''The Halloween Tree'' is a 1993

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

's 1972

novel of the same name. The film tells the story of a group of

trick-or-treat Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...

ing children who learn about the origins and influences of Halloween when one of their friends is spirited away by mysterious forces. Bradbury serves as the narrator of the film, which also stars

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

as the children's guide, Mr. Moundshroud. Bradbury also wrote the film's Emmy Award winning screenplay. The animation of the film was produced overseas for Hanna-Barbera by Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. The film premiered on ABC on October 2, 1993. The movie is often featured on Cartoon Network during the Halloween season. The film changes the novel's group of night travelers from eight boys to three boys and a girl. A longer

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

"author's preferred text" of the novel was published in 2005, which included the screenplay.

Plot

The narrator (

) describes one small American town's preparations for Halloween night. Four friends are shown at their respective homes donning costumes excitedly: Jenny as a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

; Ralph as a

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

; Wally as a monster; and Tom Skelton as a skeleton. They plan to meet up with their best friend, Joe Pipkin, but he doesn't appear. They go to Pip's house and see him being loaded into an ambulance with his parents riding along with him. He has written them a note explaining that he is going to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy and that they should celebrate without him. They feel they cannot start Halloween without him, so they follow the ambulance to visit him at the hospital. Tom suggests a shortcut through the spooky woods: the dark and eerie ravine. They see what looks like a translucent Pip running along the ravine trail, and Tom leads them on, convinced that Pip has designed an elaborate hoax for them. The group races after Pip, who disappears near a towering and darkened mansion. A man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud greets them inside. Moundshroud expresses disappointment that none of the children know what their

costumes Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

symbolize. He reveals that he is after the ghost of Pip. Pip seeks and steals a pumpkin with his face carved into it from Moundshroud's Halloween Tree of

jack-o'-lantern A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phen ...

s. Tom begs Moundshroud to let them come with him and help bring back Pip. Moundshroud initially refuses but relents: if they can keep up with him before dawn, then they might be able to retrieve the pumpkin and get Pip back, while also going on a scavenger hunt of sorts to learn about the significance of their costumes and the origins of Halloween. They begin their pursuit of Pip, traveling back in time by ripping down old circus posters from a nearby barn and crafting a giant October

Kite A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...

, with the children hanging on as a weighted tail. Moundshroud then takes the four friends to four different places in four different periods in time that coincide with their respective costumes. First, they travel to Ancient Egypt to learn of the celebration called ' the Feast of the Ghosts'. Following Pip's spirit to a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

in a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

, they learn about the significance of

mummification A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

. Ralph finds a weak-spirited Pip and begs him to come back. As the priests began trying to embalm Pip, Ralph scares them away by pretending to be a real mummy. When Moundshroud confronts him again, Pip uses his pumpkin's magic to escape him, and the group chases him through time, once more. Next, arriving at Stonehenge during the Dark Ages in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, they witness rituals carried out by Celtic druids and villagers of the old Celtic world. As Moundshroud teaches them, Pip briefly appears as a black cat. They come across a field of straw being harvested and made into brooms and discover a coven of witches chanting and celebrating the New Year. Moundshroud helps the children escape a mob of anti-witch villagers by making some of the brooms fly, then knocks Pip off his broom in an attempt to snatch away his pumpkin. Jenny catches Pip but is afraid of losing him. He encourages her and then darts away. They follow him to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and arrive at the unfinished

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, learning of the cathedral's use of gargoyles and demons. The children use Moundshroud's magic to finish the cathedral, and Wally climbs to reach a Pip-shaped gargoyle that is holding Pip's pumpkin. He begs Pip to be strong; Pip flees again and the group follows. Finally, in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, they learn about the significance of skeletons during "Día de los Muertos" — the

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

festival. They find a very weak Pip in a catacombs. Tom manages to get to Pip and apologizes to him, admitting he feels guilty for the whole ordeal because he once wished for something bad to happen to Pip so he could lead the group for once. Pip smiles and forgives him, promising to let him lead anytime he wants. Pip's spirit crumbles into dust and is gone. Moundshroud tells the children they did not make it in time and Pip is now his property. The children offer him a year from the end of each of their lives in exchange for Pip's return. He accepts the deal and gives each of them a piece of a sugar candy skull with Pip's name on it to eat, sealing the bargain. Pip's spirit then revives, and he snatches his pumpkin back from Moundshroud and flies out. The group is then immediately transported home to America in the present day, having completed the four-thousand-year journey. The children go to Pip's house to see if the experience was real and are delighted to see him back from the hospital. At the mansion, Moundshroud blows out his pumpkin's candle, turns into smoke and disappears; the Halloween Tree is assaulted by strong winds, blowing all the pumpkins away — all except for Pip's "pumpkin", which the children rescued by their sacrifice.

