View source for Mina and the Count

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{{Infobox television
| image                = Mina and the Count Poster.jpg
| caption              = A poster for the ''Mina and the Count'' segment on Nickelodeon's ''[[Oh Yeah! Cartoons]]''.
| genre                = {{unbulleted list|[[Comedy horror]]|[[Fantasy]]|[[Black comedy]]|[[Gothic horror]]}}
| creator              = [[Rob Renzetti]]
| writer               = Rob Renzetti
| director             = Rob Renzetti
| voices               = {{unbulleted list|[[Ashley Johnson]]|[[Tara Strong]]|[[Mark Hamill]]|[[Jeff Bennett]]|[[Michael Bell (actor)|Michael Bell]]|[[Candi Milo]]}}
| composer             = Thomas Chase<br />[[Stephen Rucker]]
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| based_on             = {{Based on|''[[Dracula]]''|[[Bram Stoker]]}}
| executive_producer   = {{unbulleted list|[[Larry Huber]]|[[Fred Seibert]] <small>(''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' episodes)</small>|[[Buzz Potamkin]] <small>("Interlude with a Vampire" only)</small>}}
| producer             = {{unbulleted list|Rob Renzetti}}
| channel              = [[Cartoon Network]]<br />[[Nickelodeon]]
| company              = {{unbulleted list|[[Frederator Studios|Frederator Incorporated]]|[[Nickelodeon Animation Studio]] <small>(''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' episodes)</small>|[[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Cartoons]] <small>("Interlude with a Vampire" only)</small>}}
| num_seasons          = <!-- unnecessary if only 1 -->
| num_episodes         = 6
| list_episodes        = <!-- only a link to separate list article goes here -->
| runtime              = 7 minutes
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1995|11|5}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1999|12|18}}
| related              = ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]''<br/>''[[What a Cartoon!]]''<br/>''[[Oh Yeah! Cartoons]]''
}}

'''''Mina and the Count''''' is an American [[animated television series]] created by [[Rob Renzetti]], which was never brought into [[development hell|development]] as a full-fledged series. Instead, [[short subjects|animated shorts]] of this series aired on both of [[Fred Seibert]]'s [[animation]] [[Anthology series|anthology showcases]], [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[What a Cartoon!]]'' and [[Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[Oh Yeah! Cartoons]]''.

==Summary==
The original ''Mina and the Count'' [[Television pilot|pilot]] short, "Interlude with a Vampire," premiered on the ''What a Cartoon!'' show on Cartoon Network on November 5, 1995, making it the only short to be featured on both creator-guided short projects guided by Fred Seibert. The short was about a seven-year-old girl named Mina Harper (a play on ''[[Dracula]]'' character [[Mina Harker]]) and her encounters with [[Count Dracula|Vlad]], a 700-year-old [[vampire]]. The aforementioned further episodes concerned the vampire, known simply as Vlad the Count, his best friend Mina, her older sister Lucy, [[school bully]] Nick, Lucy and Mina's father Mr. Harper, a handful of monsters and Vlad's disapproving servant Igor. Everything seems to occur in a little town in North America where Mina's school and house is, including [[Castle Dracula|the Count's castle]].

==Voice Cast and characters==
* [[Ashley Johnson (actress)|Ashley Johnson]] (first short only) and [[Tara Strong]] (credited as Tara Charendoff) (all subsequent shorts) – [[Mina Harker|Wilhelmina "Mina" Harper]]: A 7-year-old girl with thick long red hair in a ponytail and red clothes. She likes to go to school and to play with her toys, and she doesn't get along with her sister Lucy. She meets Vlad one night and they become best friends. At school, Nick the school bully picks on her. The squeamish Martha is probably her only human friend. Mina knows how to cook, but unfortunately for Vlad, doesn't know that vampires find [[garlic]] hazardous.
* [[Mark Hamill]] – [[Count Dracula|Vlad the Count]]: A 700-year-old immortal vampire with light blue skin and a blue cape and a black suit. In the past, he made a living drinking young women's blood. Thanks to Mina, he represses his evil tendencies. Vlad has many powers, including the ability to transform into a bat or mist, use telekinesis, and hypnotize people and animals to do his bidding. He finds comics and toys amusing and is very intelligent. Vlad believes that human food is disgusting.
* [[Jeff Bennett]] – [[Igor (character)|Igor]]: Vlad's [[Quasimodo]]-like servant who wears sandals and green clothes and always has a maniacal laugh. He loathes Mina because she turned Vlad into a loving man, though he still tries to do what is best for his master. He hates kisses, hugs, love, and everything near to it. In his free time, he likes to watch television.
* [[Michael Bell (actor)|Michael Bell]] – [[Jonathan Harker|Mr. Harper]]: Lucy and Mina's strict yet loving father with black hair. He is unaware that Vlad is a vampire. He initially believes he is a life-size doll with odd body odor. Later, he believes the Count is Mina's violin teacher and has him over for dinner. He is polite, but bemused by the Count's behavior and dismisses him as a "crazy European."
* [[Candi Milo]] – [[Lucy Westenra|Lucille "Lucy" Harper]]: Mina's older sister with long blonde hair.  She has a boyfriend named Bobby, who doesn't appear much. She also has a crush on Vlad, and Lucy doesn't know that he's a vampire. Lucy doesn't get along with Mina, but deep down she cares about her little sister.

