Every year, I celebrate the holiday with watching 'It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,' 'Garfield's Halloween Adventure,' 'Halloween is Grinch Night,' several Simpsons 'Treehouse of Horror' specials, 'Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School,' 'Doug's Halloween Adventure,' 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'The Halloween Tree.' When I first decided to check it out, I thought it was going to be lame. AND you're never too old for Halloween cartoons. Now I'm 30, but I still love the holiday. Halloween has always been one of my most favorite times of year, ever since I was a kid. All in all, if you haven't seen this already, give yourself a treat. Not to mention the ending, I thought that was a very poignant one. It is also brilliantly adapted from the book by Mr Bradbury himself, and the film is full of traditional Halloween imagery that are constantly used in an inventive manner.

The pace is brisk, it has an engaging and somewhat educational story and a nice faithful script. Ray Bradbury narrates with consummate ease, but the real kudos has to go to Leonard Nimoy as Moundshroud, in one of his best performances.

The characters are great- the four leads are likable enough, but my favourite is Moundshroud, sinister yet funny yet charming all at once. The music score was just phenomenal there are no songs to interrupt the flow, instead the incidental music is haunting, beautiful, atmospheric and even dramatic. The animation is absolutely wonderful, it had a dark eerie feel to it, and all of the more advanced visuals were breathtaking. One that I remember vaguely from childhood, and revisited on YouTube last night. Mine included.Īnybody who says this is a Halloween classic is absolutely right, it is a superb animated movie. The story and animation are rich and lush and it's easy to see why this scary delight is a seasonal favorite and a must have in many households. Leonard Nimoy gives an outstanding performance as the spooky, and eccentric tour guide, Moundshroud.

The imagery is thrilling and beautiful as you travel around the world learning how Halloween came to be and how this very popular holiday was and is celebrated. It's value, as an educational tool for cultural diversity, can't be denied. And with Ray Bradbury not only writing but narrating, this is a treasure not to pass up. The are many changes from the book, most notably in the creation of the strong female character of Jenny,(In Bradbury's original work there were many more children characters and they were all boys, boys who for the most part hated girls.) but when you watch the film all of these enhancements and modern additions not only fit but make it include a much larger audience. Ray Bradbury's cartoon adaptation of his own celebrated book is exquisite, and makes an excellent Halloween treat for kids & adults alike.

The halloween tree pipkin