this franchise and will arrive in theaters on July 23, 2021.