Western Animation / Mary Shelley's Frankenhole

Beyond space and time
Stranger than the soul,
Is the world deep inside the Frankenhole.
Leave all hope behind,
Give up all control!
Take my hand, we'll go inside the Frankenhole.

Mary Shelley's Frankenhole is a stop-motion cartoon TV series on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] lineup, from Dino Stamatopoulos, the man behind Moral Orel.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein has mastered the secret of immortality, and has created wormholes across time (the titular Frankenholes) leading to his haunted Eastern European village, where he grants requests from historical figures and celebrities alike.

Potential viewers should be aware of the rather twisted humor in Stamatopoulos' works. The creator himself has stated that in a show aiming for all the major horror tropes, the real monsters are the humans who seek out Dr. Frankenstein's assistance. In a funny way.

Lasted two seasons which Dino didn't reveal that the show had ended until a year after the second season had finished. While the show has yet to receive a home release, the series is free to watch here on the Adult Swim website.

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Tropes:

• Affectionate Parody: "Jules Verne's Monster Rally Run!" of Cannonball Run right down to the late Dom De Luise as Dracula's racing partner.
• Anachronism Stew: Oh yes. Many historical figures from different eras are shown existing at the same time thanks to the Frankenholes.
  • At the end of the Halloween Marathon, Orel, as his 12-year old self, makes a surprise appearance, with it being revealed that he had been dressed up as Dr. Frankenstein for Halloween. He then calls Dr. Frankenstein his favorite Adult Swim character, despite the show not being aired until 2010, and Adult Swim not being created until 2001, when Moral Orel takes place in 1994-95. Then again, given that Orel of all people is even watching adult TV in the first place, this can be chalked up to Rule of Funny.
• Animation Bump: Inverted. Season 2 is choppier and more poorly lit.
• Ascended Extra: Joe The Vampire Hunter is a minor background character in season 1. Season 2 graduates him to full secondary status, even getting a spot in the opening credits and an episode focused on him.
• Back from the Dead: Nobody from the main cast, but many guest stars are deceased celebrities who are resurrected, including Michael Jackson.
  • Nobody but the Creation, anyway.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: No one has genitalia or nipples when they are nude, which gives the characters free range to run around naked, with no censors.
• Black Jesus: Discussed when Jesus sees a modern portrayal of him and constantly tries to argue against it
• Berserk Button: Don't call the Creation a "Monster"... although he's more likely to go into a depression then a rage over it.
  • Also, apparently Ron Howard's just barely dealing with no longer being "Ronny". Don't even think about calling him "Ronald".
• Bigger Is Better in Bed: Thomas Jefferson's belief that black men benefit from this led him to try to steal Barack Obama's equipment.
  • However, at the advisement of some of history's black men notorious for being abusive (Ike Turner and O.J. Simpson) in song, he decides that what really gets the ladies going is being a complete asshole to them.
• Black Comedy: What else would you expect from a show created by the same person who created Moral Orel?
• Black Comedy Rape: Thomas Jefferson doesn't know why his slaves don't like it when he has sex with them. In addition, the slaves act bored rather than terrified.
• Came Back Wrong: Many of the people who go to see Victor such as Thomas Jefferson having body parts of African Americans sewn onto him, Gandhi becoming a vampire and JFK (with LBJ's brain) turned into a werewolf to name a few.
• Celibate Hero: Victor has shades of this, preferring to shoot off his own testicles to having sex with Elizabeth. Reportedly, he finds sex boring, and isn't thrilled when others come to him to improve their own sex lives.
  "Terrific, another pervert."
  • He actually admits in one episode that he "...never gets aroused..."
• Cheerful Child: Igor has the voice of one.
• Cool Gate: The titular "Frankenholes" which link Victor's realm to various other points in time and space which are also Swirly Energy Thingies. Since Victor works several thousand years in the future, they also count as Portals To The Past. Potentially Our Wormholes Are Different and Our Time Travel Is Different apply here as well.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Thomas Jefferson has Frankenstein graft a black man's penis onto him that fails to woo the slaves on his plantation, President Brack Obama tries to tell him that charm is more than just being well endowed..
  Obama: Mr. Jefferson, perhaps it isn't the penis, perhaps you need additional black attributes to compliment the penis?
  Jefferson: Yeah, like two penises!
  Obama: No look, race is more than just a penis or two..
  Jefferson: Three Penises!
  Obama: No! Get past the penises!
