The Halloween Tree

Today's Monster Memories are of:

1993's "The Halloween Tree"
(Click on images to view full size.)

"The Halloween Tree," first broadcast in 1993, and televised each Halloween season on the Cartoon Network, has been a spooky holiday treat for kids (and adults like me) for years since. Inexplicably, it has not been released on DVD, although each October I keep hoping for it. In the meantime, I took my VHS copy, bought some years ago, and recorded it to DVD so I can watch it on the big screen TV. It will have to do until it gets a long-overdue DVD treatment.

This made-for-TV special has a lot going for it. The painted backgrounds are many and magnificent, the character design memorable, the voice work outstanding (particularly that by Leonard Nimoy), the theatrical-quality music by John Debney is worthy of a soundtrack CD release (which I have yet to see), and the narration by the author himself is icing on the cake.

Nearly-verbatim chunks of the original prose from the book are heard over sections of the story, that stand out as examples of the synergy between the poetry and the paintings. For example, the opening title sequence, the trip through The Ravine, and the first view of Moundshroud's house; all scenes that make me warm and chilly at the same time.

In case you haven't seen it in a while, here are a series of images I captured that will give you a chance to view and enjoy some of the dense artwork of the backgrounds and various scenes.

Ray Bradbury was more involved in this production than any other adaptation of his works. He wrote the screenplay, and provided the voice work for the narration. In the story, a group of friends are taken on a trip through time and space by the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, as they chase the soul of a dying friend. As it flits from place to place, the kids learn how all the customs of Halloween originated, and in the end are responsible for reclaiming the life of Pipkin from the designs their guide have upon it.

The following two panoramic scenes I stitched together from four screen captures each as the camera panned across the artwork. The camera movement caused a little blurring during the screen capture process but you can get a good idea of the original paintings.

The start of the film is similar in feel to the opening sequence in the other Bradbury movie adaptation, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," with the narration of the book's prose over scenes of autumn in a small midwest town of yesteryear.

Now, that's what I would call a haunted house!

Although meant to be the incarnation of Death, Mr. Moundshroud seems to have several different agendas going on at the same time. Is he evil, is he good, is he really trying to educate the kids, and to what purpose? Is he part of the natural order, or is he stealing souls for his own ends? Was their sacrifice for their friend at the end something he was subtly trying to encourage? His motivations are a mystery. What are your thoughts on the subject? Discuss.

I'd dearly love to own some of the artwork done for these backgrounds to frame, wouldn't you? Each one belongs in a museum art display.

"Sweet skulls, sweet skulls, crystal sugar candy skulls..." -Mr. Moundshroud from Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree."

This line of text was the inspiration for the name of my other blog, "Sweet Skulls." Every year I enjoy reading the short book, which is roughly the same size as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," itself another reading/viewing tradition during October.