Aaahhh, Creep Out! Or, A Vintage Movie Review: The Halloween Tree

Originally aired: October 1993.
Watched by Kerri Anne: When I was 11, and then again October 25, 2010.
Courtesy of: YouTube, in seven (or eight) parts. (What? I was determined.)
Because: I distinctly remembered watching this movie as a kid, but until Monday night I couldn’t remember what the movie was actually called, and couldn’t remember a single character’s name, or much beyond the fact that it featured a group of friends, a skeleton costume, and Mexico. So naturally, I Googled something like, “Animated movie with skeleton costume and Mexico.”

(Google’s amazing ability to actually know what my nonsensical memories are trying to tell me is probably the number one reason I will always love the Internet.)

Enter me watching The Halloween Tree for the first time in over SEVENTEEN years.

Based on: A 1972 fantasy novel written by Ray Bradbury. TRIVIA ALERT! Bradbury actually won an Emmy for the screenplay adaptation of his original story. Um, yeah. I nearly fell out of my Halloween tree when I read that.

Starring: Ray Bradbury narrates, a crew of young actors (including Andrew Keegan) voice the animated young’uns, and Leonard Nimoy voices Mr. Moundshroud, who does business as the “children’s guide,” which really means “the undeniably creepy, kindly sinister skeleton-looking guy who routinely makes inappropriate comments (when he’s not speaking in riddles).”

Protagonist’s name and story: This story is a bit strange in that I think spunky, red-haired, freckle-faced Pip (described as “the greatest boy who ever lived”) is supposed to be the protagonist, but really his four friends go through more of a transformation within the movie. Pip is on his way to being dead when the movie starts, and his four friends (Jenny, Wally, Tom, and Ralph) have to suffer Moundshroud’s condescending Halloween history lessons while traveling to far-away places and long-ago times (Think: Egypt, Greece, Somewhere In The Woods With Witches, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Mexico) to rescue Pip’s soul, before Moundshroud can collect Pip and his spirit pumpkin for his Halloween Tree, which is a tree of hanging pumpkins filled with the souls of the dead. (Is this sounding enough like a Halloween acid trip yet? Because it gets better.) The reason Pip is a ghost, time-traveling with his (freckled) spirit pumpkin in tow to avoid (death, and) Moundshroud? Appendicitis. Um. Yeah.

What the what? moments: 1) The (time-traveling) kite-building scene, involving old circus posters and scary animals, and you guys, I can’t even tell you how weird it is.

2) The part of the Halloween history lesson where Moundshroud expounds upon witches, and basically says there weren’t ever any real witches, they were JK, LOL about all that magic stuff, and instead were merely groups of women who wanted to be left alone to be “wise” and play with cauldrons.

3) At the very end of the movie, Jenny, Ralph, Wally, and Tom each offer a year at the end of their lives to Moundshroud as payment for Pip’s soul. (RIGHT? I TOLD YOU THIS MOVIE IS CREEPY.)

Questions left unanswered: Oh, so many. But mostly, what was Bradbury drinking when he wrote this screenplay?

Memorable quotes: “It’s gargoyle language. He can only speak when the rain comes out of his mouth, or the wind blows over his teeth.”

“Ah yes, Joe Pipkin. Some say that on the day he was born, all the soda pop bottles in the world fizzed over. Pipkin who could yell louder, sing better, and eat more popcorn. Pip, the greatest boy who ever lived.”

“Tell me, why do you wear bones, Skeleton?” “Because, maybe if we face death eyeball-to-eyeball, it loses it’s power over us? It can’t scare us!”

The verdict: Visually stunning for sure, and a very interesting (albeit very crazy) story, though definitely a bit heavy-handed, thematically speaking, for even the most fearless kids.

Though maybe kids don’t care about pumpkin trees filled with lost souls? Because I’m pretty sure I found the story even creepier as an adult than I did as a kid.

Also: I’m finding myself interested in reading the original story. Moundshroud, I just can’t quit you.

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So you may be wondering (or perhaps you’re not wondering at all, but I’m going to tell you anyway) what makes the cut as my all-time favorite Halloween movie? That would be Hocus Pocus.

No, really. If you haven’t seen it, NO JUDGING. It’s AWESOME. Totally cheesy, and campy, and full of (big hair, and) hilariously quotable lines and general Halloween AWESOMENESS. (Randomly enough, Hocus Pocus was actually released the same year as The Halloween Tree. 1993 was apparently quite a memorable year for Halloween movies.)

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Table-turning time!

Did anyone else watch The Halloween Tree (ever, or) as a kid?

Any personal favorite Halloween movies, or do you shun the holiday, and the holiday-themed movies, altogether?

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