It’s not only the worst week of the year (as I detailed in a posting yesterday), but in the Bizarro cartoon world, Wayno has made it Nosferatu Punmanteau Week (Nosferamanteau Week, for short), exploiting the success of the 2024 movie to commit a series of punmanteaus (puns based on a portmanteau, presented visually as well as linguistically — these are, after all, cartoons) of a special, self-incorporating, type: puns on the model Nosferatu that are portmanteaus of Nosferatu + W, where W is, so far this week : tattoo (in Nosferattoo), achoo (in Nosferachoo), and cartoon (in Nosferatoon). The Waynoratu Nosferamanteaus might well continue through the week. Wayno could even specialize in creature Nosferamanteaus, like the crested parrot Nosferacatoo and the bare-bottomed monkey Nosferaboon; we might even get a whole zoo.
While we wait: about the movie; about the three strips so far; and earlier punmanteau postings of mine.
The movie. Briefly, from Wikipedia:
(#1) Theatrical poster for the movieNosferatu is a 2024 American gothic horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers. It is a remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, itself based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. The film stars Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok [the Dracula figure, who is a nosferatu ‘vampire’], while Nicholas [Hoult] and Lily-Rose Depp star as Thomas and Ellen Hutter, respectively. The supporting cast includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe.
(I note, with grave annoyance, evidence that the Wikipedia article was prepared using AI tools: the article as distributed has replaced the surname of the actor Nicholas Hough with a surname more likely for an actor with the personal name Nicholas, namely Cage; I was at first astounded at the idea that Nicholas Cage had accepted the role of Thomas Hutter.)
Three Nosferamanteaus. Monday through Wednesday (today).
(#2) A tattoo by itself would not have made the joke, but having the mark described by surgeons makes it possible for multiple vampire-bite marks to be seen as a tattoo (if you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 6 in this strip — see this Page)
(#3) Now we see the nosferatu as transmitting (through his sneeze, achoo!) a condition that confers not only immortality but an unshakeable allergy (only 1 symbol)
(#4) A classic Dracula-style nosferatu drinks with his cartoonish kin (2 symbols)
Earlier on this blog.
— from 11/29/17 “The pun of the month for November 2017”: tuturo = tutu + Totoro
— from 12/18/17: “Packing extreme meat”
— from 11/15/23 “The punmanteau”: cummerbundt ‘a cummerbund in the shape of a Bundt cake’
— from 1/5/24 “Today’s food punmanteau”: shoeshi ‘sushi in the shape of a shoe’
— from 4/29/24 “Name that taqueria”: Juanderful = Juan (a stereotypical Mexican name) + wonderful, so conveying something like ‘wonderfully Mexican’ or ‘wonderful in a typically Mexican way’
— from 5/17/24 “A Friday punmanteau” pontiff no return = pontiff ‘the Pope’ + point of no return ‘point at which turning back is no longer possible’ = pontiff no return ‘the Pope will not return (for some time)’ in a simplified register — foreigner talk, caveman talk, Tonto talk, etc.