Romanian Instances in US Animations: Scooby-Doo Part 2 - Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf
Whenever a director wants to talk about vampires, there is no better choice than Transylvania. Of course, that does not presuppose environment accuracy, as most of the time, this land of vampire seems to be remote in time, looking like a Middle Ages village. Scooby – Doo makes no exception as the theme of this show is always mystery. And what else can be more mysterious, besides aliens, ghosts or sea monsters, than vampires? And luckily for us, Romania is the very land of vampires. Even so, whenever vampires are portrayed in cartoons, it is not Romania that is mentioned as the country of the creatures who suck blood, but Transylvania.
This movie is no exception – the castle of Dracula is again placed in space which makes the viewer (the child) shiver, but at the same time be excited about what is going to happen next. The action takes place on a cliff, surrounded by a Middle Ages village with people bearing a heavy Eastern European accent. This whole village makes me feel as if the characters were teleported to another space and time, different from the American one, as everything looks so old, alien.
I never expect accuracy when it comes to animations, as there is no fun in showing a scenario in a real environment, it would not be able to fulfill its scope. That is why even though it is Transylvania which appears in this cartoon, the mythic place seems to belong to Eastern Europe as a whole, not to Romania only. I state that because I noticed that it is almost all the time the case of Russian intrusions. It is not only the accent the characters have, but the names as well – Igor, for example.
Because I have always loved cartoons more than actual movies, I choose to treat them rather as parodies of times, spaces and events, so that the entertainment they provide will not be affected.
