The Halloween Tree (film)
The Halloween Tree | |
---|---|
Based on | The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury |
Written by | Ray Bradbury |
Directed by | Mario Piluso |
Voices of | Leonard Nimoy Annie Barker Alex Greenwald Edan Gross Kevin Smets Andrew Keegan |
Narrated by | Ray Bradbury |
Composer | John Debney |
Country of origin | United States Philippines |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | David Kirschner |
Producers | Mario Piluso Co-executive producer: Mark Young Associate producer: Kunio Shimamura |
Editor | Gil Iverson |
Running time | 69 minutes |
Production companies | Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Animation: Fil-Cartoons |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | October 2, 1993 |
The Halloween Tree is a 1993
The movie is often featured on
Plot
The narrator (Ray Bradbury) 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; Ralph as a mummy; 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
First, they travel to
Next, arriving at
They follow him to
Finally, in Mexico, they learn about the significance of skeletons during "Día de los Muertos" — the Day of the Dead 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
- Ray Bradbury as The Narrator
- Leonard Nimoy as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud
- Annie Barker as Jenny, The Witch
- Darleen Carr as Additional Voices (voice)
- Lindsay Crouse as Additional Voices (voice)
- Alex Greenwald as Ralph, The Mummy
- Edan Gross as Tom Skelton, The Skeleton
- Andrew Keegan as Wally, The Monster
- Kevin Michaels as Joe "Pip" Pipkin, The Ghost
- Mark L. Taylor as Additional Voices (voice)
Crew
- Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
- Jill Ziegenhagen - Talent Coordinator
- Kris Zimmerman - Animation Casting Director
- David Kirschner - 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
Home media
The Halloween Tree was released on VHS by
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)
See also
References
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ISBN 1-887368-80-9.
- ^ "The Halloween Tree (1993) (TV) - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
External links
- The Halloween Tree at IMDb