Count Duckula is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Productions and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off of Danger Mouse, a series in which an early version of the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain.[1]Count Duckula aired from 6 September 1988 to 16 February 1993 across four series; in all, 65 episodes were made, each about 22 minutes long.[2] The series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States, who billed it as its original programming. All have been released on DVD in the UK, while only the first series has been released in North America.
A new version of the original villainous Count Duckula appeared in the 2015 reboot series of Danger Mouse, but being a vegetarian like the good Duckula.
History
Count Duckula was created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Productions as a spin-off from Danger Mouse. In 1984, Nickelodeon acquired the US broadcast rights to Danger Mouse, which became a hit for the channel. After a few years, the Nickelodeon management came to Cosgrove Hall wishing to co-produce a new series. After being shown a number of ideas, the then head of Nickelodeon, Gerry Laybourne, spotted a picture of Count Duckula in Brian Cosgrove's office, and said, "That's the one I want".[3][4] As the series went into production, one of the writers suggested he become a vegetarian, which added an even sillier concept to the series.
Plot
Castle Duckula, home for many centuries to a dreadful dynasty of vicious vampire ducks – The Counts of Duckula. Legend has it that these 'fowl' beings can be destroyed by a stake through the heart or exposure to sunlight. This does not suffice however, for they may be brought back to life by means of a secret rite that can be performed once a century, when the moon is in the Eighth House of Aquarius... The latest reincarnation did not run according to plan....
—Opening narration
Several episodes explore the theme that each resurrection creates a new incarnation with little to no memory of its past life, the immediate past incarnation referred to as the current's "father". Thus, every incarnation is free to develop its own personality and pursue its own personal interests. The vampire is able to pose as a "dreadful dynasty, the counts of Duckula". The preceding generations included knights, sorcerers, scientists, artists, Egyptologists and even professional gamblers, all of whom are also secretly "vicious vampire ducks".
As the title sequence puts it, "the latest reincarnation did not run according to plan". The successful conclusion of the ritual, which was to be performed "once a century, when the moon is in the 8th house of Aquarius", requires blood, the source of sustenance for any vampire, but Nanny accidentally substitutes ketchup. Consequently, the newest version is not a blood-sucking vampire, but a vegetarian one. He is more interested in juicy carrots than hunting for victims. Igor is appalled. Even worse, his "new" master is obsessed with pursuing wealth and fame as an entertainer.
The stories often revolve around Duckula's adventures in search of riches and fame, assisted by the castle's ability to teleport around the world. Another regularly occurring theme is the repeated attempt by Igor to turn Duckula into a proper vampire. Some episodes feature Duckula's nemesis Doctor Von Goosewing (based on Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula), a vampire hunter who blindly refuses to believe the current incarnation of Duckula is harmless. There is also an array of bizarre, often supernatural foes, from zombies to mechanical werewolves. Another feature of the show is a cuckoo clock whose bat-like Borscht Belt comedian styled characters come out and make jokes about the current situation (or corny jokes in general). The clock is also a vital part of the castle's traveling mechanism, and it even has the ability to turn back time.
A series of annuals and monthly comics further detailing the adventures of Count Duckula and associated characters were released throughout the time that the series originally aired and for a short time afterwards.
Count Duckula (David Jason) is a short green duck dressed in typical vampire attire (black dinner jacket, red bow tie, black cape) with black parted hair and speaks with a thick American accent. Unlike traditional vampires, Duckula is a vegetarian, as an unintended consequence of his resurrection ritual being erroneously conducted with tomato ketchup in place of blood. As such, he does not possess the fangs typically associated with vampires, and his favourite food is broccoli sandwiches.
