Line #61 WesternAnimation/MaryShelleysFrankenhole


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary-shelleys-frankenhole-logo_8456.jpg]]
2
3	->''Beyond space and time\
4	Stranger than the soul,\
5	Is the world deep inside the Frankenhole.\
6	Leave all hope behind,\
7	Give up all control!\
8	Take my hand, we'll go inside the Frankenhole.''
9
10	''Mary Shelley's Frankenhole'' is a stop-motion cartoon TV series on Creator/CartoonNetwork's Creator/AdultSwim lineup, from Creator/DinoStamatopoulos, the man behind ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel''.
11
12	Dr. Victor Franchise/{{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.
13
14	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''.
15
16	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 [[https://www.adultswim.com/videos/mary-shelleys-frankenhole here]] on the Adult Swim website.
17	----
18	!!Tropes:
19	* AffectionateParody: "Jules Verne's Monster Rally Run!" of ''Film/CannonballRun'' right down to the late Creator/DomDeLuise as Dracula's racing partner.
20	* AnachronismStew: Oh yes. Many historical figures from different eras are shown existing at the same time thanks to the Frankenholes.
21	** 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 RuleOfFunny.
22	* AnimationBump: Inverted. Season 2 is choppier and more poorly lit.
23	* AscendedExtra: 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.
24	* BackFromTheDead: Nobody from the main cast, but many guest stars are deceased celebrities who are resurrected, including Music/MichaelJackson.
25	** Nobody but the Creation, anyway.
26	* BarbieDollAnatomy: No one has genitalia or nipples when they are nude, which gives the characters free range to run around naked, with no censors.
27	* [[BlackVikings Black Jesus]]: {{Discussed\|Trope}} when Jesus sees a modern portrayal of him and constantly tries to argue against it
28	* BerserkButton: Don't call the Creation a "Monster"... although he's more likely to go into a depression then a rage over it.
29	** Also, apparently Ron Howard's just barely dealing with no longer being "Ronny". Don't even ''think'' about calling him "Ronald".
30	* BiggerIsBetterInBed: UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson's belief that black men benefit from this led him to try to steal UsefulNotes/BarackObama's equipment.
31	** 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 [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys being a complete asshole to them.]]
32	* BlackComedy: What else would you expect from a show created by the same person who created Moral Orel?
33	* BlackComedyRape: 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.
34	* CameBackWrong: 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.
35	* CelibateHero: 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.
36	-->"Terrific, another pervert."
37	** He actually admits in one episode that he "...never gets aroused..."
38	* CheerfulChild: Igor has the voice of one.
39	* CoolGate: The titular "Frankenholes" which link Victor's realm to various other points in time and space which are also [[SwirlyEnergyThingy Swirly Energy Thingies]]. Since Victor works several thousand years in the future, they also count as [[PortalToThePast Portals To The Past]]. Potentially OurWormholesAreDifferent and OurTimeTravelIsDifferent apply here as well.
40	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: 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..
41	-->'''Obama:''' Mr. Jefferson, perhaps it isn't the penis, perhaps you need additional black attributes to compliment the penis?
42	-->'''Jefferson:''' Yeah, like ''two'' penises!
43	-->'''Obama:''' No look, race is more than just a penis or two..
44	-->'''Jefferson:''' ''Three'' Penises!
45	-->'''Obama:''' No! Get past the penises!
46	-->'''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!
47	-->'''Jefferson:''' ''Four'' penises!
48	* CelebrityImpersonator: Wayne Newton. Both a real Wayne Newton impersonator and a fake one.
49	* CouchGag: The visitor of the week looks into a hall mirror on their way to see Dr. Frankenstein.
50	* DeadpanSnarker: Victor and Polidori are shown to be very sarcastic and mouthy at times.
51	* DeathIsCheap: Victor's opinion of it after achieving immortality. Death tried to change that by reaping his sons, not realizing that Victor hated them.
52	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: All the characters are made of almost entirely of paper instead of clay (which was used in ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'') and have very ragdoll-like bodies.
53	* DeusExMachina: A good deal of the first season episodes ended with the visiting character being turned into a vampire or werewolf.
54	* DirtyOldMan: Gandhi ends up sleeping around.
55	* {{Dracula}}: Here, he's Victor's annoying neighbor who's having an affair with Elizabeth.
56	* DramaticThunder: So much of this that it punctuates nearly every scene.
57	* DrivenToSuicide: At the beginning the Wolfman episode, the montage of Laurence's backstory reveals [[spoiler: 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.]]
58	** The Wolfman attempts this, only to [[DeathIsCheap get better]] every time.
