Ah, Halloween; a fabled time of year. A time of spooky spectacle, delectable adventure, and of course, timeless stories of fright!
When I was a kid, maybe no older than thirteen, I happened across an odd little cartoon. It was evening time, and I had been flipping through the monotony of cable television when all of a sudden, I paused to investigate what was playing before me—a curious little cartoon called, “The Halloween Tree.” A preternatural scribble with an art style all its own. It’s charming. Charming enough to have captured my adolescent gaze.
A Clever Take on Halloween, Complete with Good Storytelling
…and keep it through to now, as I near…forty! Holy crap…that might be the scariest part?!
I digress—It was relatable from the get go! A rambunctious foursome, donned in their Hallows night best, set off riding their bikes at top speed through the winding streets of their neighborhood. A neighborhood festooned by fall foliage and Halloween decor. Something my own friends and I would partake and experience on numerous October evenings.
The story follows four friends trying to join up with their fifth, a boy named, “Pip.” At the start of the story, we are shown glimpses of Pip being carted off in an ambulance as his friends approach his place while on their way to go trick or treating. They follow the ambulance on their bikes, and this is where nefarious adventure ensues.
A scene from “The Halloween Tree.” (Photo: Hanna-Barbera Productions).
It’s a clever take on Halloween in that it divulges the multifarious concoction that went in to creating the holiday we all know today. It discusses the “why” on certain ghoulish trends, and gives a more grounded look at the origins of Hallows eve and the night that follows. Not only that, but “The Halloween Tree” does this in a way befitting of good storytelling. It does not preach, nor demand that you feel a certain way about things, it just holds you in place, much like an amusement ride, and takes you on a journey fraught with eery twists and turns.
A Charming Film that Can Make You Feel Young Again
At its core, it’s innocuous. But at times throughout its one hour and nine-minute run time, it’s frightfully suspenseful in the best possible ways! Leonard Nimoy provides superb voice to the story’s sinister antagonist (Carapace Moundshroud). You’ll find yourself nibbling on intrigue each time Nimoy dives into a voluble disquisition.
For me, this story will always be a zenith piece of pumpkin pie that I devour over the month of October. I’ve read the book, watched the movie, and even procured a poster that sits in my room. “The Halloween Tree” truly is a timeless representation of what this time of year means to so many. And to me, every time I watch it, I feel as if I am thirteen again. Now, if that’s not the sign of a movie worth watching, I don’t know what is…?!
Ray Bradbury’s, “The Halloween Tree”… a very spooky, A+!
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