  Frankenstein: I think I know what President Obama is saying.. we need to dissect different specific features from several black men, and make you into a black equivalent of my multi-cadavered creature!
  Jefferson: Four penises!
• Celebrity Impersonator: Wayne Newton. Both a real Wayne Newton impersonator and a fake one.
• Couch Gag: The visitor of the week looks into a hall mirror on their way to see Dr. Frankenstein.
• Deadpan Snarker: Victor and Polidori are shown to be very sarcastic and mouthy at times.
• Death Is Cheap: Victor's opinion of it after achieving immortality. Death tried to change that by reaping his sons, not realizing that Victor hated them.
• Design Student's Orgasm: All the characters are made of almost entirely of paper instead of clay (which was used in Moral Orel) and have very ragdoll-like bodies.
• Deus ex Machina: A good deal of the first season episodes ended with the visiting character being turned into a vampire or werewolf.
• Dirty Old Man: Gandhi ends up sleeping around.
• Dracula: Here, he's Victor's annoying neighbor who's having an affair with Elizabeth.
• Dramatic Thunder: So much of this that it punctuates nearly every scene.
• Driven to Suicide: At the beginning the Wolfman episode, the montage of Laurence's backstory reveals that when he was suddenly turned into a werewolf, his girlfriend attempted to kill him. She failed, he ripped her arm off and she turned the gun on herself out of desperation.
  • The Wolfman attempts this, only to get better every time.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: "Love" is probably far too strong a word, but Victor does feel obligated to raise his mother whenever she dies.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even the monsters of Somewhere in Eastern Europe are repulsed by Jim Belushi.
• Fake Crossover: At the end of the last bumper for Adult Swim's Frankenhole Halloween marathon in 2011 Victor reveals to the audience that he's not actually Victor but Orel of Moral Orel fame dressed as his favorite Adult Swim character. The clip ended with Victor doing a Shout-Out to Orel's dad Clay and Orel telling viewers to keep their eyes peeled for a Moral Orel special in the near future.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Jim Belushi desperately tries to imitate John's trademark arched eyebrow to the point of tying a balloon to it.
  • Also, Victor often sports one as can be seen in the above picture.
• Fate Worse than Death: Victor's children, who he hates, while not proper immortals still won't die because Death refuses to take them, just to punish to Victor for mocking him. Have some irony.
  • The trope is even refered to by name in this episode
• Frankenstein's Monster: Obviously. Acts more like a mopey teenager than a monster though.
• Gender Bender: Victor performs this on himself in one episode. A kind of unusual case considering he just gives himself female genitalia but adopts no changes to his gender expression.
• Flaming Hair: Victor replaced The Bride's hair with fire, to keep The Creature away from her.
• Hates Everyone Equally: Stated by Victor himself in the episode Death, but actually subverted when you consider he seems to enjoy Polidori's company when coming up with new experiments and then usually ending those experiments' lives shortly after (ex. batshark). He even gives him a affectionate nickname (Polly Dolly).
  • Michael Jackson and John Belushi are two other exceptions. The former shows encouragement and awe towards Victor's ability in creating such interesting experiments, unlike Victor's father who wished he was normal. For the latter, Victor admits he's Belushi's greatest fan. Other than that he seems to hate everybody; he even grew to hate his own family.
• Heel Realization: Ron Howard realizes he's awful and a narcissist after molesting his past version of himself Before he realizes that feeling is from repressed shame from the memory from when he was his teenage self and enjoying what his future self did to him. Both versions of Ron Howard can't believe how awful they are.
• Historical Domain Character: Most of the people who visit Victor are this or classic horror characters.
• I Am Not Shazam: In-Universe, Gandhi initially doesn't believe Dr. Frankenstein is the doctor because he doesn't have a square head or bolts in his neck like the monster Frankenstein.
• I Call Him "Mister Happy": Jefferson referred to his penis as his John Adams.
  • In a more minor example, Victor refers to all genitalia by male pronouns, including his wife's vagina, referring to it as "Mr. Vagina" at one point.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: In Season 2, the episode names are "(19th century author)'s (whatever the plot is that week)!". For example, the premiere was "H. G. Wells' Scary Monster Contest!". The one exception to this pattern is the episode "Hyralius: Mutant Monster".
• Immortality: Victor, Elizabeth, and Polidori all are immortal.
  (Victor slips the immortality potion into Elizabeth's drink at her wedding reception)
  Henry: A long life! To the three of us!
  Elizabeth: To the three of us!
  Victor: Two out of three of us!
  • Victor's sons are immortal as well, but only because Death refuses to take them in order to get back at the immortal Doctor.
