Literary adaptions starring classic and beloved characters are quite the norm and serve as a way to work as an entry point for younger fans to discover these stories before embarking on reading the originals. Mickey Mouse alone has starred in adaptions of Jack and the Beanstalk, A Christmas Carol, and The Prince and the Pauper to name a few.
However, those are all shorts and I have decided to look at books this month and I remembered thanks to Longbox that my favorite Mouse starred in a comic adaption of Dracula.
Yes, I did rewatch this video but Linkara is one of my favorite YouTubers and Longbox is just fun.
Cover
The cover gives you an idea of what to expect with this adaption as it is just silly, with Mickey in the Jonathan Harker role and Goofy as Van Helsing. The look of the book’s Dracula seems to be pulling inspiration from the Gary Oldman Dracula.
Adapted By
Bruno Enna
I applaud Enna’s efforts here as he had to take one of if not the most well-known vampire story and condense it down considerably while hitting all the important beats but also making it accessible for children and I believe he succeeded on that front.
The Plot
It’s Dracula but sillier as he turns people into beets and feeds off of beets. It’s clever and cute and also works for a child-friendly take on Dracula while also not skimping on the scares as seen when Dracula goes Minnia, Minnie’s character in the book, and turns Clarabelle’s character into a beet. It’s striking how evocative the Count looks.
It’s gorgeous and haunting in conveying what a threat Dracula can be. As I mentioned the book hits all the important plot points such as the voyage of Demeter and Renfield interacting with Dracula to gain his freedom and I just love who the book cast as Renfield.
Casting Pete in the Renfield role is a stroke of brilliance in my opinion, it’s a role I wouldn’t have thought of but it works considering the story and how sniveling Pete has shown to be. I know some took issue with Goofy as Van Helsing and he is a bit jerkish as Van Helsing but I think it works as I recall Van Helsing in the original text being a bit aloof at times and having Goofy as Van Helsing exaggerates that which a comedic adaption is going to do anyways.
You can feel the team behind this adaption has immense respect for the original Stoker novel in how much they include while gently ribbing it. Everything from Dracula’s Brides and so much else is included in this adaption which makes it a good time all around. This brings up another aspect I like as Minnie gets to be spunky and annoyed in this comic as we see this in her interactions with both Goof Helsing and the Brides. It’s funny seeing her spunk and annoyance at others.
Oh, the setting is a restaurant run by the Brides where Goofy warns Minnie’s characters not to eat the beets as they’ll turn into a bride. He knows all of this as he used to work at a supernatural fruit and vegetable store and that is how he learned how to take down the likes of Dracula. Again, I just love that silliness as it’s so much fun and makes for a good time reading this book.
My Final Thoughts
This is a fun adaption that I would suggest to Disney fans, Dracula fans, and people who want to introduce kids to this classic story as I think it serves as a great introductory point. Now I know Enna also did a Frankenstein adaption starring Donald Duck. Perhaps I’ll look at that in the future. Join me next time as we head to Sleepy Hollow to look at a modern-day take on the classic legend…
Raising The Horseman
About Author
I didn’t expect Disney to take on Dracula. I may have to take a look at this.
It’s really fun and worth a read.
Sounds about as entertaining as the Muppet “Phantom of the Opera” adaptation. I’ll definitely be checking this out. Also nice to see Goofy in a heroic role.
Funny how Dracula turns people into beets in this story. Reminds me of an episode from the sentai series “Jetman” where two vampire monsters are resurrected and turn their victims into pineapples so they can drink the juices.
The Muppets Phantom of the Opera was almost a review this year. Yeah, it’s fun seeing Goofy being a hero. I know this was followed up with an adaptation of Frankenstein with Donald as Dr. Frankenstein.