Cast

as The Narrator *

as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud * Annie Barker as Jenny, The Witch *

Darleen Carr Darleen Carr (born Darlene Farnon) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist. She is also known as Darlene Carr or Darleen Drake. She has two sisters, both actresses ( Shannon Farnon and Charmian Carr). Early years Carr was born i ...

as Additional Voices (voice) *

Lindsay Crouse Lindsay Ann Crouse is a retired American actress. She made her Broadway debut in the 1972 revival of ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and appeared in her first film in 1976 in ''All the President's Men''. For her role in the 1984 film ''Places in the ...

as Additional Voices (voice) *

Alex Greenwald Alexander Greenwald (born October 9, 1979) is an American musician, actor, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the California rock band Phantom Planet. Life and career Greenwald was born in Los Angeles, California, to a family of J ...

as Ralph, The Mummy *

Edan Gross Edan Gross (born October 10, 1978) is an American businessman and former child actor. Career He appeared in many guest spots on television programs in the 1980s and 1990s including ''Cheers'', ''Murphy Brown'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Empty Ne ...

as Tom Skelton, The Skeleton * Andrew Keegan as Wally, The Monster * Kevin Michaels as Joe "Pip" Pipkin, The Ghost *

Mark L. Taylor Mark Lawrence Taylor (born October 25, 1950) is an American actor, known for his roles in such films as '' Innerspace'' (1987), ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), '' Arachnophobia'' (1990), and ''High School Musical 2 ''High School Musical ...

as Additional Voices (voice)

Crew

* Gordon Hunt - Recording Director * Jill Ziegenhagen - Talent Coordinator *

Kris Zimmerman Kris Zimmerman Salter is an American voice and casting director in the animation and video game industry. Her major works include the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series. In the cartoons, she has directed episodes for ''Ben 10'', ''The Real Adventures o ...

- Animation Casting Director *

David Kirschner David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film & television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include the animated feature ''An American Tail'' (also wrote) and ''Child's Play (franchise), Child's Play'' horror fi ...

- Executive Producer * Mark Young - Co-Executive Producer * Kunio Shimamura - Associate Producer * Catherine Winder - Production Executive * Al Gmuer - Art Director * William DeBoer Jr. - Negative Consultant * Jerry Mills - Technical Director * Michelle Douglas - Supervising Editor * Joy Avery - Program Executive * Jim Katz - Production Manager * Floro Dery - Character Designer * Edwin Collins - Supervising Recording Engineer * Alvy Dorman - Recording Engineer * Jim Hearn - Track Reader * Sync Sound - Post Production Sound Services

Awards

''The Halloween Tree'' won the 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program and was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program.

Home media

''The Halloween Tree'' was released on VHS by

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

in the 1990s. The first release on September 14, 1994 and its re-release on August 29, 1995 includes a

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

short ''Bewitched Bear'', which is shown before the film. Both the 1994 and 1995 releases also featured a free copy of the 1972 novel of the same name packaged inside each of the VHS tape copies. The movie was also released on LaserDisc with an audio commentary by Ray Bradbury being included. Turner re-released the film on VHS on September 10, 1996 as part of the

Cartoon Network Video Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Ca ...

series with multiple re-issues by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

from August 26, 1997 to August 21, 2001. In August 2012,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

released the movie on DVD as part of the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection series.

VHS release dates

* September 14, 1994 (Turner Home Entertainment) * August 29, 1995 (Turner Home Entertainment) * September 10, 1996 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video) * August 26, 1997 — August 21, 2001 (Warner Home Video)

DVD release dates

* August 28, 2012 (Warner Home Video/Warner Archive) * August 30, 2016 (Warner Home Video)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halloween Tree 1993 animated films 1993 films American films about Halloween Halloween television specials Hanna-Barbera television specials 1993 television films Films based on works by Ray Bradbury Films about witchcraft Films scored by John Debney 1990s ghost films Day of the Dead films Films about time travel Television shows based on American novels Films based on American novels Animated films based on novels 1990s children's animated films American ghost films Films directed by Mario Piluso 1990s American films