  • The Wolfman likewise has a weird case of this. He can die and stay dead as long as the silver bullet remains in his body. But since he decays, it'll eventually fall out and he'll revert back to normal as only a silver bullet from a true love can properly kill him.
• Immune to Drugs: Due to aforementioned immortality, Polidori drinks straight up poison because normal alcohol doesn't have any kick when you're immortal.
• Invisibility: Features the Universal Horror version of the Invisible Man. His Invisible Streaking is discussed.
• It Amused Me Victor and Polidori spend most of their time bringing horrible hybrid beasts to life, only to shoot them moments later and laugh.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Berated by Victor for his work because "No one wants to become his own monster!" Dr Jekyll's formula is responsible for turning John Belushi into Jim Belushi.
• Jesus Was Way Cool: Jesus turns out to be jokey and amicable and while most visitors want some horrid surgical perversion performed on themselves, Jesus just wants some socks.
• Large Ham: Victor and his Creation has their moments.
• Last Request: Victor's father specifically asked to never be brought back to life— and of course out of spite for never appreciating him, Victor worked up the courage to do it anyway, reviving his father for a full 5 seconds to agree and immediately shoot him in the head.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Count Choclatey, Count Alongwithme, and Count African-Americula are pastiches of Count Chocula, The Count from Sesame Street and Blacula respectively.
• Mad Science Fair: Mad scientists all over travel to Somewhere in Eastern Europe for the Scary Monster Contest, where they showcase their terrifying creations to a panel of judges.
• Mad Scientist: Victor, of course, and his assistant Polidori.
• Manchild: Victor's sons are extremely old men who act like they're 7.
• Medium Awareness: Jesus calls Victor "Paperface", referencing the fact that the show is animated using puppets made of paper.
• Mistaken for Pedophile: A plot point in "Franz Kafka's Jealousy", where a little girl realizes to her horror that the Invisible Man is naked and causes an angry mob to chase after him after telling them of her encounter with him.
• Monster Mash: Aside from Dr. Frankenstein's monster, there are a bunch of other monsters shown to inhabit Somewhere in Eastern Europe, including the Invisible Man, Count Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
• Mooning: In "Death", Victor taunts Death by mooning him. Death later returns to favor after deciding that he won't claim Victor's sons just to spite him.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Victor apparently isn't a certified doctor.
• Mummy: There's one in "Robert Louis Stevenson's Belushi!" whose entire schtick is making 'wrapped up' puns. He appears in several other episodes, but never gets any new material. The only one who ever finds him funny is Ra.
  • ...although Jim Belushi finds his humor agreeable enough that it can conjure him from within John Belushi. The Mummy was even invited to do a stage performance of a scene from Blues Brothers by him.
• Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot: In the 10th episode, Michael Jackson is merged with The Elephant Man, then Blanket accidentally fuses with Michael. Finally, they scratch their hand on a werewolf skin rug and then turn into a rug too.
• Older Sidekick: Possibly. Polidori certainly looks older than Victor, but both being immortal(And when Polidori became immortal being unknown) Victor could be chronologically older.
• Only Sane Man: Polidori is the only one who has any common sense or rationality.
• Opposite-Sex Clone: Tom Hanks.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: In addition to the standard weakness to silver bullets, werewolves will only die permanently if they are killed by their lovers.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Dracula. Also Nosferatu, Count Chocolaty, African-Americula, and several others.
• Parental Abandonment: Victor has grown to resent his sons, and actively tried to goad Death into reaping them. Becomes really depressing after seeing "Attack of the Were-Lawrence!", where Victor and Polidori laugh at one of his young son's gun-toting antics rather warmly.
  Victor: "What could be better than having your own children die before you?
  Elizabeth: "Maybe not everyone feels the way you do"
  Victor: "EVERYONE'S AN IDIOT!"
  • Don't forget about Blanket Jackson.
• Patriotic Fervor: Joe, the Southern vampire hunter. This leads to some internal conflict when he's called to stake the Founding Fathers.
• People Puppets: Lyndon B. Johnson wants to take Jack Kennedy's appearance and identity.
• Person as Verb: Blanket Jackson does this several times in "Robert Louis Stevenson's Belushi", one example being that he uses "Kurt Cobain" when he means "committing suicide".
• Put on a Bus: Victor's kids vanish in season 2, not even netting a mention to their fates or whereabouts.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: Many characters who come to see Dr. Frankenstein are disappointed to learn that the Monster does not resemble his more famous Boris Karloff counterpart of film.

• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: "I'm not that me, I'm a future you." "But I'M the future me!" "Well I'm... future-er."
• Screw Yourself:
  • Ron Howard molests his teenage self after trying to get Victor to clone him; Tom Hanks is implied; and Lawrence, in a way, since biting his lover causes her to turn into him whenever she's aroused.
  • Victor tries to penetrate himself with his own severed penis in one episode
• Servile Snarker: Polidori is loyal to Victor, but still not afraid to speak his mind in front of him.
• Shout-Out: Lyndon B. Johnson's questionable manner of confirming JFK's death is likely a shout-out to a post-assassination piece by Paul Krassner in The Realist.
• Something Else Also Rises: Whenever Laurence is aroused by Elke Sommer, a thin mustache sprouts up. He even gives this explanation when she asks about it.
• Stable Time Loop: The Wolfman was infected by himself thanks to encountering his past self and biting him after going through a Frankenhole.
• Stop Motion: This is a stop-motion animated series.
• The Grim Reaper: Death himself. As Victor calls him, a bit of a goof. He wants Victor to respect him but Victor doesn't respect anyone.
• Hunter of Monsters: A drunken redneck named Joe. Mostly a Vampire Hunter but has Fantastic Racism for most creatures.
• The Igor: Ygor, who speaks in a girlish childlike voice is voiced by a little girl and is generally there to supply tools.
• The Voiceless: Nosferatu speaks in old school silent movie subtitles, complete with dramatic pipe organ music.
  • Strangely, it doesn't seem to prevent him from being an apparently hilarious ventriloquist.
• Those Wacky Nazis: An episode had Hitler visiting Frankenstein. He wanted to be able to tolerate the Jews, believing that his blind, uncontrollable hatred of them was getting in the way of efficient world conquest.
  "So ze Jews... Not so bad!"
• Truly Single Parent: Victor attempts to do this for a short time during one episode by penetrating himself with his severed penis after giving himself a vagina, but fails.
• Überwald: Victor's castle is in the town of Somewhere in Eastern Europe.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Not in a physical sense, per se; Victor's fine to look at, but Elizabeth is a much kinder and generally well-adjusted person than her Jerkass husband.
• Unusual Euphemism: In a show unafraid of very explicit language and scenes, we get LBJ describing his desires.
  LBJ: I want to taste Jackie O's perfumey privates, feel her jiggly-wiggly jaglies, and then dingle my dongle in her hobbly wobbly.
  Polidori (taking notes): ...'Jiggly-wiggly jubblies'...
  LBJ: That's 'jaglies'.
• Viewers Are Geniuses: Also a potential Historical Domain Character, Victor's slightly older lab assistant Professor Polidori is a reference to John Williams Polidori, real life friend to Mary Shelley and the first western author to write vampire fiction.
• Virgin Power: Alluded to in one episode.
  Victor: I can't let a man penetrate me, I'll lose my powers. (It Makes Sense in Context)
• Wacky Racing: "Jules Verne's Monster Rally Run!"
• Wanting Is Better Than Having: Victor spent years trying to get Elizabeth to marry him, spiking her drink so she'd become immortal. She finally agrees to marry him, when after at least two husbands, she realizes she won't outlive him ... and then he yawns immediately during their wedding, to her offense.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: While none of the main cast hold this belief in any way, there was an episode that featured the wolfman who desperately wanted to die. Since the curse not only requires a silver bullet, but for it to be shot by a lover in order for death to be permanent, dying was quite difficult for him.
• Wolfman: Somewhat inspired by Lon Chaney's Wolf Man but really whiny.
• Your Favorite: In "Jules Verne's Monster Rally Run!", Victor says its hot dogs for him; although he might have said it just so Dracula would think he was wasting his time having Dom DeLuise force-feed them to Victor so Dracula could win the auto race. It Makes Sense in Context. Kinda.
• Your Head Asplode: Victor becomes so frustrated with vampires talking during movies, that his head just explodes.

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