Day 11: A Brave Halloween

October 11, 2022

Dear Disney,

As I was looking at the Disney+ Halloween section, I saw a short that I thought I had never heard of before. I looked at it, selected it, and began to watch the short. I was very confused. I finished the 8 minute short and sat back in my chair. Why did I just watch this? What had this short have to do with Halloween? I still do not know. So today, for the 31 Days of Disney Halloween we are looking at the 2012 Pixar Animation short, “The Legend of Mor’du.”

“The Legend of Mor’du” tells the story of the main villian(?) of the 2012 Pixar movie Brave. Mor’du was the eldest of four princes, each known for a specific trait. Mor’du was known for his incredible strength. When Mor’du’s father was on his deathbed, he asked Mor’du and his brothers to share the throne as hi felt that the brother’s were stronger together than they were apart. Mor’du felt betrayed, as he thought, as the eldest, he deserved the kingdom all for himself. He fought his brothers for the throne, and although he and his army was mighty, so were his brothers. Finally, he found himself alone in the woods when he came upon an old hut. In the hut was a witch. He asked the witch to give him a spell that would let him have the strength of multiple men. She saw in him the strife that the war with his brothers had created, as such, she created a spell that would indeed give him the strength he wanted but also a way to mend his familiar ties if he wanted. Taking the potion, he brought his brother together under a banner of truth. He took the potion and he turned into a giant bear. Refusing to mend the ties, he killed his brothers and remained a bear for all time.

When I watched this short, I remembered that I had watched it years ago on the DVD extras. I have no idea why Disney+ has specifically earmarked this short as a Halloween movie, seeing as it has nothing to do with Halloween. Darling says it is considered a Halloween movie because it is creepy, similar to “The Mad Doctor” or “The Skeleton Dance.” I can see the rational, but it still bothers me a little.

I have no real emotions or memories associated with this short. I do not want to make people assume I did not like it, because I did. The visuals were pleasing. The transitions between the 3d digital portions and the hand drawn animatics are very pretty and smooth and scream Pixar-perfection.

As far as a 31 days of Halloween feature, its scary and dark adn I suppose that’s everything anyone could ask for.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear and Darling

Day 10: Ride, Ichabod, Ride!

October 10, 2022

Dear Disney,

When I was little Pre-School Jim, I did not know today’s feature was anything more than a quick, 30 minute short. A short that was beautiful, and scary, and filled with the sounds of an amazing singer, Bing Crosby. For many, Bing Crosby is synonymous with Christmas, with White Christmas and Holiday Inn being Christmas-time American classics. I fell in love with Bing Crosby’s voice in this film, Walt Disney’s 11th animated classic The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was released on October 5, 1949, as the last of the studio’s package films of the 1940’s war era. After the initial theatrical release, Walt Disney decided to break up the feature into two shorter pieces: The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the former released in February 1955 and the latter in October 1955. This is how I knew today’s feature as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I think that it was love at first sight.

The plot of Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows the Washington Irving story of the same name. There is a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane. Ichabod is new to Sleepy Hollow, a hamlet in the Northeastern United States, and he is described as being unusual looking. There is also a mischievous brute by the name of Brom Bones. Brom Bones and Ichabod both found themselves trying to do anything they could to have the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel fall in love with them. For the first two-thirds of the short, Ichabod seems to be doing everything right and Katrina appears to be enjoying his attentions. This drives Brom crazy. The Van Tassel’s put on an annual Halloween party. At the end of the party, Mr. Van Tassel has people tell him ghosts stories. Brom knows that Ichabod is superstitious, so he decides to tell a ghost story that would scare Ichabod away from Katrina. Brom tells the story of the Headless Horseman, a horseman who, on Halloween, searches for his, or anyone’s, head to replace the fiery pumpkin that he had. On the way home from Van Tassel’s party, Ichabod meets up with the Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman chases Ichabod. At the end of the chase, the Horseman throws his fiery head at Ichabod. The next scene, the narrator stats that Ichabod is gone. Brom Bones marries Katrina Von Tassel, but Ichabod is never heard from again.

