Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop


Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop is a 1994–1997 French-British animated television series created by Tony Barnes and produced by Philippe Mounier PMMP and Fairwater Films, and distributed in the UK by The Sleepy Kids Company Ltd which later rebranded as SKD Media and Entertainment Rights before being dissolved into Classic Media and by PMMP and TF1 International in the rest of the world. 65 episodes were produced.
The show aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 20 June 1994 to 21 August 1997, while in France it aired on TF1 from 4 September 1996. The show ran for four series. The music for the series was composed by Danny Chang and Tony Barnes.
A comic strip version of the show was included in Buster magazine from September 1994 to November 1996. The series was later repeated on Nickelodeon in the early 2000s until 2004, and had sporadic reruns from 1999 until 2001.
It was also aired on cable television in Australia, first airing on Nickelodeon and later on Cartoon Network.

Plot summary

Dr. Zitbag is a pet shop worker who isn't very good at selling any pets, and because of this, he was fired from the local Transylvanian Pet Shop. He then decides to set up his own pet shop in an old haunted castle and finds out that he will have to share the place with a skeleton dog, Horrifido. With Horrifido now helping him out, the doctor begins use his inventions to create horrific pets to gain his profit.

Characters

  • Dr. Sidney Zitbag – The series' protagonist, a mad scientist type of character who wants to become the world's best pet shop owner. After being fired from the town's only pet shop he goes on to buy an old castle from the Exorsisters and sets up his own pet shop creating new and weird pets in his laboratory, but his plans don't always work and certain mishaps do tend to happen.
  • Horrifido – The pet dog of Capt. Charles De Ghoul, the former owner of the old castle where Dr. Zitbag sets up his pet shop. Initially haunting the castle as a ghost, the doctor inadvertently uncovers the dog's old bones and the ghoul reanimates them, giving him a physical form. Horrifido is a skeleton dog with green ears shaped like a bat's wings, who becomes Dr. Zitbag's assistant. Sometimes Horrifido is seen wearing a pink bow collar around his neck.
  • The Exorsisters – Dr. Zitbag's neighbours. Both ladies are vampire twins resembling the bride of Frankenstein. Every so often, Dr. Zitbag always tries to impress them both, but the two often argue with each other. Sinista has purple streaks in her hair and often dismisses Dr. Zitbag, whereas Bimbella has white streaks in her hair and is more willing to give him a chance.
  • Zombunny – A zombified rabbit who never seems to move. Most of the time, he is seen with Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido, as Dr. Zitbag would use Zombunny as part of his experiments. Zitbag would often throw him aside while saying a cursory "Excuse me, Zombunny".
  • Officer Deadbeat – The local police officer of Transylvania and Dr. Zitbag's antagonist. He appears to have no neck and so his head is floating at where his would be neck should be. He has a personal grudge against Dr. Zitbag, believing that the doctor is a con-artist. If he ever arrests the doctor for good, his ultimate goal is to claim the old haunted house as a new police station, as the one he has got is very small and he often bumps his head off.
  • Professor Sherman Vermin – Dr. Zitbag's rival. Sinistra and Bimbella sometimes call him to help them, eventually making Dr. Zitbag jealous.

Episodes

Twelve out of the 65 episodes of the show were released on video.

Series 1 (1994)

  1. Welcome To The Transylvania Pet Shop - first aired: 20/06/1994
  2. Grime Does Not Pay - first aired: 27/06/1994
There was no episode broadcast on 04/07/1994 due to a showing of Dragonslayer as a result of schedule changes regarding the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
  1. Horrybaby - first aired: 11/07/1994
  2. Food Glorious Pet Food - first aired: 18/07/1994
  3. Ants In Your Pants - first aired: 25/07/1994
  4. Every Dog Has Its Show - first aired: 01/08/1994
  5. Gorilla Thriller - first aired: 08/08/1994
  6. Where Mouse - first aired: 15/08/1994
  7. Pirate Parrots - first aired: 22/08/1994
There was no episode shown on 29/08/1994 due to it being public holiday.
  1. Bungle in the Jungle - first aired: 05/09/1994
  2. Halloween Horse Race - first aired: 12/09/1994
  3. Double Trouble - first aired: 19/09/1994
  4. Triassic Lark - first aired: 26/09/1994 - The children demand pet dinosaurs, which causes Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido to construct a time machine in order to travel to prehistoric times so to capture some baby dinosaurs. After minor setbacks such as travelling to before the creation of the Earth and the future, they arrive in prehistoric times, unbeknownst that Officer Deadbeat has snuck on board and has hijinks with a cavewoman. This is the first episode that was only broadcast and never commercially released.

Series 2 (1995)

  1. Inspectre Spector - first aired: 09/06/1995
  2. Pyramid Pandemonium - first aired: 16/06/1995
  3. Computer Bugged - first aired: 23/06/1995
  4. Kangaroo Caught - first aired: 30/06/1995
  5. Orang-Utans and Lemmings - first aired: 07/07/1995
  6. Medieval Dread - first aired: 14/07/1995
  7. Easter Funny - first aired: 21/07/1995
  8. Happy Horridays - first aired: 28/07/1995
  9. Transylvania Excess - first aired: 04/08/1995
  10. Do You Believe in Humans? - first aired: 11/08/1995
  11. Loch Mess Monster - first aired: 18/08/1995
  12. Hooray for Horrywood - first aired: 25/08/1995
  13. The Show Mustn't Go On - first aired: 01/09/1995

Series 3 (1996)

  1. Don't Hoot, I'm Only the Piano Slayer - first aired: 11/06/1996
  2. Pinball Wizard - first aired: 18/06/1996
  3. From Transylvania with Love - first aired: 25/06/1996
  4. Tele Nightmare - first aired: 02/07/1996
  5. A Close Shave - first aired: 09/07/1996
  6. Lost Wages - first aired: 16/07/1996
  7. Son of Zitbag - first aired: 23/07/1996
  8. Cranksgiving Chaos - first aired: 30/07/1996
  9. Bride of Horrifido - first aired: 06/08/1996
  10. Horrorgrammes Horrolympics - first aired: 13/08/1996
  11. Slime Suspect - first aired: 20/08/1996
  12. Moby Duck Billed Platypus - first aired: 27/08/1996
  13. I Was a Teenage Zitbag - first aired: 03/09/1996

Series 4 (1997)

  1. A True Fairy Tale - first aired: 29/05/1997
  2. For Better or For Curse - first aired: 05/06/1997
  3. Horrorlection Fever - first aired: 12/06/1997
  4. Time is Big Money - first aired: 19/06/1997
  5. Happy Mishmash - first aired: 26/06/1997
  6. Tele-Zitportation - first aired: 03/07/1997
  7. A Giant Problem - first aired: 10/07/1997
  8. My Zister - first aired: 17/07/1997
  9. The Seventh Art - first aired: 24/07/1997
  10. Nothing There - first aired: 31/07/1997
  11. Doc, What's Up - first aired: 07/08/1997
  12. Terror in Transylvania - first aired: 14/08/1997
  13. Dances the Hula - first aired: 21/08/1997

Series 5 (unaired)

The following episodes never aired on CITV.
  1. End of Season
  2. Rose Button
  3. Scare Tactics
  4. Hydrious Monster
  5. Zlotys Galore
  6. Bluebald
  7. Dr. Zitbag Against Silly Holmes
  8. Mad Scientific Shenanigans
  9. The Ridiculous Journey
  10. Horrible Horrorscopes
  11. Anarchic Arctic Antics
  12. Word of Horror
  13. Forever Fiends
Season 1 is currently available for download from Amazon UK.