Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures
Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures is a British-American fantasy comedy web series created by PJ Liguori, Sophie Newton, Louis Grant and Jamie Swarbrick and directed by PJ Liguori. The series was produced by New Form Digital and was first aired digitally via Vimeo On Demand. Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures set a single-day sales record for Vimeo's On-Demand service, according to CEO Kerry Trainor. The episodes were previously available on Vimeo via paid subscription and as of November 2019, they are available on Amazon Prime.
The puppets and costumes are provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Plot summary
In the British-American web series, Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures is a hotel establishment run by a man named Oscar Tangolius for a gallery of monstrous residents. When Oscar leaves on important "Cosmic Council" business for a week, he entrusts the establishment and the care of its customers to his nephew Oliver, resulting in chaos.Characters
Oscar Tangolius - The proprietor of Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures. According to Oscar, his hotel is reachable through the Forever Train, Red’s Taxi Service, and something else "equally bizarre and weird." When the series was first seen as a pilot, Oscar had a different appearance where he sported a longer beard and puffy hair.Oliver - The nephew of Oscar who works as his assistant. While Oscar was away for a week, Oliver runs the hotel in his absence. In the pilot, Oliver was a medical student who specializes in magical creatures.Recurring characters
These characters have a major role in more than one episode.Octochef - A pink giant octopus that works as the hotel's chef. The costume was designed by Melissa Doss and Robert Bennett, while the face makeup was provided by Nix Herrera.Red - A red man with long horns who runs Red's Taxi Service, which brings guests to the hotel. In the pilot, Red had shorter horns.Mo Nay - A talking portrait that resides in the hotel and is friends with Oliver.One-off characters
These characters have a major role in only one episode, although they may appear in minor or background roles in prior or subsequent episodes.Party Nightmare - A disco-themed horse-headed human with a demon face within its mouth who can throw parties. Duncan Daydream was once an ordinary clown until he was transformed into the Party Nightmare upon being bitten by a pony. Anyone shot by his gun parties to the death. The costume was designed by Robert Bennett, with special animatronics provided by John Criswell.Wiggles the Clown - A clown that resides at Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures. He was the one who told Oliver about Party Nightmare.Murray - A balloon security guard.Stan - A balloon security guard.Jonathan Dullhead #1.Jonathan Dullhead #2.Rose - An anthropomorphic rose.Crazy Wizard - A wizard who is crazy.Maus - An anthropomorphic mouse who works as a bellhop.Shark Kid - An anthropomorphic hammerhead shark.Snow Creature - An unspecified humanoid Arctic creature with heads for hands that lives in the hotel's walk-in refrigerator. Food Creatures - A tribe of anthropomorphic foods that are found in the back of the hotel's walk-in refrigerator.- * Ginger Root - An anthropomorphic ginger root.
- * Brock - An anthropomorphic clump of broccoli.
- * Carrie - An anthropomorphic carrot.
- * Brie - An anthropomorphic brie cheese slice.
- * Rash - An anthropomorphic bacon strip.
- * Sir Loin - An anthropomorphic steak.Box Death - A bunch of boxes in a humanoid-like shape that rules the Box-World-Afterlife.Snow Pea - A long-nosed female from the Box-World-Afterlife.Seksiman - A half-man, half-goat who lives in the Box-World-Afterlife.Hermit - An anthropomorphic hermit crab who lived in a cave that's underneath the hotel. Her costume was designed by Melissa Doss.Manny - An anthropomorphic mantis who works as the hotel's landscaper.Finn the Carp.White Spirit - A tentacled creature that destroys paintings with her paint-thinning abilities. Her costume was designed by Gypsy Taylor and her makeup was provided by Chloe Sens.Mo Nay Lisa - A character with a thought bubble above her head that lives in Artlandia.Statue Guy - A living statue that lives in Artlandia.Cubisto - A cube-themed character that lives in Artlandia.Sonny.Queen Bee - An anthropomorphic queen bee who is the Queen of Busybody. Her makeup was provided by Nix Herrera.Norbert - A purple anthropomorphic fish that works with Albert as a Repossession Fish for the company Magical Bill.Albert - A green anthropomorphic fish that works with Norbert as a Repossession Fish for the company Magical Bill.Fly - An anthropomorphic fly.Bill the Worm - A green worm that is used in worm racing.Jake the Worm - A purple worm that is used in worm racing.Marzo - An insect card dealer that works in the hotel's casino.
Awards and nominations
In 2015, Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures was nominated at the Shorty Awards in the Best Web Series category. At the 2016 Streamy Awards, the series received four nominations and won three awards.| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Outcome |
| 2015 | Shorty Awards | Best Web Series | Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures | Nomitated |
| 2016 | Streamy Awards | Actor | Chris Kendall | Won |
| 2016 | Streamy Awards | Ensemble Cast | Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures | Nomitated |
| 2016 | Streamy Awards | Costume Design | Gypsy Taylor | Won |
| 2016 | Streamy Awards | Directing | PJ Liguori | Won |
| 2016 | British Online Creator Awards | Series of the Year | Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures | Nomitated |