Mary Blair, of Cinderella and “It’s a small world” fame, drew much of the inspiration of the art for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The artwork is beautiful, the colors are amazing. Mary Blair has a tendency not to have outlines, but rather shadows and lighting to define the shapes of the characters and backgrounds. Once I saw that, I was astounded. The color-blocking technique is quintessential Mary Blair and I love it.

One of the best examples of this is during the chase scene, anytime Ichabod is the main character, the sky is dark blue: however, anytime the Horseman is the main character, the sky is dark red/maroon. This observation is not solely mine as I frequently get lost in the scenes. During my research, this color scheme observation was had by Channel Awesome in their Dark Toon series. No other reviewers have made that observation.

I think this film, coupled with my early childhood, is what cemented the idea of what Halloween should look like. I loved this short when I was young, and every time I watch it, I am transported back to a time I have never known and may have never existed.

Disney, thank you.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear

Day 9: Doctor, Doctor…

October 9, 2022

Dear Disney,

Some of the early Mickey Mouse shorts were completely unknown to me and Darling. It appears that sometimes, some things should remain unknown. Today’s short is one of them. When this short was originally released it was banned in two Western Countries due to the unsettling material. Tonight’s feature is “Mickey Mouse and the Mad Doctor”.

“Mickey Mouse and the Mad Doctor” was the 1933 feature short, the 52nd Mickey Mouse short completed by the Walt Disney company and the second short of that year, which is saying something as the release date was January 21, 1933, with Walt Disney providing the voice for Mickey Mouse himself.

The plot of the short is that Mickey hears Pluto being kidnapped by an unknown assailant. Mickey follows the kidnapper to his hide where he finds out that the kidnapper is the mad doctor, Dr. XXX. The point of view returns to Pluto who is fighting the Mad Doctor and is finally caged. The Mad Doctor describes an experiment that he is going to perform, placing the Pluto’s head on the body of a chicken. Eventually Mickey is also captured and placed on a rack. A buzz saw is lowered and attempts to saw Mickey in half. The short fades to black and opens back onto Mickey’s bed where he has wrapped himself around his blankets. He wakes up, calls for Pluto, and laughs and hugs Pluto when the dog jumps through the window.

Some of the scenes are disturbing to modern audiences, let alone those of that time; however, a newspaper of the time called it “one of the liveliest animated cartoons to come along, and plenty comical.” That observation is mind-boggling. I feel as if I am going to have nightmares after seeing this short.

That being said, for 1933, the animation is perfection. Everything is hand drawn, no rotoscoping to my knowledge, with clean, crips lines. There is a scene where Mickey is walking down a hallway with a vanishing point on multiple axis: no imperfections or blemishes at all.

As nightmarish as this short is, I strongly believe that this short is a great treasure in Disney’s vault. It now resides within Public Domain and there is no reason anyone should miss out on this. This will not be a favorite of mine, but it was worth the time to watch and review.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear

Day 8: Where Wolf By Night?

October 8, 2022

Dear Disney,

Tonight, Darling and I sat down to watch a brand-new Marvel Special Presentation, Werewolf by Night. We went into this presentation knowing nothing about the source material. We turned off the lights and turned-on Disney+. and started the movie. The following hour was something else.

I do not want to spoil anything, so I will quickly summarize the premise of the show. The patriarch of a family of Monster Hunters had recently passed without an heir leaving behind a mystical jewel called the Bloodstone. In order to determine who the new owner of the jewel will be, a group of monster hunters was called together and one of them would be the new owner and heir to the Bloodstone.

Darling and I watched the entire movie and when it was done, we turned to each other and said, “I want more.” We loved every part of the presentation. At first, Darling did not like the sepia, film noir color scheme as it hurt her eyes. However, after the first fight scene, the reason for the color scheme became evident. The fight scenes were smooth, and beautifully choreographed, and, if in color, would be extremely gory.