He has a very modern outlook, and often despairs over the traditional vampire image he is expected to embody. He hates living in a dark, gloomy castle, and finds the behaviour of his servants to be depressing. Duckula frequently expresses frustration with Igor's attempts to change him back into a proper vampire and his lecturing Duckula as a disgrace and disappointment to the Duckula lineage. Although he retains some vampiric powers and qualities (such as teleportation and an image invisible to mirrors), he also possesses a lesser power, seen only once, which is the ability to create a lightning flash when angry. He often goes outside in the daytime without suffering any ill effects, but this is likely because of his not being a fully "traditional" vampire. In the episode "Doctor Goosewing and Mr. Duck", Count Duckula briefly turns into a "proper" vampire, desiring blood from the villagers outside the castle (much to Igor's great delight), due to a serum slipped to him by von Goosewing that he presumed would make Duckula harmless, but he turns away from the door when he discovers that the sun is still out and is returned to normal by night.
Duckula's personality is good-natured and caring, always trying to help the villagers in need, often with mixed results. Despite his nobility, inherited castle, and devoted staff, he is often destitute to the point of being penniless, with several episodes pointing out that he struggles to pay essentials (such as claiming that he hasn't been able to pay his light bill since the day he was resurrected). As a result of being perpetually broke, Count Duckula is prone to short-lived obsessions, usually in order to become rich and famous. These obsessions form the plots for episodes, such as attempting to become a blues musician in New Orleans or prospecting for gold.
The character differs considerably from his predecessor on the Danger Mouse series. The only similarity, other than the name, is they are both vampire ducks with ambitions in show business and little actual talent. The previous version was an evil villain, willing to blackmail and force his way into stardom (as opposed to the current Count, who merely tries to get in the legitimate way) and was fixated on being a TV star, rather than settle for fame in some other branch of entertainment. The original depiction of Duckula has far greater magical powers and makes more common use of them. He has a thick accent consisting of lisping, stuttering and occasional squawks. Most notably, he was not a vegetarian in the Danger Mouse version. In his very first appearance, he threatened to drink Danger Mouse's blood, only to be chased away by the sun. The Danger Mouse Duckula was destroyed and fell to ashes, resurrected during the 8th astronomical house of Aquarius. During his recent appearance in the 2015 reboot, the new Duckula is a mix of the original and the vegetarian version from his spin-off.
Igor
Igor, the Count's butler, is a traditional horror servant based on the stock character Igor, and adds a decidedly dark streak to some of the show's humour. He greatly dislikes his master's behaviour, and often encourages him to act in a far more ghastly manner. Although he will generally obey Duckula's specific orders, he remains convinced that, if he could only talk Duckula into biting, maiming, torturing and otherwise brutalising people, he would return to the "good old days" of the previous counts who behaved more like evil vampires. Igor hates words such as "bless you", "nice", "good", and "lovely". Such words make him cringe, since he prefers the darker and more sinister side of life. In "Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck" when he accidentally drinks the carpet stain removal liquid created by Goosewing, his personality changes to an overly sweet-natured demeanour, and he becomes eager to help Goosewing destroy Duckula.
He is a hunched, balding, cultured vulture with a deep, slow voice and delights in the macabre. In the episode "Arctic Circles", he states that he has served for "seven-and-a-half centuries", indicating that Igor is himself either immortal, or extremely long-lived through some unknown means. It is unknown if the 7.5 centuries constitutes the totality of the 17-count Duckula dynasty, or if Igor has only served the most recent few incarnations. The episode "Dear Diary" implies that the Duckula dynasty is in excess of 2,000 years old, by stating that exposure to sunlight would fry the extant count into "a 2,000-year-old pile of dust." However the episode "The Rest is History" contradicts this, by implying that not only has Igor indeed been with the dynasty since the very first Count Duckula, he is also responsible for the first count becoming a vampire, as a figure who is virtually identical to the modern Igor of the show in both appearance and voice conspires to have the first Duckula be bitten by a bat. The exact reasons for this are unknown, however his attempts are ultimately successful, much to the chagrin of the modern Duckula.