==Episodes==
''Note'': The original pilot aired on ''[[What a Cartoon!]]'', and the rest were animated shorts that aired on ''[[Oh Yeah! Cartoons]]''.

According to Rob Renzetti, 6 shorts were initially supposed to be in development for ''Oh Yeah!'', but the Nickelodeon executives canceled the final short as they were uncomfortable with the series' concept later down the line. Seibert convinced Renzetti to use the final slot to develop the pilot of what later became the series, ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]''.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/aaSInlkrSm4 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200625043605/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaSInlkrSm4&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaSInlkrSm4| title = Cartoons VS Cancer - Ep. 4 (The One with Rob Renzetti!) | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

{{Episode table |total_width= |background=black |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |aux2= |aux2T=Storyboard by |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 1
| Title           = Interlude with a Vampire
| DirectedBy      = C. Miles Thompson (art), Rob Renzetti (direction)
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = Alex Kirwan
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1995|11|5}}
| ShortSummary    = After a young girl named Mina Harper goes to bed for the night, Vlad the Count visits her. First coming to suck out the blood of a teenage girl. But by Igor's mistake, Vlad ended up in Mina's room.

''Note'': This is the only ''Mina and the Count'' animated short to be produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]], to air as part of ''[[What a Cartoon!]]'', and the only time [[Ashley Johnson]] voices Mina.
| LineColor       = black
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 2
| Title           = My Best Friend
| DirectedBy      = Rob Renzetti
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = Alex Kirwan
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1998|3|18}}
| ShortSummary    = Mina is bullied by Nick at her school, so she asks Vlad for advice against bullies. She tries several things, but nothing worked. And so, Vlad decides to take matter in his own hands.

''Note:'' Beginning with this short, [[Tara Strong]] replaces [[Ashley Johnson]] as the voice of Mina.
| LineColor       = black
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 3
| Title           = FrankenFrog
| DirectedBy      = Rob Renzetti
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = Alex Kirwan and Rob Renzetti
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1999|5|15}}
| ShortSummary    = After Mina and Vlad "revive" Mina's doll, she wants to do the same at dissection day with the frog Nick had cut apart. However, everyone at school is terrified of the frog and chaos ensues. So Vlad heads out so he can stop the frog.
| LineColor       = black
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 4
| Title           = The Ghoul's Tribunal
| DirectedBy      = Rob Renzetti
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = Rob Renzetti and Alex Kirwan
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1999|6|10}}
| ShortSummary    = Vlad's friends come over to play some cards but discover that he hangs around with Mina and drag him for the Ghoul's Tribunal while Igor tries to figure out a way to fix what he had done.
| LineColor       = black
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 5
| Title           = The Vampire Who Came to Dinner
| DirectedBy      = Rob Renzetti
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = Alex Kirwan and Rob Renzetti
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1999|11|7}}
| ShortSummary    = Vlad is invited by Mina to dinner along with her older sister Lucy and her father. But when Vlad meets Lucy, he becomes very tempted with her blood, and she even has a crush on Vlad. And to make things even worse, he has to eat human food too.
| LineColor       = black
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 6
| Title           = Playing a Hunch
| DirectedBy      = Rob Renzetti
| WrittenBy       = Rob Renzetti
| Aux2            = [[Andy Bialk]] and [[Zac Moncrief]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1999|12|18}}
| ShortSummary    = Vlad had invited Mina over, although Igor didn't want that anymore. So Vlad tries to hide Mina so that Igor won't discover that Mina is in the castle.
| LineColor       = black
}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://frederator.com/ Frederator Official Website]
* [https://archive.today/20130117205903/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_synopsis/14521-Interlude_With_A_Vampire.html Interlude with a Vampire – Cast and crew list]

{{Frederator Studios}}
{{Former Cartoon Network original programming}}
{{Dracula}}{{Portal bar|Television|United States|Fantasy|Cartoon|1990s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mina And The Count}}
[[Category:1990s Nickelodeon original programming]]
[[Category:1995 American animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1999 American television series endings]]
[[Category:1990s American animated comedy television series]]
[[Category:1990s American children's comedy television series]]
[[Category:1990s American black comedy television series]]
[[Category:1990s American horror comedy television series]]
[[Category:Frederator Studios]]
[[Category:Cartoon Network original programming]]
[[Category:Animated television series about vampires]]
[[Category:Dracula television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated comedy television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated fantasy television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated horror television series]]
[[Category:Television series created by Rob Renzetti]]
[[Category:Animated television series about children]]
[[Category:Television series set in castles]]
[[Category:Animated television series spinoffs]]
[[Category:Cartoon Network Studios short films]]
[[Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series]]