Disney's 1977 Halloween Hall O' Fame

Today's Monster Memories are of: Disney's 1977 Halloween Hall 'O Fame

Page updated on 10-3-2019 to add these color images of the makeup process posted online by William Forsche! Photos by Gene Trindl.

Last October as I was going through old videos, to put favorites on DVD, I found two treasures that I had taped off TV back in the early 80's... both versions of the Disney Halloween specials! The first, (and best) was the "Halloween Hall O' Fame," and featured Jonathan Winters as a security guard and pumpkin-headed Jack O. Lantern. The show, part of the weekly "Wonderful World of Disney," premiered on October 30th, 1977.

This was my first introduction to my now-favorite Disney Halloween cartoons; "Lonesome Ghosts," "Trick or Treat," "Pluto's Judgement Day" and most importantly "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Later I searched out the entire cartoons, but for years this tape was must-watch each October. But it got lost in the boxes of tapes, and now has been rediscovered like an old toy from childhood.

Last October I transferred it to DVD and now have it to savor again. I also have the next special that came out a few years later, "Disney's Halloween Treat," with the talking pumpkin on the table. Although it is padded out with the "Disney Villains" clips, (which have nothing to do with Halloween to me), it is good as well for all the actual HW clips. After the new one began showing, the one with Jonanthan Winters was no longer seen, which was a shame. And there's zero chance it will ever be sold on DVD, unless it's part of a collection of Wonderful World of Disney shows. If you have this on tape somewhere, treasure it! I know my DVD transfer will be viewed many times in years to come.

Loathe to lose a customer, Joe the barber didn't have the heart to tell Jack he had no hair left to trim.

On October 3rd, 1977, Time magazine published this mention about the upcoming special in an article:

Cinderella's coach turned into a pumpkin—and Jonathan Winters' head has now suffered the same fate. With a little help from his makeup man, Comic Winters ripens into a big jack-o'-lantern on the set of Walt Disney's special, The Halloween Hall o' Fame. The show, scheduled to air Oct. 30 on NBC, stars Winters as a bumbling night watchman who swaps heads with a talking pumpkin. The tricks and treats are vintage Disney, and Winters loved it all—especially his costume. "I was secure with my head," he says. "I knew I was a pumpkin mentally. There's a lot of seeds up there—some gone."

After kicking off this year's Halloween season by watching it, I made some screen captures off of the DVD to share with you. Enjoy!

The program opens at night, as we move past the sign and toward a window in a building on the Disney campus. Inside, we see a beagle walking down a hallway, followed by the night watchman, played by Winters. The dog's name is Peanuts. That doesn't sound like what he is saying, though.

Peanuts senses something strange in a dark room, and the night watchman goes in to check it out.

Bumping into a skeleton unawares, the guard gets a scare as he cautiously secures the room.

It turns out to be a prop room, with all sorts of interesting things laying about. This prompts the night watchman to mess around with some, doing impromptu bits using various items on a table. This is the kind of comedy Winters was famous for, unrehearsed improv using various voices and characters.

Giving an award to the midget baseball team, whose players are the same size as the trophy.

After finding a bird that had been placed in his lunch pail, he discovers that it had eaten his food.

An Indian fakir charms a snake but gets bitten, then bites the snake in return.

A small-town fire chief rallies his men to put out a doghouse fire.

A doctor chides his patient for not eating his veggies.

Jack O. Lantern startles the night watchman when he appears in a crystal ball.

Challenging the pumpkin-headed intruder, he learns that Jack is hiding out til midnight to avoid Halloween. He doesn't like what it has become, a kid's holiday full of fun and not true scares.

The night watchman disagrees, telling his he ought to be ashamed; a pumpkin hiding on Halloween!

Jack tells how back in the old days they had real ghosts and goblins, not like today. To illustrate, he shows some clips from classic Disney cartoons in his crystal ball. The first is "Trick or Treat."

The final scene from "Trick Or Treat," a last-second "boo" shot if there ever was one.

The next was an edited version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." So... was the Headless Horseman in this cartoon a real ghost, or just the jealous Brom Bones?

After all the cartoons, at the end of "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the night watchman, using some reverse psychology, cleverly provokes the spirit of Halloween to come out of hiding and go celebrate the season.

Finding himself temporarily in the crystal ball, our hero wonders what is going on.

Jack tells him he's using his body to go out and mix with the trick or treaters.

Thinking he is paying back the night watchman for questioning his ability to frighten, Jack has a good laugh and heads out into the night.

Content to switch places just for the evening, the night watchman is happy that he got the spook to join the celebrations.

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Halloween well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, Happy Halloween, Every One!"

A treat fer ya; Here's a Youtube post someone has made of the entire special!

Thrills and Chills Issue #4

(Click on any images to view monster-size.)

Well, the month-long celebration of Halloween, the Monster Kid national holiday, is underway. It's a lot of fun this year as various blogs take part in the Halloween Countdown, and I'm happy to be a part of it. Today we look back at Issue #4 of the Scholastic kid's magazine "Thrills and Chills," published in 1994. (We looked at Issue #2 in a recent posting.) The awesome cover is a great rendition of an inspired idea. We horror fans would certainly flock to see such a sightseeing thrill!

Each issue had movie recommendations for the month of October, and the spotlight some classics each time. I saw "The Deadly Mantis" when about 11 years old in 1969 on the Saturday afternoon "Creature Feature" which I watched each week faithfully. I saw a lot of the classics there for the first time.

On the back of each issue was a creepily illustrated epitaph from a real headstone... although I'm sure only the epitaph was accurate and that the tombstone didn't resemble the one drawn.

As a bonus today, we look at a fun book that took the "Where's Waldo?" concept and applied it to Halloween. I bought this in 1992, and the densely-packed book entertained me and my then-young daughter for hours on end, as we picked out items in the scenes for the other to find. Try it yourself with the sample page! You could get lost in that cemetery...

And just in case this seems a trifle juvenile to you, for the grown-up kids out there, here is an ad from around 1985 for Elvira's new videos... it makes the "look and find" game more fun and even easier!

The Brides of Frankenstein

What a great painting! You might have seen it before, but I thought it was worth another view as early October appears in the Autumn night sky like a big orange harvest moon. And the tagline "more fearful than the monster himself" might have been true; especially when it was that time of the month.

The First Family of Halloween, The Munsters. Also a good way to kick off the official Monster Month. It's funny, but as a kid watching the show, somehow I missed the seemingly obvious fact that Herman is indeed the actual Frankenstein's monster, and Grandpa was the one and only Count Dracula. I just thought they were similar charicatures spoofing the originals. But in the movie "Munster Go Home" I learned that Herman, after being created by Dr. Frankenstein, had been adopted by the English Munster family. Which is how he got his name, and he later married Dracula's daughter before relocating to America.

It's good to know that the old Universal monsters ended up living happily in the land of opportunity, rather than constantly hounded by torch-waving villagers in the Old Country. But one still can't help but wonder; as Herman is lying there next to Lily, does his mind ever go back to his first love... the innocent, original Bride?

And Lily may have some deep dark secrets buried in her past as well... after all, little Eddie hardly resembles Herman, but is more like the old family acquaintence, the relunctantly hairy Larry Talbot. Does she still carry a torch for him hidden in the crypt of her heart? Seeing Eddie's hirsute face must remind her of him constantly...

UPDATE: Sometimes the comments are just too good to leave in the comments area. Especially when such an informed writer as Jeff O'Boyle chimes in! So for the true story of Eddie's parentage, and the various Munter relatives, go to the post page and read his comments. A true Munsterphile!