Count Duckula is a show about a vampire duck. However, Duckula doesn't want to be like his forebearers. He's a vegetarian and what's to go into show business. His butler, Igor, constantly tries to get him to be more vampire-like while Nanny doesn't understand anything and is constantly breaking things. Each episode, Duckula uses Castle Duckula to travel to a new location where he gets into some sort of trouble. The villain that appears most often is VonGoosewing, a vampire hunter.

The show is actually very clever. They aren't above borrowing ideas for their predecessors, though a times they are a bit to blatant about it. In the first episode, there's a gag that was taken almost directly from Abbot and Costello.

The animation is a little off. It can get a bit jerky at times and some things don't move the way they should. It doesn't make the show unwatchable, but you still notice it.

Overall, the show is pretty good. The writing more than makes up for any flaws in the animation. It's definitely worth checking out.

Generally regarded as one of the crown jewels of Cosgrove-Halls library and one of the best productions of that studio (along with their stop motion Wind in the Willows). Droll, eccentric and very British, without going as over the top with the later like Danger Mouse was prone to doing at times. Speaking of that mouse is hardly surprising, since the vegetarian vampire first appeared in the classic episode “The Four Tasks of Danger Mouse” from that series. Back then he was a blood sucker, although he was still completely obsessed with being in show business.

The basis for the series was that in the most recent resurrection rite, Igor and Nanny (mostly Nanny) used ketchup instead of the blood that they were suppose to. The end result of which is a much beloved veggie with a tendency to cowardice; a vampire who fears for his immortal life. The one thing he’s retained from his Danger Mouse appearance is a immense desire for fame and fortune, while being completely oblivious to his absolute lack of any discernable talent.

His need for fame and fortune wills him to travel across the world; the way he does this is interesting. Transporting the entire castle to his desired locate, giving him until dawn Transylvanian time, at which point the castle returns back home (with or without him). The transportation sequence is one of the few pieces of repeated animation that I look forward to seeing in a cartoon. Part of this has to be the funky sound effects that accompany it, as well as the deformation and contortions that the castle appears to go through; the scaling of the castle is especially impressive as it mostly always looks like the same castle that is usually part of the normal background.

Outlandish plots are the norm here, searching for a ancient, mystical Egytian saxophone (genius in itself that) check, accidently blasting off into outerspace and finding themselves on the most fearsome planet of all… Planet Cute! As well as plenty of encounters with the possibly mad Doctor Von Goosewing and his impressive array of vampire locating weapons, not that they helped him with his never ending mission of destroying the “fiend” Duckula. Wonderfully bizarre and very watchable.

The show is forever being stolen by Duckula’s forever faithful servants, the immortal Igor and Nanny. Igor is the very essence of drollness: his main interest getting the Count to forsake stardom and return to the path of his ancestors, drinking the blood of young maidens and that sort of thing. All his efforts prove fruitless, but he still hopes that he can get his master back on the path of the good old days. He finds pleasure in violence and the prospect of potential violence; the horrors of the world are the joyful things to his eyes. This isn’t to say he’s really bad, his absolute loyally to his master whim, whatever it may be, shows were his true self lies: he just prefers the dank dreariness of the land of Transylvanian to the life his current master wants.

The other main character is the one who really steals the show, is Duckula’s overbearing nanny, Nanny. With her arm forever in a sling (in flashbacks covering hundreds of years her arm is still in the sling) and not much (if anything) upstairs, she is a great comic character. Her habit of calling her master Duckyboos, coupled with her literary walking through the doors and/or walls; as well as her endearingly silly nature and fluttery working-class English accent.

It is one of the best shows to come out of Britain period, with very few to match it, especially in its heyday. Well animated, great vocals (David Jason is especially good as the Count himself), witty, off-the-wall, droll and very British. The world of Duckula is a great fantasy, which animation can be very good at; as long as it also includes the quality writing and realisation. As it is Count Duckula deserves the accolades it receives; as does the studio that made it.

I end this review with those immortal words… Goodnight out there, whatever you are…

Cosgrove Hall's almost equally successful follow-up to the long-running 'Danger Mouse', Count Duckula was probably funnier than its stablemate, and outlasted it by a year, spanning the period 1988-93, which if it were an American show would plonk it on either side of the animation renaissance. But it was British, so it's hard to know what to think. I'm going to guess that even British TV animation underwent improvements around this time, as I remember a couple of particular awful British series from the earlier 80's like 'Banana Man' (voiced by The Goodies) and 'Super Ted'.

Duckula technically spun-off from 'Danger Mouse" since he first appeared in a DM episode, but his character was changed substanitally by the time he had his own series.

The concept of the series was moderately amusing, but the real strengths were the characters. Duckula (a vegetarian vampire) was far too nice and helpless to be menacing, Igor was wonderfully droll, and best of all was the bumbling, catastrophe-prone but well-meaning 'Nanny', whose arm was always in a sling (if there was a reason given for this I don't remember it). She was voiced in a wonderful working class British accent, and generally managed to screw things up despite just trying to help out (actually I think it was one of her attempts at helping out that resulted in Duckula being reincarnated as a vegetarian in the first place).

Though 'Danger Mouse' is more famous and iconic, I think this was my personal favourite of Cosgrove Hall's two major 80's shows. Like DM, it did well in the US, too.