This cartoon was produced and animated by Hanna-Barbera in 1990 and only lasted for thirteen episodes before its cancellation. It premiered on the NBC network and is one of the few Hanna-Barbera cartoons that did not revert to Time Warner control after the company became defunct in 2001. Since the company produced hundreds upon hundreds of cartoons between 1950 and 1998, it's easy to forget about their lesser known works so let's jump on in.
The series was mainly conceived as an animated vehicle for actor Rick Moranis's (of Honey I Shrunk the Kids! fame) career, but was actually quite creative and fun. The show revolves around Moranis's character, Max Schneider, as the only human teacher at a high school for ghouls. (Keep in mind this came out two years after the other Hanna-Barbera production Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School.) He is the only teacher in the school willing to work with his class, they aren't bad kids, just disinterested or disruptive or, in the case of resident vampire Reggie Moonshroud, overly preoccupied with school.
The class consists of nine students, all re imaginings of classic horror monsters. The cast consists of Vinnie Stoker (the original sparkly vampire), Frankentyke (an undead Bart Simpson-esq character), Reggie Moonshroud (a nerdy werewolf who will make you remember Happy Days), Cleofatra (this should be obvious), Blanche (an undead Scarlet O'Hara), Sid (The Invisible Boy), Duzer (a nerfed, valley girl Medusa), Gil (the creature from the radical lagoon), and J.P. (Peter Lorre, because Hanna-Barbera loved picking on Peter Lorre).
The show was episodic, having no two-parters, and followed the classic formula of the time; something is established, something goes wrong, status quo must be restored. Despite being formulaic, the show was actually very entertaining and realizing exactly who is voicing half the characters makes it that much better. Just to name a few: Jackie Earle Haley, Ricki Lake, Roger Rose, Frank Welker, and Tim Curry are all regulars in the cast.
Despite the show being a tad hoaky and the animation being a little sloppy at times, it's definitely worth looking into and I'm sure that the first nine episodes are up on youtube. The show is colorful and fun, the character designs are original and each one is actually given an interesting personality.
Check it out and give this little 90s gem some love.
Now I wonder, how do you like that pre-packaged pop kids listen to these days?
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