The Lantern’s Way: THE HALLOWEEN TREE!
It’s Halloween season! Break out the tombstones, skeletons and pumpkin spice, and curl up with a good spooky movie. One of my favorite Halloween films is the 1993 animated TV movie “The Halloween Tree,” which is definitely more “comfy Halloween vibes” than it is “scare you to death.”
That’s why I decided to write a review about how “The Halloween Tree” is the perfect Halloween for kids, and the kids at heart. You can read my review in Issue #2 of “The Lantern’s Way,” the wonderful Halloween zine from Lucé Tomlin-Brenner, host of the podcast “It’s Always Halloween,” and Joe Carlough of Displaced Snail zines! This issue is packed with other articles about ghost stories & more, so it’s well worth getting a copy! You can order one online right here.
Happy reading, happy moviegoing, and Happy Halloween!
When it comes to Halloween, most people want to watch a good jump-out-of-your-seat scary movie. Be it Scream or Saw or John Carpenter’s Halloween, we associate the holiday with horror and fright, and want a film to reflect that.
But growing up, many of us — myself included — associated Halloween with more kid-friendly titles, such as Casper or Hocus Pocus, that captured the spirit of the festivities without giving us nightmares.
And from that pool of not-too-scary titles, one of them stands out as the perfect Halloween film for children, and the children at heart: The Halloween Tree, directed by Mario Piluso, and based on the book by Ray Bradbury, who adapted the screenplay himself. I’m sure I saw this film before reading anything by Bradbury, so it’s also the perfect introduction to his writings, as well as much, much more.
On Halloween night, four friends learn their best pal Pip is in the hospital, but see his ghost running into the woods. They chase after him, and discover the otherworldly, humongous Halloween Tree, covered in jack-o’-lanterns that symbolize every Halloween that has come before.
Pip steals a pumpkin and flees into the past, hoping to escape death. Desperate to save their friend, the kids team up with Mr. Moundshroud, the cantankerous guardian of the Halloween Tree, who is eager to retrieve his stolen pumpkin.
With Moundshroud’s mystical help, they travel through time — an especially spooky Carmen Sandiego adventure — while also learning about the true history of All Hallow’s Eve, from Ancient Egypt to Mexico’s Day of the Dead. While certainly a condensed summary of Halloween’s long and complex lore, it’s the perfect introduction for new trick-or-treaters.
Above all, the story grapples with our relationship to death: how past cultures dealt with it, and how to overcome one’s fear of it. What would you risk to save your friend’s life? It might not be as terrifying as a serial killer with a chainsaw, but it offers a thoughtful theme for a kid’s picture, and it’s all the better for it.
Ray Bradbury narrates the film himself, giving the tale the air of a comforting bedtime story from a beloved grandfather. Mr. Moundshroud is voiced by Leonard Nimoy, who ditches his solemn Spock persona to gleefully portray a crotchety old sorcerer. He would produce another delightfully spirited performance a year later as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in The Pagemaster, another criminally underrated animated flick.
Produced by Hanna-Barbera, the 2D animation is gorgeous and fluid, perfectly capturing a variety of sinister settings and time periods, despite being produced on a TV-movie budget. It debuted on ABC in October 1993, and would frequently air on Cartoon Network. Bradbury won an Emmy for his screenplay adaptation, and even recorded a commentary track for the Laserdisc release. Sadly, it’s not included on the Warner Archive DVD, but you can find it online, and it’s well worth a listen.
Whether you grew up watching it on repeat, or you’re planning to check it out for the first time, The Halloween Tree invites everyone to join in for a fantastical journey into to the most frightfully fun holiday of all.