The dialogue was smooth and witty, and the characters were either meant to be hated or meant to be enjoyed. It could have been easy to make these characters wooden and boring, but the characters were not. They were delightful and cute and wonderful, or so terrible that you rooted for their come-uppance. The two protagonists Elsa and Jake, played by Laura Donnelly and Gael Garcia Bernal, chemistry together was delightful. I cannot wait to see more of them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

One of the many things that we enjoyed was that the film was almost grindhouse in its art style. Cigar burns would show up in the upper corner of the film. The only thing that we thought missed the mark was that the film was too nice, too crisp, too sharp to really be a grindhouse picture.

This will be a perennial favorite of ours and we hope that Marvel makes more of these films.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear and Darling

Day 7: House Party!

October 7, 2022

Dear Disney,

A year after the iconic Silly Symphony, “The Skeleton Dance” was released to the public, Mickey Mouse made his first theatrical debut within the “horror” genre in the 1929 short “Mickey Mouse in The Haunted House.”

Mickey, finding himself alone on a dark and stormy night, enters what appears to be an abandoned house. Within the house, he gets trapped by the Grim Reaper who forces Mickey to play the organ for him and his skeleton friends. After the Grim Reaper and the skeletons get distracted, Mickey sneaks away, jumps out a window, and runs away and into the darkness beyond.

I had never heard of this short until last night. While looking at list of Disney Halloween Movies and Shorts, I found this gem. As Mickey’s first appearance in a scary or horror piece, I expected Disney to either place it firmly in it’s vault or to have it proudly on display on Disney+. However, I did not find it in either location, but as, what it appears to be, in public domain.

I do not know what to make of this short. It takes animation directly from “The Skeleton Dance”, but those animations seem less polished. However, the creepiness of the Grim Reaper is chilling. I do not like the way the Grim Reapers hands are twisty-twirly. The way the fingers curl sends shivers down my spine.

I think that this short is obviously important as Disney continued, and continues, to toe the line regarding the macabre in its modern work as well. Over the past week we have watched old shorts and new shorts and one thing is clear, Disney definitely knows how to tell a story.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear

Day 6: Ghoulfy?

October 6, 2022

Dear Disney,

The 2013 Mickey Mouse cartoons are an enigma to me. They are, in some ways, darker in stylistic tone and color palette than the earlier versions. There is something about them that immediate resonates with me and also creates a dissonance within me. In Season 1 of Mickey Mouse there are a number of interesting shorts that try to place Mickey in differing locations than middle-America. Episode 10, “Ghoul Friend” does it exactly that, places Mickey Mouse in a location that you would not normally find him, a desolate and desiccating forest where a terror waits.

“Ghoul Fiend” begins with Mickey driving his car to an undisclosed location. Birds are chirping, blue cloudless sky, then suddenly his car stops. Sky is gone. Birds are gone. There is nothing but Mickey and his car, broken. Mickey attempts to fix that car, but the only tool he has is a comically too small wrench. He hears a noise behind him only to have large, yellow eyes stare back. The creature comes forward, and it’s only a squirrel. The squirrel is looking at Mickey and behind him when the squirrel gets frightened as well. Mickey turns around to see Zombie Goofy coming out of the forest. Mickey and Zombie Goofy chase each other through the woods. Finally, Zombie Goofy corners Mickey and it was all a misunderstanding as Zombie Goofy literally gives Mickey a hand, fixes the car, and they are both off again, this time to Fresh Peaches ahead.

The short was directed by Aaron Springer. The artwork is dark and gloomy. The first depiction of Zombie Goofy is nightmarish.

The body horror of Zombie Goofy is grotesque and amusing, with bones sticking out where bones should not be and the zombie ooze flowing out of differing orifices. The humorous antics between Zombie Goofy and Mickey are perfect. These antics are call-backs to the older slapstick shorts but are a little more modern in its silliness. The combination of everything makes my skin crawl and yet, I am smiling and enjoying watching this short.

Darling watched it with me and her reaction was one of stunned horror.

I am not sure that this specific episode was for me, but as a Halloween short, it touched on all the right things: spooky atmosphere, creepy characters, and relatively happy ending.