59	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: "Love" is probably far too strong a word, but Victor does feel obligated to raise his mother whenever she dies.
60	* EveryoneHasStandards: Even the monsters of Somewhere in Eastern Europe are repulsed by Jim Belushi.
61	* FakeCrossover: 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 ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' fame dressed as his favorite Adult Swim character. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edy0cF_hM2M clip]] ended with Victor doing a ShoutOut to Orel's dad Clay and Orel telling viewers to keep their eyes peeled for a ''Moral Orel'' special in the near future.
62	* FascinatingEyebrow: [[Creator/JamesBelushi Jim Belushi]] desperately tries to imitate [[Creator/JohnBelushi John]]'s trademark arched eyebrow to the point of tying a balloon to it.
63	** Also, Victor often sports one as can be seen in the above picture.
64	* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: 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.]]
65	** The trope is even refered to by name in this episode
66	* FrankensteinsMonster: Obviously. Acts more like a mopey teenager than a monster though.
67	* GenderBender: 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.
68	* FlamingHair: Victor replaced The Bride's hair with fire, to keep The Creature away from her.
69	* HatesEveryoneEqually: 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).
70	** Music/MichaelJackson and Creator/JohnBelushi 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.
71	* HeelRealization: Ron Howard realizes he's awful and a narcissist after molesting his past version of himself [[spoiler: 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.]]
72	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Most of the people who visit Victor are this or [[PublicDomainCharacter classic horror characters]].
73	* IAmNotShazam: InUniverse, 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.
74	* ICallHimMisterHappy: Jefferson referred to his penis as his UsefulNotes/JohnAdams.
75	** 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.
76	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: In Season 2, the episode names are "(19th century author)'s (whatever the plot is that week)!". For example, the premiere was "Creator/HGWells' Scary Monster Contest!". The one exception to this pattern is the episode "Hyralius: Mutant Monster".
77	* {{Immortality}}: Victor, Elizabeth, and Polidori all are immortal.
78	-->''(Victor slips the immortality potion into Elizabeth's drink at her wedding reception)''
79	-->'''Henry:''' A long life! To the three of us!
80	-->'''Elizabeth:''' To the three of us!
81	-->'''Victor:''' Two out of three of us!
82	** Victor's sons are immortal as well, but only because Death refuses to take them in order to get back at the immortal Doctor.
83	** 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.
84	* ImmuneToDrugs: Due to aforementioned immortality, Polidori drinks straight up poison because normal alcohol doesn't have any kick when you're immortal.
85	* {{Invisibility}}: Features the Franchise/UniversalHorror version of the [[Film/TheInvisibleMan1933 Invisible Man]]. His {{Invisible Streak\|er}}ing is discussed.
86	* ItAmusedMe Victor and Polidori spend most of their time bringing horrible hybrid beasts to life, only to shoot them moments later and laugh.
87	* JekyllAndHyde: Berated by Victor for his work because "No one wants to become his own monster!" Dr Jekyll's formula is responsible for [[spoiler: turning Creator/JohnBelushi into [[Creator/JamesBelushi Jim Belushi]]]].
88	* JesusWasWayCool: 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.
89	* LargeHam: Victor and his Creation has their moments.
90	* LastRequest: 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.
91	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Count Choclatey, Count Alongwithme, and Count African-Americula are pastiches of [[Advertising/MonsterCereals Count Chocula]], The Count from ''Series/SesameStreet'' and Film/{{Blacula}} respectively.
92	* MadScienceFair: 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.
93	* MadScientist: Victor, of course, and his assistant Polidori.
94	* ManChild: Victor's sons are extremely old men who act like they're 7.
95	* MediumAwareness: Jesus calls Victor "Paperface", referencing the fact that the show is animated using puppets made of paper.
96	* MistakenForPedophile: A plot point in "Franz Kafka's Jealousy", where a little girl realizes to her horror that [[InvisibleStreaker the Invisible Man is naked]] and causes an angry mob to chase after him after telling them of her encounter with him.
97	* MonsterMash: 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.
98	* {{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.
99	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: [[spoiler: Victor apparently isn't a certified doctor.]]
100	* {{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.
101	** ...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.
102	* NinjaZombiePirateRobot: In the 10th episode, Michael Jackson is merged with The Elephant Man, then Blanket accidentally [[SharingABody fuses with Michael]]. Finally, they scratch their hand on a werewolf skin rug and then turn into a rug too.
103	* OlderSidekick: Possibly. Polidori certainly ''looks'' older than Victor, but both being immortal(And when Polidori became immortal being unknown) Victor could be chronologically older.
