Castle Duckula, home for many centuries to a dreadful dynasty of vicious vampire ducks… The Counts of Duckula!
Terrifying until now…the current Count is a vegetarian vampire with a desire for showbusiness! Count Duckula: The Complete Collection includes all 4 series of this classic Cosgrove Hall animation in a 7-disc set which is out now on DVD in the UK courtesy of Fabulous Films.
“Count Duckula was The Rolling Stones to Danger Mouse‘s Beatles” Den of Geek
Airing between 1988 and 1993 Count Duckula is a spin-off of the Cosgrove Hall classic Danger Mouse (in turn another Cosgrove Hall animation Victor and Hugo was a spin-off of Count Duckula based on villains Gaston and Pierre). Both Danger Mouse and Count Duckula are voiced by David Jason. Count Duckula was a recurring villain in the Danger Mouse series having once teamed up with Danger Mouse’s arch-enemy Silas Greenback. In the Count Duckula series Duckula is no longer villainous and is now a vegetarian due to his resurrection ritual being conducted with tomato ketchup instead of blood. And he even occasionally wears Danger Mouse branded pyjamas.
Nickelodeon commissioned Count Duckula after Danger Mouse had become a major hit for the channel. A Nickelodeon executive saw a drawing of Duckula from his appearance on Danger Mouse and wanted him to be the star of the new show.
Barry Clayton narrates the beginning and end of every Count Duckula episode in a parody of Vincent Price’s iconic voice overs. As an expert on vampires, Price wasn’t happy that he hadn’t been approached to play the narrator (Clayton also spoke the intro to Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” for which Vincent Price had originally been approached).
The five main cast members consisting of David Jason, Jack May, Brian Trueman, Jimmy Hibbert and Barry Clayton played most of the guest characters, with many additional female characters being played by Ruby Wax.
“Goodnight out there … whatever you are!“
Synopsis: Count Duckula accompanied by his long-suffering man-servant Igor and his clumsy house-keeper Nanny, uses his teleporting castle to seek his fame and fortune across the world!
Voiced by: David Jason, Jack May, Brian Trueman, Jimmy Hibbert, Barry Clayton, Ruby Wax.
Extras: Interview with Brian Cosgrove. Interview with John Doyle. How to Draw Count Duckula with Mike Whaite. Stills Gallery.
