Van Helsing: The London Assignment
Van Helsing: The London Assignment | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sharon Bridgeman |
Written by | Garfield Reeves-Stevens Judith Reeves-Stevens |
Based on | Dracula by Bram Stoker |
Produced by | John Kafka |
Starring | Hugh Jackman Tress MacNeille Tara Strong Robbie Coltrane David Wenham Dwight Schultz |
Edited by | Ken Solomon |
Music by | John Van Tongeren |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Universal Studios Home Video |
Release dates |
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Running time | 33 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Van Helsing: The London Assignment is a 2004 American anime-influenced adult action horror animated short film by Universal Studios Home Video.[1][2] It features the voices of Hugh Jackman, Tress MacNeille, Robbie Coltrane and David Wenham. The London Assignment is an animated prequel to the 2004 motion picture Van Helsing (released the same year).[3][4] It tells of the events before the film. It was animated by Universal Cartoon Studios, Production I.G, and Sunwoo Entertainment.[5]
The short film received mostly positive reviews, with some noting it to be a significant improvement to that of the original film.[6][7]
Plot
[edit]Monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing and friar Carl travel to London to investigate a series of horrific, and decidedly supernatural murders, being committed by the mad scientist Dr. Jekyll, in the form of his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. When tracing Hyde to his underground fortress, Van Helsing and Carl find a young woman who claims to be Queen Victoria, and they discover that Dr. Jekyll is in love with the Queen. In order to keep her young and thus immortal, she has been given a potion by Dr. Jekyll that turns her into a young woman for one night. In order to create the potion which causes the transformations, Dr. Jekyll needs the drained souls of his freshly killed victims and thus the killings will never stop.
Dr. Jekyll then kidnaps Victoria, using the Golden Jubilee Balloon to escape. Van Helsing uses his grappling gun to follow the balloon, then proceeds to board it. In the balloon, Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde to kill Van Helsing and crashes the balloon in the process. While fighting on the in-construction Tower Bridge, Mr. Hyde is shot through the arm but manages to escape. Upon returning Victoria to Buckingham Palace, Van Helsing says that daybreak will break the enchantment, returning her to her real age.
To reward him, Victoria kisses him, at the precise moment of daybreak, causing her old self, completely unaware of what happened, to slap him and call for guards. Van Helsing sends word back to Vatican City about what has happened while he tracks Jekyll to Paris.
Voice cast
[edit]- Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing
- Tress MacNeille as Queen Victoria
- Tara Strong as Young Victoria
- Dwight Schultz as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Jack the Ripper
- Robbie Coltrane as Edward Hyde / Jack the Ripper
- David Wenham as Friar Carl
- Grey DeLisle as the First Victim
- Tress MacNeille as the Second Victim
- John DiMaggio as Coachman
- Scott Mosenson as Palace Guard
- Alun Armstrong as Cardinal Jinette
- Roger Jackson as Drunken Gentleman
- Julia Fletcher as Lady-in-Waiting
References
[edit]- ^ "Van Helsing: The London Assignment". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Cool Zone Submitted for your approval: Van Helsing: The London Assignment". 11 May 2004.
- ^ "Van Helsing: The London Assignment Sharon Bridgeman | Exclaim!".
- ^ "We're giving away 'Van Helsing: The London Assignment'!". 11 May 2004.
- ^ "Van Helsing: The London Assignment Company Credits". IMDb. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2004.
- ^ "Van Helsing: The London Assignment DVD review | Exclaim!".
- ^ "Van Helsing: The London Assignment".
External links
[edit]- 2004 films
- 2004 direct-to-video films
- 2004 horror films
- 2000s action horror films
- 2000s American animated films
- 2004 animated short films
- American adult animated films
- American action horror films
- Direct-to-video action films
- Direct-to-video fantasy films
- Direct-to-video horror films
- Direct-to-video prequel films
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde films
- Films about Jack the Ripper
- Films set in 1888
- Animated films set in London
- Universal Pictures direct-to-video animated films
- Universal Animation Studios animated films
- Universal Pictures direct-to-video films
- Van Helsing (Universal Pictures franchise)
- 2000s English-language films
- American prequel films
- Animation based on real people
- Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on film
- Animated films set in the 1880s
- American animated short films