These 31 Days of Halloween have just started and I cannot wait to see what is left to offer.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear and Darling

Day 5: Scary Mouse!

October 5, 2022

Dear Disney,

In 1995, Jim’s father, took Jim to see A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, little did Jim’s father know but he would be introducing Jim to one of the creepiest Mickey Mouse shorts that he had ever seen.

“Runaway Brain” is a 1995 Oscar-nominated Mickey Mouse short that was directed by Chris Bailey and written by Tim Hauser. “Runaway Brain” is the story of Mickey Mouse, attempting to convince Minnie that he had not forgotten their anniversary, accidently promises to take Minnie on a Hawaiian Romantic Vacation. In order to raise the money to go on a trip, Mickey answers an advertisement that will pay him $999.99 for one day’s work. However, that one day’s work is to be part of an experiment where Mickey’s brain is switched with a Frenkstein’s monster brain. The experiment is a success and Mickey finds himself in the body of the monster and the monster in the body of Mickey. The monster falls in love, or lust, with Minnie mouse and attempts to take Minnie against her will. Eventually Mickey switches back into his own body and takes Minnie to Hawaii, traveling on the back of the monster who is being motivated by a picture of Minnie mouse on a stick, similar to hanging a carrot on a stick to move the pig or horse forward.

As hard as this short is to find, it has only ever been released on one box set released in 2004, Mickey Mouse in Living Color; volume 2, I love it. In order for me to watch it, I had to scour the internet for clips and pieces. Darling did not like watching the short this way and thinks she has seen it in the past, but does not remember much except it creeped her out at the time. This short is snapshot of a time that will never come back. Walt Disney Animated Studios was going through a change. The President of the company, Franks Wells, had recently passed away unexpectedly. The President of Walt Disney Animated Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, had recently been terminated. The Walt Disney Animated Studio wanted to re-brand Mickey Mouse to the newer, hipper, generation.

Their hope, was this short would be the element that would bridge the gap from the earlier, “uncool’ Mickey Mouse of the 50’s and reach the teenage demographic of the 90’s. In reality, it probably enticed as many teenagers as frightened.

The things I like about this short is all the allusion to other works. There is a seen of Mickey outside the Mad Scientist office (whose name is Dr. Frankenollie, itself an allusion to one of the original animators of the 9 old men Frank and Ollie) that is almost an exact replica from The Exorcist. Or the scene where the monster has Mickey that is cut directly from King Kong. These allusions that I saw re-watching it, and there are likely many more, were missed by 10-year-old Jim.

I understand why Disney is not super excited about re-releasing this short, but I do hope they are able to release it eventually. I think that it is culturally important to see this short as it is a perfect example of Mid-90’s society and others thought so as well as it was Oscar-nominated and showed at the Cannes Film Festival.

Until that does, I guess I will be supporting Disney by purchasing the DVD set that I discussed earlier.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear

Day 4: Baked in a Pie…

October 4, 2022

Dear Disney,

When both of our children were younger, they loved Mickey Mouse, specifically Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  So, when Darling and I watched the 2017 “The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular”, we were unprepared.

“The Scariest Story Ever” is a Halloween special of the most recent Mickey Mouse series.  The most recent rendition of Mickey Mouse is both nostalgic and modern.  The art style is modern, akin to more mature-themed cartoons like Ren and Stimpy, and that is not a bad thing. The opening title card was reminiscent of the older Disney shorts.  We loved each of those small touches.

The story is that after trick-or-treating, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy bring Donald’s Nephews, Huey, Duey, and Luey, and Mickey’s nephew’s, Mordy and Ferdy, back to Mickey’s house so that Mickey can tell the “scariest story ever”. Mickey attempts to tell two stories and fails to tell the scariest story.  Finally, after seeing how candy-filled and spoiled the kids are, Mickey, fueled with anger, tells a story in which 5 children get trapped by a witch and get baked into pies. This story scares, not only the kids, but Goofy and Donald as well. Everyone, but Mickey, hid under blankets.  Then, Mickey hears his doorbell, opens the door, only to be greeted by a witch with a pie.  This scares Mickey and he hides with everyone else. The show cuts back to the witch on the doorstep who happens to be Minnie and Daisy. 

As I stated earlier, we had never seen this special before.  We had never seen any of the new Mickey Mouse shorts before.  I was both astonished and amazed at how risqué the cartoon was.  There were moments of body horror that made Darling and I shudder with disgust and horror. This short did exactly what it needed to do for a Halloween special.

Some of the things I noticed were also charming and allowed the part of my brain that likes to say “I know where that is from” to come right out in the open.  Since we watched “Trick or Treat” yesterday, it was great to see Huey, Duey, and Luey’s costumes being the same in this Halloween special as they were in 1952.  In one of the scenes where we were able to see Mickey’s living room there was a bust that can also be found in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride.

We really liked this special.  It is enjoyable to watch Disney shorts and features that we have not watched in a long time or have never watched.  This experience, these 31 days of Halloween, makes me feel good and excited for the future.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear and Darling

Day 3: Toe tappin’

October 3, 2022

Dear Disney,

In 1952, the Walt Disney company produced and released a theatrical short that, I believe, inspired generations of Americans, and others around the world that enjoy Americana, what it means to Trick and Treat. Disney’s “Trick or Treat” is a theatrical short that brings joy to my heart whenever I watch it.

Trick or Treat. Copyright Disney 1952

Growing up, I never watched this short.  I believe I had heard the song, “Trick or Treat for Halloween”, but was unaware of its origins.

When Disney+ came out, Darling and I, set our kids down to watch Disney Halloween movies and shorts, to get into the spirit of Halloween.  Darling and I enjoyed the short, but our children were not really amused.

This year, Darling and I rewatched “Trick or Treat” with an eye to see if the short was everything we thought it should be.

I had only watched the short once before, but I was amused with myself because I did not recognize how violent the short was.  The short starts with Witch Hazel, voiced by June Foray, riding her broom Beelzebub and scaring bats out of a bell tower.  Then she flies off and gets scared by a traveling jack-o-lantern that turns out to be balancing on the head of one of Donald’s nephews.  Then Huey, Luey, and Duey, Donald’s nephew, ring their uncle’s doorbell for treats on Halloween.  He laughs and opens the door, placing explosives in his nephews treat bags, and, finally, dousing them with water.  Witch Hazel watches all of this, and after confronting Donald herself, decides to place a spell on Donald.  She flies around enchanting a number of inanimate objects while the song, “Trick or Treat for Halloween” is being sung. Donald continues to be difficult.  Witch Hazel bespells his feet and causes Donald an immense amount of pain that leaves him unconscious.  Huey, Duey, and Luey thank Witch Hazel for her assistance, and she flies away over the small village.

It is obvious to me that the Walt Disney company used the slapstick comedy to reach as many people as possible, but in the lens of a modern audience, the humor is a little unfunny.  It’s cute, and the feeling of nostalgia is strong, but I do not think this short is really the best Disney has done.

That being said, the song “Trick or Treat for Halloween”, written by Mack, David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston and performed by the Mellowmen is perfect.  It is cute, and funny, and lyrical, and has me clapping along with the rhythm. The animation and colorwork, animated by Volus Jones, Bill Justice, George Kreisl, and Don Lusk, is perfect mid-century Disney.

I will watch this short again, if only for the music and beautiful color works.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear and Darling 

Day 2: Who Ya Gonna Call?

October 2, 2022

Dear Disney,

In college, Darling and I took a Disney and Film class and some of the early Mickey Mouse shorts were featured to show how Mickey has changed throughout the years. That was the first time I had watched this short, the 1937 Mickey Mouse feature, “The Lonesome Ghosts.”

Darling remembers watching this short when she was young during the Halloween season or when the Disney Channel had its free trial weeks throughout the year.  I may have watched it then as well, but I do not recall.

“The Lonesome Ghosts” starts with four ghosts lamenting the fact that there is no one left to scare.  When reading the paper, one of the ghosts sees the Ajax Ghost Exterminators ad and convinces the other ghosts that they should call and get the exterminators to come to their haunted house.  The scene cuts to the Ajax Ghost Exterminators office where Donald, Goofy, and Mickey are sleeping around a phone.  The phone rings and the three characters wrestle for the phone. The phone is answered, and Mickey says they will be right over.  Mickey, Donald, and Goofy split up to surround the ghosts.  The three characters get tricked by the ghosts: Mickey by being almost drowned; Donald by the ghosts causing Donald to hurt himself by trying to capture the ghosts, and Goofy by the ghosts pretending to be Goofy’s reflection in a mirror.  Finally, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey fall into molasses and flour making them look like ghosts. The four lonesome ghosts thinking that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were ghosts, get scared and run away.

I think that the animation and colorwork are wonderful for 1937.  The characters are recognizable as Goofy, Donald, and Mickey to a modern audience.  The voice acting is great. I told Darling that I was happy that Disney+ had subtitles as Donald’s words were unrecognizable to me, but they were fun to hear. Finally, hearing Walt as Mickey always brings a smile to my face.  

The humor is slapstick, like an animated 3 Stooges feature.  I am not overly fond of that style of humor, but I do understand its place.  

The sound design is amazing.  The music is fun, and the sound effects portrayed exactly what I wanted them to portray. 

Disney+ stated that this was a “Halloween” title and part of their Halloween collection, but I felt that this was more a Christmas tale than Halloween. At the turn of the century, and earlier, it was common to tell ghost stories at Christmas.  Modern American society has stopped this practice, but I imagine in 1937 it was still relatively common.

Nevertheless, I am glad Darling and I watched this short for Halloween and we will watch it again next year.

Sincerely,

Jim Dear

Day 1: Them Bones

October 1, 2022

Dear Disney,

When I was four, my mother would take me to the local Carnegie Library to pick out a book that she would read to me and to participate in the children’s programs.  The library would set up a projector and play three cartoon shorts for anyone, but specifically children, to watch.  

The first time I watched “The Skeleton Dance” was in one of those children’s programs. It was early October, the live oak trees that flanked the path towards the library had already dropped most of their leaves.  An early fall rainstorm had come the night before and I remember my mom telling me not to get wet as I jumped into the puddles on the way into the library.  

Through the eyes of my four-year-old self, I remember the steps being grand and many.  I walked up those steps and into the library.  My mom walked me the rest of the way into the library's small auditorium, guided me to my seat, and told me that she would be back soon.  I remember that I watched three shorts that day, just like I watched every week, but the only short that I remember was “The Skeleton Dance.”

I remember that the songs and visuals both captivated me and frightened me.  Four-year-old me was not very brave.  I remember when the skeleton came forward as if to lunge or bite the audience, I shrieked.

It had been years since I watched “The Skeleton Dance.” I pulled up the Disney+ app to watch it for our reviews of Halloween movies and was frustrated that it was not on the app.  Thankfully, the Walt Disney Animated Studies YouTube page had the short in its entirety for everyone to enjoy.  I watched it as an adult, trying to see it through the lens of a four-year-old and as an adult.   

The 1929 short film “The Skeleton Dance” was Silly Symphonies first of 75 shorts.  The films originally focused on whimsical animations combined with pieces of classical music.  “The Skeleton Dance” brought the music of Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls” together in a delightfully macabre piece of art.  

Ub Iwerks was a genius.  The animations are smooth and spooky.  The “March of the Trolls” is perfect as well. The timing is wonderful between the animations and the music. 

When the short was originally released the populace found it too macabre for general audiences. For four-year-old Jim, the short awakened something in my imagination that has never been fully realized. For modern audiences, the piece is quaint and delightful and, still, a bit spooky.  The short brings me back to memories of the Halloween season.  “The Skeleton Dance” is a great start to any harvest and Halloween festivities.

Sincerely yours,

Jim Dear