104	* OnlySaneMan: Polidori is the only one who has any common sense or rationality.
105	* OppositeSexClone: Tom Hanks.
106	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: In addition to the standard weakness to silver bullets, werewolves will only die permanently if they are killed by their lovers.
107	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Dracula. Also [[TheVoiceless Nosferatu]], [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Count Chocolaty, African-Americula]], and several others.
108	* ParentalAbandonment: 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.
109	--> '''Victor:''' "What could be better than having your own children die before you?
110	--> '''Elizabeth:''' "Maybe not everyone feels the way you do"
111	--> '''Victor:''' "EVERYONE'S AN IDIOT!"
112	** Don't forget about Blanket Jackson.
113	* PatrioticFervor: Joe, the Southern vampire hunter. This leads to some internal conflict when he's called to [[spoiler: stake the Founding Fathers]].
114	* PeoplePuppets: Lyndon B. Johnson wants to take Jack Kennedy's appearance and identity.
115	* PersonAsVerb: 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".
116	* PutOnABus: Victor's kids vanish in season 2, not even netting a mention to their fates or whereabouts.
117	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Many characters who come to see Dr. Frankenstein are disappointed to learn that the Monster does not resemble his more famous Creator/BorisKarloff counterpart of film.
118
119	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: "I'm not that me, I'm a future you." "But I'M the future me!" "Well I'm... future-er."
120	* ScrewYourself:
121	** Ron Howard molests his teenage self after trying to get Victor to clone him; Tom Hanks is implied; and [[spoiler: Lawrence, in a way, since biting his lover causes her to turn into him whenever she's aroused.]]
122	** [[spoiler: Victor tries to penetrate himself with his own severed penis in one episode]]
123	* ServileSnarker: Polidori is loyal to Victor, but still not afraid to speak his mind in front of him.
124	* ShoutOut: Lyndon B. Johnson's questionable manner of confirming JFK's death is likely a shout-out to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Realist a post-assassination piece by Paul Krassner in The Realist.]]
125	* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Whenever Laurence is aroused by Creator/ElkeSommer, a thin mustache sprouts up. [[LampshadeHanging He even gives this explanation]] when she asks about it.
126	* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:The Wolfman was infected by himself thanks to encountering his past self and biting him after going through a Frankenhole.]]
127	* StopMotion: This is a stop-motion animated series.
128	* TheGrimReaper: Death himself. As Victor calls him, a bit of a goof. He wants Victor to respect him but Victor doesn't respect anyone.
129	* HunterOfMonsters: A drunken redneck named Joe. Mostly a VampireHunter but has FantasticRacism for most creatures.
130	* TheIgor: Ygor, who [[strike: speaks in a girlish childlike voice]] is voiced by a little girl and is generally there to supply tools.
131	* TheVoiceless: Nosferatu speaks in old school silent movie subtitles, complete with dramatic pipe organ music.
132	** Strangely, it doesn't seem to prevent him from being an apparently ''hilarious'' ventriloquist.
133	* ThoseWackyNazis: 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.
134	-->"So ze Jews... Not so bad!"
135	* TrulySingleParent: 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.
136	* {{Uberwald}}: Victor's castle is in the town of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Somewhere in Eastern Europe]].
137	* UglyGuyHotWife: 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.
138	* UnusualEuphemism: In a show unafraid of very explicit language and scenes, we get LBJ describing his desires.
139	-->'''LBJ''': I want to taste Jackie O's perfumey privates, feel her jiggly-wiggly jaglies, and then dingle my dongle in her hobbly wobbly.
140	-->'''Polidori (taking notes)''': ...'Jiggly-wiggly jubblies'...
141	-->'''LBJ''': That's 'jaglies'.
142	* ViewersAreGeniuses: Also a potential HistoricalDomainCharacter, 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.
143	* VirginPower: Alluded to in one episode.
144	-->'''Victor:''' I can't let a man penetrate me, I'll lose my powers. (ItMakesSenseInContext)
145	* WackyRacing: "Jules Verne's Monster Rally Run!"
146	* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: 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 [[MayflyDecemberRomance realizes she won't outlive him]] ... and then he yawns immediately during their wedding, to her offense.
147	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: 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. [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent 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.
148	* {{Wolfman}}: Somewhat inspired by Creator/LonChaney's [[Film/TheWolfman1941 Wolf Man]] but ''really'' whiny.
149	* YourFavorite: 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. ItMakesSenseInContext. Kinda.
150	* YourHeadAsplode: Victor becomes ''so'' frustrated with vampires talking during movies, that his head just explodes.

Context WesternAnimation / MaryShelleysFrankenhole