The Halloween Tree is a 1993 fantasy television drama animated film produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on Ray Bradbury's 1972 fantasy novel of the same name. The film tells of a group of deceitful or treating children who learn about the origins and influence of Halloween when one of their friends is swept away by mysterious powers. The Halloween Tree starring Ray Bradbury as the narrator and Leonard Nimoy as a children's guide, Mr. Moundshroud. Bradbury also wrote a film that won an Emmy Award. The animation for the film is produced overseas for Hanna-Barbera by Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines.
The film is often featured on Cartoon Network during the Halloween season. The film changed the group of night travelers from eight boys to three boys and a girl. A longer-term "author selection text" of the novel was published in 2005, which includes scenarios.
Video The Halloween Tree (film)
Plot
Narrator (Ray Bradbury) explains the preparation of a small town for Halloween night. Four friends featured in their homes each wearing vigorous costumes: Jenny as a witch, Ralph as a mummy; Wally as a monster; and Tom as a framework. They plan to meet their best friend Pip but he does not show up. They went to Pip's house and saw it loaded into an ambulance. He has written them a note explaining that he will go to the hospital for an emergency appendix and that they should celebrate without him. They feel they can not start Halloween without him, so they follow an ambulance to visit him at the hospital. Tom suggested a shortcut through a spooky forest: a dark and frightening chasm. They see what looks like translucent Pip that runs along the ravine, and Tom leads them, convinced that Pip has devised a complicated trick for them. The group raced after Pip, who disappeared near a towering and dark mansion.
A man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud greeted them inside. Moundshroud expressed disappointment that no children know what their costumes symbolized. He revealed that he was chasing after the Pip ghost. Pip searched and stole a pumpkin with his face carved from Moundshroud's Jack-o'-lion's Halloween Tree. Tom begged Moundshroud to let them come with him and help bring back Pip. Moundshroud initially refused but succumbed: if they can follow him before dawn, then they may be able to take pumpkins and get back Pip, while also doing a hunt of sorts to learn about the importance of their costumes and the origins of Halloween. They started chasing Pip, walking back to the past.
First, they travel to Ancient Egypt to learn about the celebration called 'The Feast of the Ghosts'. Following the Pip spirits into a tomb in a pyramid, they learn about the importance of mummification. Ralph finds a meek Pip and tells him to come back. The group frightened priests who tried to embalm Pip and Pip disappear again.
Next, arriving at Stonehenge during the Dark Ages, they witnessed a ritual performed by the Celtic druids and villagers of the old Celtic world. When Moundshroud taught them, Pip briefly appeared as a black cat. They found the harvested hay fields and made a broom and found a group of witches singing and celebrating the new year. Moundshroud helped the children escape from the anti-magical villagers crowd by making a few broomsticks, then dropping Pip from his broom. Jenny catches Pip but is afraid to lose it. He pushed it and then left.
They followed him to France and arrived at the unfinished Cathedral of Notre Dame, studying the use of gargoyles and the devil of the cathedral. The boys use Moundshroud magic to finish the cathedral, and Wally rises to reach the Pip-shaped gargoyle holding the Pip pumpkin. He begged Pip to be strong; Pip fled again and the group followed.
Finally, in Mexico, they learn about the importance of the skeleton during "DÃÆ'a de los Muertos" - the festival of the Day of Death. They are looking for a very weak Pip in the catacombs. Tom manages to get to Pip and apologizes to him, admitting that he feels guilty for the whole ordeal because he wants something bad to happen to Pip so Tom can lead the group once. Pip smiles and forgives him, promising to let him lead whenever he wants. The spirit of Pip crumbles to dust and disappears.
Moundshroud told the children that they did not arrive on time and Pip is now his property. Children offer it a year from the end of each life in return for Pip. He accepted the deal and gave each of them a piece of sugar candy with the name Pip on it to eat, sealing the offer. The spirit of Pip then revived and he retook his flask from Moundshroud and flew out. The group was then immediately transported home. The children went to Pip's house to see if the experience was real, and was glad to see him return from the hospital. In the mansion, Moundshroud blew out his wax and disappeared; The Halloween tree is attacked by strong winds, blowing all pumpkins away - all except for the "pumpkin" Pip, which children are saved by their sacrifices.
Maps The Halloween Tree (film)
Cast
- Ray Bradbury - Narrator
- Leonard Nimoy - Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud
- Annie Barker - Jenny
- Darleen Carr - Additional Voice (sound)
- Lindsay Crouse - Additional Voice (sound)
- Alex Greenwald - Ralph
- Gross Edge - Tom Skelton
- Andrew Keegan - Wally
- Kevin Michaels - Pip
- Mark Taylor - Additional Voice (sound)
Crew
- Gordon Hunt - Director of Recording
- Jill Ziegenhagen - Talent Coordinator â â¬
- Kris Zimmerman - Director of Recording, Director of Animated Casting
- David Kirschner - Executive Producer
- Mark Young - Joint Executive Producer
Awards
The Halloween Tree won the 1994 Emmy Award for Extraordinary Writing in Animation Program and was nominated for the Outstanding Animation Program.
Home media releases
The Halloween Tree was released on VHS by Turner Home Entertainment in the 1990s. The first release on September 14, 1994 and its release back on August 29, 1995 included the Short Bear Yogi Bewitched Bear , which was shown before the movie. Both the 1994 and 1995 releases also feature a free copy of a 1972 novel of the same name that is packed inside each copy of the VHS tape. The film was also released in LaserDisc with audio commentary by Ray Bradbury included. Turner re-released the film on VHS on September 10, 1996 as part of the Cartoon Network Video series with some repeated problems by Warner Home Video from August 26, 1997 to August 22, 2000. On August 28, 2012, Warner's Archive was released on DVD as part of the Hanna series -Barbera Classics Collection.
VHS release date
- September 14, 1994 (Turner Home Entertainment)
- August 29, 1995 (Turner Home Entertainment)
- September 10, 1996 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video)
- August 26, 1997 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video/Warner Home Video)
- August 24, 1999 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video/Warner Home Video)
- August 22, 2000 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network/Warner Home Video)
DVD release date
- August 28, 2012 (Warner Home Video/Warner Archive)
- August 30, 2016 (Warner Home Video)
See also
- List of ghost movies
References
External links
- Halloween Tree in IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia