Those Old-Time Halloween Specials
Every year around Halloween I get a longing to watch the spooky television specials I saw as a kid. It's no wonder -- the old Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer have been playing since the '60s. But where are Garfield's Halloween special, the one with Donald Duck and the witch, or the cartoon version of Ichabod Crane?
Several years ago I set out to find and watch these again. And I couldn't help but notice...these are terrifying for children. Why was I ever allowed to watch them?
As far as the Legend of Sleepy Hollow goes, well, the gist is enough to scare the bejeezus out of a child. A legendary man without a head, riding a horse, brandishing a sword, chasing an innocent (slightly dorky) schoolmaster out of town. So let's just put aside the appropriateness of beer drinking at the old Snooker and Schnapps Shoppe, the love triangle, and the fact that Ichabod spends his school time daydreaming about his lady's bountiful wealth. "Katrina was the richest prize in the countryside," croons narrator Bing Crosby in his smooth baritone. Never mind those minor details, kids. It's the harrowing chase through the dark woods that gets you, with the maniacal laughter of a headless man astride a red-eyed horse, accompanied by tense, terror-ific music. Just when Ichabod crosses the bridge to safety, a flaming jack-o-lantern is lobbed at him -- splat! -- and he's never seen again. Who thought this was a good idea for small children? Walt Disney, that's who.
Originally released in 1949 along with The Wind in the Willows, this cartoon was separated and given its own billing in 1963. It appeared on television as part of Disney's Halloween Treat in 1982, which means I probably watched it when I was a mere toddler. My husband says he recalls being frightened of this one. I bet I had nightmares, too. This special was broadcast until the mid-'90s. Incidentally, around the same time Barney and Teletubbies took over as kinder, gentler children's entertainment. But Barney gives me nightmares as an adult, so I'm not sure how much children's television has improved in recent decades.
Disney's Halloween Treat also included the creepy and macabre short The Skeleton Dance, where the reanimated bones of four humans cavort and make music in a cemetery full of bats, spiders, owls, and fighting black cats. Dating back to 1929, this one was actually voted by animators as one of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time. For adults, sure. But nothing says "not appropriate for children" like playing your dead friend's skeleton as a xylophone. Or playing a cat's tail as a violin -- don't try that at home if you want to keep both of your eyeballs, kids. On the up-side, the music played on actual instruments is fantastic.
Speaking of reanimating the dead, I used to love Garfield's Halloween Adventure. I'm pretty sure it has the original ghost pirates, long before Pirates of the Caribbean made it cool. In it, the orange cat and his favorite frenemy Odie go searching for "candy, candy, CANDY" but end up at an abandoned, dilapidated mansion. In front of a roaring fire, a shadowy old man tells them the story of pirates who buried their treasure under this house and vowed to return to get it at midnight 100 years later. The clock strikes, the ship and the ghost pirates suddenly materialize, everyone is terrified, and they scramble home, but not before almost drowning. Created in 1985, illustrator Jim Davis said he wanted it to scare 4-year-olds. A few years ago my husband bought me the Garfield holiday specials DVD, and it was a good deal scarier than I remembered (and I'm in my 30's).
Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to watch it this year. Just without my kids. My justification is equal parts desire to save them from fear and need to prevent them from repeating anything Binky the Clown ever says or does.
By the way, I showed The Skeleton Dance to my 4-year-old this week, and he thought it was hysterical. I'm guessing he doesn't know possessed skeletons used to be people. I won't tell him if you don't.
Several years ago I set out to find and watch these again. And I couldn't help but notice...these are terrifying for children. Why was I ever allowed to watch them?
As far as the Legend of Sleepy Hollow goes, well, the gist is enough to scare the bejeezus out of a child. A legendary man without a head, riding a horse, brandishing a sword, chasing an innocent (slightly dorky) schoolmaster out of town. So let's just put aside the appropriateness of beer drinking at the old Snooker and Schnapps Shoppe, the love triangle, and the fact that Ichabod spends his school time daydreaming about his lady's bountiful wealth. "Katrina was the richest prize in the countryside," croons narrator Bing Crosby in his smooth baritone. Never mind those minor details, kids. It's the harrowing chase through the dark woods that gets you, with the maniacal laughter of a headless man astride a red-eyed horse, accompanied by tense, terror-ific music. Just when Ichabod crosses the bridge to safety, a flaming jack-o-lantern is lobbed at him -- splat! -- and he's never seen again. Who thought this was a good idea for small children? Walt Disney, that's who.
 |
| Tell me that's not terrifying. |
Originally released in 1949 along with The Wind in the Willows, this cartoon was separated and given its own billing in 1963. It appeared on television as part of Disney's Halloween Treat in 1982, which means I probably watched it when I was a mere toddler. My husband says he recalls being frightened of this one. I bet I had nightmares, too. This special was broadcast until the mid-'90s. Incidentally, around the same time Barney and Teletubbies took over as kinder, gentler children's entertainment. But Barney gives me nightmares as an adult, so I'm not sure how much children's television has improved in recent decades.
Disney's Halloween Treat also included the creepy and macabre short The Skeleton Dance, where the reanimated bones of four humans cavort and make music in a cemetery full of bats, spiders, owls, and fighting black cats. Dating back to 1929, this one was actually voted by animators as one of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time. For adults, sure. But nothing says "not appropriate for children" like playing your dead friend's skeleton as a xylophone. Or playing a cat's tail as a violin -- don't try that at home if you want to keep both of your eyeballs, kids. On the up-side, the music played on actual instruments is fantastic.
 |
| Friends don't let friends play spinal c(h)ords. |
Speaking of reanimating the dead, I used to love Garfield's Halloween Adventure. I'm pretty sure it has the original ghost pirates, long before Pirates of the Caribbean made it cool. In it, the orange cat and his favorite frenemy Odie go searching for "candy, candy, CANDY" but end up at an abandoned, dilapidated mansion. In front of a roaring fire, a shadowy old man tells them the story of pirates who buried their treasure under this house and vowed to return to get it at midnight 100 years later. The clock strikes, the ship and the ghost pirates suddenly materialize, everyone is terrified, and they scramble home, but not before almost drowning. Created in 1985, illustrator Jim Davis said he wanted it to scare 4-year-olds. A few years ago my husband bought me the Garfield holiday specials DVD, and it was a good deal scarier than I remembered (and I'm in my 30's).
 |
| Holy crap. |
Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to watch it this year. Just without my kids. My justification is equal parts desire to save them from fear and need to prevent them from repeating anything Binky the Clown ever says or does.
By the way, I showed The Skeleton Dance to my 4-year-old this week, and he thought it was hysterical. I'm guessing he doesn't know possessed skeletons used to be people. I won't tell him if you don't.
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