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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful little video from Walt Disney Studios. It is a compilation of 3 great classic animated shorts, that fit the theme for Halloween viewing. First up is, "Pluto's Judgment Day", first seen in movie theatres on August 31, 1935. In this cartoon Mickey is mad at his dog Pluto for always chasing cats, this time a poor little kitten, and so Pluto knows he is "in the doghouse". He falls asleep and dreams he is taken to court in an underground cavern for crimes against felines, with cats for prosecutor, judge and jury. It quickly becomes a nightmare as the cats torment Pluto and sentence him. He learns his lesson to say the least. Great imagery and sight gags in this short directed by Dave Hand, the short really showcases the body language personality that an animator can build into an animated character that can't speak. Two of Walt's most famous animators worked on this, Ward Kimball and Fred Moore. There used to be a "Uncle Tom" cat character that has been edited out in recent versions.
Originally released in theatres on Christmas Eve 1937, "Lonesome Ghosts" was directed by Burt Gillett, and Art Babbit was one of the animators. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy run a ghost exterminator shop, but don't have any business. Some tough ghosts in a haunted house decide to have some fun and prank call the ghost-hunters to come get the ghosts out of the house. Excited to finally have some work, the boys race over to battle the spooks. Slapstick comedy abounds as the boys fumble their way through the house and the ghosts constantly get the better of them. The special effects of the ghosts, created with transparent paint invented by the studio are really well done. The backgrounds in the house are very detailed. This classic short has been a favorite of fans for many years, it is a hilarious tale, one of the best cartoons ever made. . It was included as an extra on the DVD's "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", "Disney Treasure Mickey Mouse is Living Color Vol. 1",and "Mickey's House of Villains". Beware of the Disney PC police editors, in that some DVD versions edit out the scene where Mickey shoots at a ghost with his gun. This is pretty silly since the bullets didn't harm the ghost anyway.
Last is my favorite on this tape, released theatrically on October 10, 1952. This is the only one of the 3 that is actually supposed to portray Halloween. Its Halloween night and Donald Duck's nephews have come to Trick or Treat on his doorstep in their new Halloween costumes. Instead of giving them candy, Uncle Donald plays mean-spirited tricks on them including dumping water on them and then laughs at their misfortune. A real but very nice Witch Hazel (ideally voiced by June Foray) happens to see this and decides to give the boys a hand in punishing Donald while getting the treats for the boys. The story gets hilarious as she uses her powers to straighten Donald out. This one is themed directly on Halloween it's images are everywhere in this short directed by the great Jack Hannah. Bill Justice was an animator on this, and Yale Gracy did the layouts and background. Gracey later became an Imagineer and is renown for his special effects creations at the "Haunted Mansion" in Disneyland. "Trick or Treat" is also the title for the great bouncy song in this cartoon written by Paul Smith. It is sung by the great "Mellomen" which included the voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft. The Mellomen also sang in Lady and the Tramp and other shows from Disney. I promise you will be singing this all day once you hear it. This short was also on "Wonderful World of Disney" TV show in the episode "All About Magic" on January 30, 1957 which used the Magic Mirror from Snow White as the host. It was included as an extra on the DVD's "The Black Cauldron", and "Mickey's House of Villains". One reviewer mistakenly thought that this animated short was based on a comic by the great Carl Barks, but it was the other way around. While the story did appear in Donald Duck #26 (November 1952) as the cover story at 32 pages, it was based on the short cartoon. Barks editors at Western Publishing needed a Halloween themed cover story for the holiday and already knew of the cartoon in production at the studio, so they asked him to create the comic based on the studio storyboards and the original story written by Ralph Wright. Bark's said he had add-lib some more scenes to the story to fill it out to 32 pages, as a comic flows differently than an animated short. This is according to an interview from the Carl Barks Library in 1985.
This tape is not scary, and very fun for kids and adults alike.
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