Hotel Transylvania 3 Family Review Lessons in Building Strong Father-Daughter Bonds

Movie Review

MBE partnered with Columbia Pictures and Sony Animation Pictures for this post

Editors Note: This review is a collaboration of the daughter-mom writing team of Rebecca Elspas and Janis Brett Elspas at MommyBlogExpert.

Have you "zinged" yet? Get ready to fall in love at first sight, otherwise known as the "zing" by Dracula's family and friends in the all-new Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation  animated comedy which cruises into theaters nationwide this Friday, July 13th. 

Be prepared to experience the most monsterous cruise vacation yet in this summer's much-anticipated new family-friendly kids fantasy movie from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. 

Mavis & Dad Drac Jakks Licensed Toys

Joining you and your kids on the most wild and fun virtual ride adventure ever is the entire wacky and loveable Drac Pack lead by Dracula (Adam Sandler), his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), and Drac's new romantic interest Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), as well as a host of other talent including Mel Brooks, Andy Samberg, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher, David Spade and other names you'll recognize. 

The Hotel Transylvania Saga Continues

As fans of Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2 will recall, Mavis is orphaned as a baby. The close relationship between dad and daughter was in its infancy in the beginning, but by the end of the second film has slowly evolved into something not unlike a beautiful rose bud that's poised, ready to open any day. 

In Hotel Transylvania 3, the bond between Dracula and Mavis which has been growing for years, is finally solidified -- bursting into full bloom. Despite forging  challenges along the way and balancing time spent with her husband and children, Mavis still makes quality father-daughter time with her father Drac a priority.

At the Hotel T3 Press Junket hosted at The London West Hollywood, the movie vacation-themed rooms, food, and licensing partner toy displays, set the perfect backdrop for our intimate group of family influencers to interact with the cast and director.

The interview session included a lively in-person discussion with voice-over stars Selena Gomez, Kathyrn Hahn, and Andy Samberg as well as Director Genndy Tartakovsky which was livestreamed on People's Facebook page.

Rebecca's Interview With Selena

To delve deeper into the meaningful father-daughter connection that is now blossoming, I asked Selena about how she breathed new inspiration into her character for her latest role. I was also curious about what message her Mavis is trying to convey when it comes to fathers and daughters bonding.

"Mavis is trying to be overprotective of her dad," Selena explains. "She really feels it from both perspectives -- as a mother herself but also as a daughter ... a dynamic that is very interesting to me. For many little girls, your father is the first man you love and for Mavis in some ways, that's all she has."

Selena Gomez at Hotel Transylvania 3 World Premiere

Selena adds that she comes from a broken family and the father daughter relationship in her life wasn't fully there. It seems as though Mavis and Dracula was a way for her to live through the father daughter relationship she always desired.

These insights from Selena bring the meaning of Hotel Transylvania 3 full circle. The movie is quite beautiful as the loving, concerned Mavis wants her dad to find joy in living day-to-day and happiness again. So, she insists on taking the whole family and their like-family good friends on a surprise destination vacation. 

Check out these scenes from the new movie's World Premiere in Los Angeles at the Regency Theater near UCLA.

A Funny, Multi-Generational Summer Movie

With laughs around every corner, non-stop action, an energizing music score, and hidden jokes along the way, this is a movie that has wide appeal. On different levels to kids, parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents, multiple generations of families are sure to love watching this together and discussing it afterward. Rated PG for some action and rude humor with a run time of 97 minutes. See the Parents Guide for details on the rating.

This mom and daughter review writer team couldn't agree more with Andy Samberg (the voice of Johnny, Mavis' husband) who told us at the press conference, "This movie is unprecedented in the history of cinema -- a monster cruise!"

FTC Disclosure: Images courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Sony Animation Pictures unless indicated otherwise. Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation hosted us for a 2-day influencers event to screen the film and facilitate media coverage. However, opinions here are our own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.