Nanny
Nanny is Duckula's nanny and housekeeper. She is an extremely large and clumsy hen with a very strong Bristolian accent and her right arm inexplicably always in a sling, possessing incredible strength and inevitably messing up whatever task she is set to do. The episode "No Sax Please, We're Egyptian" reveals that Nanny's clumsiness actually resulted in the death of three former chambermaids and a footman of Castle Duckula, though this happenstance is quickly dismissed by the characters as they were only part-time employees. Nanny has a blind spot regarding doors, and often crashes through a door without opening it first, or (more commonly) walks right through the wall a few feet off from the door's position. Not surprisingly, she is the one who mistakes ketchup for blood in Duckula's current resurrection. The episode "Prime Time Duck" reveals her first name to be Amnesia. Nanny may herself also be immortal, as—in the episode "Dear Diary"—she's seen alongside Igor, serving the Count's great-grandfather, in a flashback set more than a century prior to the show's present day.
She is supremely unintelligent, completely unreliable, but utterly devoted to her "Ducky-boos," as she calls Duckula, and has a deep maternal affection for him, although her clumsiness often inadvertently causes him harm. A recurring gag is her inability to understand what people around her are talking about. She often mixes up words and takes insult at conversations not directed at her. In "Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck" when she accidentally drinks the carpet stain removal liquid created by Goosewing, she becomes extremely intelligent.
Castle Duckula
Count Duckula's home is an archetypal Transylvanian castle with all the trimmings: dungeon, torture chamber, library of macabre texts, laboratory, and more. The castle is also home to an often referred-to, but never seen, werewolf named Towser, which Duckula does not believe exists (he often refers to it as "the werewolf we don't have"). The castle can teleport to any place on earth (and beyond), but returns automatically at dawn, "Eastern Transylvanian Standard Time". The teleportation is activated when Duckula enters an upright coffin while he states where he wants it to take him (often, he will have to come up with a rhyme to activate it properly). The controls to this device are inside an old-fashioned cuckoo clock that hangs on the wall. The controls have two live mechanical bats, Dmitri and Sviatoslav, who are known for bad puns and jokes. Duckula himself, throughout the entire series never notices them, except in the episode "The Rest is History" where he says their jokes are terrible, although he did find them talking backwards when turning the hands of the clock back when travelling back in time hilarious.
Dr. Von Goosewing
Dr. Von Goosewing is a mad scientist and vampire hunter, a spoof of Abraham Van Helsing. He is a goose that speaks in a German accent, and wears an outfit not unlike that of Sherlock Holmes. He pursues Count Duckula relentlessly, never able to comprehend that Duckula is actually completely harmless. He is a terrible scientist, often getting maimed by his own crackpot inventions, he is supremely unobservant, and often bumps into Duckula and converses with him for several minutes without realizing to whom he is speaking.
Goosewing appears to have an assistant named Heinrich (he never appears on screen), whom he often calls out and blames his failures on him. In fact, "Heinrich" appears to be just a figment of Goosewing's imagination, an imaginary friend.[citation needed] However, the comic book version of the characters by Marvel reveal that Heinrich is actually his former assistant who is always complaining about his paltry wages.[citation needed]
The Marvel Comics run also introduced Vanna Von Goosewing, who was stated to be Von Goosewing's niece. Vanna and Duckula's reciprocal romance further infuriated Goosewing, as he now believed that Vanna was under some form of mental manipulation, assuming it to be the only reason she would have any interest in Duckula. This belief made him all the more intent on destroying Duckula as he now considered his mission to have a personal component to it, believing Duckula to be a threat to Vanna's safety. In an alternate universe depicted in the final issue of the comic, Goosewing is stated to have succeeded in destroying the counterpart Duckula of that reality, indicating it to be the reason why the 'regular' Duckula of the series had no reflection, and leaving Igor and Nanny without anyone to serve until the next time the resurrection ritual could be performed.
The Crow Brothers
The Crow Brothers are four criminally-inclined crows named Ruffles, Burt, Junior, and the masked brother (according to a comic in a Count Duckula annual). They typically scale the walls of Castle Duckula with the aid of climbing equipment. They are always seen hanging off one another with the use of bungee cords to climb the walls of whatever building they plan to scale. Their goal is to get at the treasure inside the castle, but they will rarely make it to the top.
