Question: Does anyone know why there are armadillos running around inside Dracula's castle?
Twotall
19th Jul 2004
Dracula (1931)
Chosen answer: If memory serves, that version was filmed in Mexico and they used the same sets to film the Spanish version AT THE SAME TIME. English crew on days, Mexican crew at night. Being the desert there would be armadillos and I'm sure the crew thought they'd make good rats or something. Wouldn't you find some sort of exotic wildlife living in Castle Dracula?
Answer: Actually, in that time period, rats were deemed too "gross" to show so armadillos were substituted. I got this answer straight from David Skal, the noted horror film historian.
17th Jul 2004
Dracula (1931)
Trivia: To accommodate all sorts of viewers, the studio also made a silent version of the film (for cinemas without sound equipment) and a Spanish-speaking version (to be shown in Latin America). The Spanish version is considered a better film, because it was filmed after the English takes each day, so the Spanish director and actors would watch the English takes and decide how to improve on them.
17th Jul 2004
Dracula (1931)
Revealing mistake: When Renfield walks up to the front door of the castle, he is in a court yard where the only light comes from torches. But the light is enough to make him throw a clear shadow on the wall, and the shadow never flickers as it would in torch light.
17th Jul 2004
Dracula (1931)
Other mistake: In the scene where Renfield enters Dracula's castle, it is past midnight and on the outside, it is dark. But there is a LOT of bright light streaming through the windows into the castle, throwing well-defined shadows. (00:09:10)
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Answer: Pretty sure this qualifies as a mistake, just like the llamas in Troy. Armadillos only live in the Americas. Later on, they have opossums too! So the story about not wanting to show rats could very well be true. Nevetheless, if this isn't a mistake, I don't know what is.
Spiny Norman