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Movie · Comedy, Fantasy, Animated · 2012 · PG

Hotel Transylvania: parents' guide

7+our pick

Best for ages 7 and up. Rated PG for some rude humor, action and scary images.

A bright, silly monster comedy that makes a gentle first monster movie for young grade schoolers. Dracula runs a hotel where monsters hide from humans, and his overprotective parenting is the real story. Expect lots of potty and gas jokes, slapstick tumbles, flirting and a kiss between young-adult characters, and mild innuendo aimed at grown-ups. Scarier moments are short: Dracula's red-eyed rage face, a staged mob with torches, Dracula burning in sunlight, and a flashback showing that a human mob killed Mavis's mother. Most kids 7 and up will be fine; sensitive younger kids may need a word about the mother's death.

What's in it

Violence

Mild

Cartoon slapstick: crashes, falls, a monster whose limbs pop off in a pool, a human tied to a roasting spit as a gag, and Dracula singeing himself in sunlight. A brief flashback shows a torch-carrying mob and a burning castle.

Language

None

No profanity. Expect insults like 'idiot,' 'stupid' and 'shut up,' stand-in exclamations such as 'holy rabies' and 'bat poop,' and 'God' used as an exclamation.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Mavis and Johnny flirt and kiss. Innuendo aimed at adults includes a skeleton couple caught 'naked' in the shower, honeymooning fleas in bed, and the Invisible Man's trunks being pulled down.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Mild

Monster guests hold wine and cocktail glasses at the hotel party. Nobody is shown drunk, and there is no smoking or drug content.

Scary or intense scenes

Mild

Dracula's furious red-eyed face, townspeople with pitchforks and torches, and a short flashback to the death of Mavis's mother. Everything else is played for laughs, and the monsters are friendly.

Sensitive topics

  • Death of a parent

Worth talking about

Dracula tries to protect Mavis by scaring her away from the world. Talk about the difference between keeping someone safe and holding them back.

Where to stream →

On our lists

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, movieguide.org, childrenandmedia.org.au, moviemom.com, screenwiseapp.com. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.