Gaston and Pierre
Gaston and Pierre are a pair of French criminals and occasional villains. Although they are both undeniably incompetent, the arrogant Gaston is ostensibly the "brains" of the outfit. Gaston is a tall, thin, black stork, while Pierre is a short, stubby parakeet who sounds similar to Bluebottle from The Goon Show. The characters were adapted into non-bird form for yet another Cosgrove-Hall animated series, Victor and Hugo.
Pirate Penguins
A ruthless crew of piraticalpenguins originally hired by Count Duckula, this crew of seafarers turn on Count Duckula when his antics crash their ship. All of the penguins are typical pirate stereotypes, one of which is known as Mr. Mate and shouts that he will "bite their heads off!"
Narrator
The Narrator (Barry Clayton) opens and closes every episode. Episodes usually began with him describing Castle Duckula and its gloomy atmosphere, and close with him saying a phrase popularised in the 1950s and 1960s by American TV horror host John Zacherle, "Goodnight out there ... WHATever you are!" The Narrator finishes with evil laughter that leads into the end credits. Variants of The Narrator's closing line are also used to close certain programmes.[5]
Relatives
Duckula has numerous vampiric relatives all over the world, who are more classic vampires than Duckula, possessing fangs, red eyes and evil personalities. Only a small number, such as Don Diego, show any affinity or friendship toward the benign Count Duckula.
They come from many different countries, such as Spain and Scotland, and their costumes represent their native cultures. The relatives include Don Diego, a Spanish vampire duck who makes his fun and games by burning down villages, and Rory McDuckula, a Scottish vampire duck who later makes himself an enemy of Duckula. Another relative, the Archduck Merganser, was a famous Egyptologist. "Uncle Bloodbath" is also mentioned a few times.[6]
The Peasants
The town situated below Castle Duckula is home to many peasants who live in constant fear of the count, despite his harmless current incarnation. A recurring joke in the series and associated books is that "the peasants are revolting". Their local pub is called The Tooth and Jugular. The regulars are often seen singing a variation of the traditional song "One Man Went to Mow a Meadow!" replacing the words "mow a meadow" with "kill a vampire".
Towser
Towser is the werewolf kept secretly in the dungeons of Castle Duckula. Never seen on-screen, he is sometimes heard howling and growling off-screen. This frequently leads to Igor denying Towser's existence in the castle to the ever-suspicious Duckula who has never seen the werewolf.
In a move mirroring Duckula's adaptation from Danger Mouse, the characters of Gaston and Pierre were reinvented and given a spinoff series as the now-human Victor & Hugo: Bunglers in Crime.[7]
Home media
DVD releases
The Count Duckula discs are in Region 0, PAL format. The first series was released on Region 1 DVD on 4 October 2005. Series 2, 3, and 4 have, as of 2024, not been released in North America. A Spanish format for Latin America was released.[8][9]
The entire 65 episodes of the series are set to be released on UK DVD on June 3, 2024. [10] This appears to be the first time ever the whole series have been available on English-language DVD's.
Complete set
Title
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
Count Duckula: The Complete Collection
Not yet released in region 1
27 October 2008
1 May 2013
Individual series
Series
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
Series 1
4 October 2005 (as "The complete first season")
17 July 2006 (as "The complete first series")
11 October 2007 (as "From Duck Til Dawn", containing the first 18 episodes only)
Series 2
Not yet released in region 1
26 March 2007 (as "The complete second series")
Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set
Series 3 & 4
Not yet released in region 1
3 September 2007 (as "The complete third series")
Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set
Individual episodes
Title
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
Count Duckula: Vampire Vacation
Not yet released in region 1
14 October 2002
Not yet released in region 4
Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back!
Not yet released in region 1
11 August 2008
Not yet released in region 4
VHS releases
During the show's original run, Count Duckula episodes were released on numerous VHS titles from Thames Video collection, often in a different sequence than what was shown in the TV.
