Sony Pictures Animation will debut a brand new short film set within the Hotel Transylvania world to get fans ready for the sequel Hotel Transylvania 3, debuting in theaters next fall. The short film, entitled Puppy!, will be attached to prints of The Emoji Movie, in theaters tomorrow, but until then, the studio has debuted the first clip, along with three more behind-the-scenes videos where director Genndy Tartakovsky offers new details about the short. Here's what he had to say about coming up with the concept, which was inspired by his family recently getting a puppy of their own.

"I love dogs, and we just got a dog last year, and it's this big Saint Bernard. And then I connected, 'Oh, what if Dennis wants a puppy and Dracula gets him one and it's this giant monster dog?'"

The clip, which debuted on Sony Pictures Animation YouTube opens with Johnny (Andy Samberg) playing with Dennis (Asher Blinkoff) on the floor, while Mavis (Selena Gomez) reads a book on the couch. Their peaceful evening is disrupted when Dracula (Adam Sandler) knocks on the door and pokes his head in sheepishly, before he and the door are knocked into the room by this massive Puppy!, which Dennis is thrilled to see. In another preview, director Genndy Tartakovsky, who reunited with Hotel Transylvania producer Michelle Murdocca for this short, had this to say about how he came up with this huge puppy's look.

"The design of the dog, I started sketching what I wanted to do, in the rough boards, and it kind of became this giant, weird pug thing, because they do look like little monsters. Then I showed it to Craig Kellman and Craig started doing drawings and he did the final design, which is like a giant monster pug slash bulldog thing."

The first Hotel Transylvania movie was a big hit for Sony Pictures Animation in 2012, taking in $148.3 million domestically and $210 million internationally for a worldwide total of $358.3 million, from an $85 million budget. The 2015 sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 was an even bigger hit, earning $169.7 million domestically and $303.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $473.2 million, from an $80 million budget. Sony Pictures Animation has set a September 21, 2018 release date for Hotel Transylvania 3, which brings back director Genndy Tartakovsky and the rest of the cast. It hasn't been confirmed if there will be any new voice cast members quite yet, but hopefully we'll find out more about this sequel very soon. It's possible that a new trailer could arrive after this short, but that has yet to be confirmed.

While Hotel Transylvania 3 hits theaters on September 21, 2018, fans can check out this Puppy! short film this weekend, attached to prints of The Emoji Movie. It isn't clear when we may see the first look at Hotel Transylvania 3, or if this massive Puppy! will be part of the story, joining the rest of the Hotel Transylvania monsters. Take a look at the clip and previews for Puppy! below.