VHS Title
Release Date
Episodes
Count Duckula (TV8036)
7 November 1988
No Sax Please, We're Egyptian, The Mutinous Penguins, One Stormy Night
Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back! (TV8038)
7 November 1988
The Vampire Strikes Back!, Hardluck Hotel, Dear Diary
Count Duckula: A Fright at the Opera (TV8045)
7 November 1988
A Fright at the Opera, Hunchbudgie of Notre Dame, Dr. Goosewing and Mr Duck
Count Duckula: Jungle Duck (TV8050)
24 April 1989
Jungle Duck, Vampire Vacation, Igor's Busy Day
Count Duckula: Autoduck
1 May 1989
Autoduck, Rent a Butler, Mobile Home
Count Duckula: Transylvanian Homesick Blues
1 May 1989
Transylvanian Homesick Blues, Restoration Comedy, All in a Fog
This[which?] VHS title appeared in 1990 but, at the time, the episodes contained were somewhat exclusive to video (the first was not televised until 1991, neither was the latter until 1993).
Count Duckula episodes were also released on special VHS compilations with episodes of other series. In 1989, the episode "Down under Duckula" was released on Thames' VHS title More Children's Summer Stories, with episodes from Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows. In 2001, in the twilight years of VHS, the episodes "The Ghost of Castle McDuckula" and "Venice a Duck, Not a Duck!" were featured on two Cult Kids collection tapes, with episodes of Rainbow, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Button Moon, Jamie and the Magic Torch and The Sooty Show.
Comics
Between 1988 and 1991 Marvel Comics distributed 15 issues of Count Duckula comics.[11]
Count Duckula appeared in North American comics under Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics) and introduced an additional difference between this incarnation of Duckula which separated him from his predecessors. Due to ketchup being used in the resurrection ceremony, this version of Duckula has ketchup, rather than blood, flowing through his veins. This was discovered when Duckula was given a blood test in order to get a passport into a fictional country which produced a salad which Duckula was obsessed with getting to eat. In the same issue, Duckula, Nanny, and Igor were photographed as a means of formal ID for said country; however, due to the classic stereotype of vampires not appearing in film, Duckula did not appear in the photo which was taken. Duckula also gained a romantic interest in the Star Comics run; Vanna Von Goosewing, who turned out to be the niece of his long time adversary Dr. Von Goosewing. The attraction was mutual, and the two continued their relationship through the majority of the series after their introduction, though Vanna didn't always appear in every issue of the book.[12]
In the early 1990s at least two episodes were released in audiobook format on cassette tape with accompanying illustrated hardcover book featuring artwork from the original television episodes. They featured the original cast in new performances as they were edited considerably from the original television scripts for a shorter duration, removal of visual gags and the addition of new narration and character exposition where necessary. The "Restoration Comedy" episode was packaged with a small plastic Count Duckula figure in some territories.
No Sax Please, We're Egyptian
Restoration Comedy
The Ghost of Castle McDuckula
Computer games
Alternative Software released a computer game based on Count Duckula called "No Sax Please, We're Egyptian!". In the game, Igor, Nanny and Count Duckula have decided to search the tomb of the great Pharaoh Upanatem (a pun on "up and at 'em") to find the mystic saxophone. What they do not know is that they have brought along some unwanted guests in the form of the Crow brothers.
The game was a basic jump and run platform-type game. At the start, the castle was transported to an ancient pyramid. Then, players had a set amount of time to go through the pyramid, evading the various baddies inside the pyramid, to retrieve the mystic sax before the Count's castle automatically returns to Transylvania, leaving the player stranded in Egypt.
The game was available for various 8-bit computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, & Amstrad CPC, and was also released as a "Kid's Pack" with other TV shows that Alternative Software turned into games, including Postman Pat, Sooty and Sweep, Popeye 2, The Wombles, and SuperTed. Alternative Software was one of the few software companies of the 1980s that still survives today as an independent software producer.
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Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are still seen in over eighty countries. The company was wound down by its then owner, ITV plc, on 26 October 2009. It was mainly known for its series Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows and Count Duckula.
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Brian Joseph Cosgrove is an English animator, designer, director, producer and sculptor. With Mark Hall, he founded Cosgrove Hall Films in 1976 and produced successful animated children shows including The Wind in the Willows, Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. In 2012, he won the BAFTA Special Award.
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↑ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p.64. ISBN9781476672939.
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