It Came From My Childhood...!
Halloween week (or, if I'm to become insufferably twee, Halloweek) is upon us. Thus, time to dig through the Tubes of You for a few things that always get on my mind this time of year. I'm not using the embed code, due to the potential security issues that might still linger, so here's the pitch.
The Halloween Tree -- Based on the book by Ray Bradbury, which always seems to pop up around my collection at the appropriate time. Back when he wasn't declaring Fahrenheit 451 was about liberalism and TV, or writing about philosophizing wangs a'la Chintsubu, Mr. Bradbury wrote a rather cute story about four kids running around in the dead of night with a creepy old man (voiced by uber-GQMF Leonard Nimoy) promising to help them find their missing compatriot, if they'll just follow him into his basement the past, on a journey to learn why Halloween is srs bsns. The cartoon adaptation may try to sanitize a tiny piece of the climax concerning children contemplating mortality, but when I was ten, it was still ambiguous enough to make me feel a little twitchy between the shoulderblades.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile-- This one only showed up recently, but I've been trying to find it for ages, and I can't entirely explain why, since parts of it have not aged well at all. (Let me put it this way: Raggedy Arthur died on the way back to his home planet.) Why do I still find it worth watching? Two words: Chuck Jones. Nobody could ever draw a Woobie face quite like he did. It still gets me choked up in parts, I'm willing to admit, in spite of a few awkward lines -- both Jones, and the Raggedy Ann and Andy franchise figured more largely into my childhood psyche than I should probably try analyzing right now. And June Foray kicks ass, too.
'Anything Can Happen On Halloween' from The Worst Witch. -- Okay, I'm cheating, this one is not actually part of MY childhood, though it apparently figured into everyone else's. Damn you, HBO. In any case, it's a musical number starring Tim Curry, a green screen, and the best visual effects a middling TV movie budget in the 80's had to offer. It might cure any trauma you may have suffered from seeing Curry as Pennywise the Clown in IT... or, just make it ten times worse. Either way, what fun, huh?
The Halloween Tree -- Based on the book by Ray Bradbury, which always seems to pop up around my collection at the appropriate time. Back when he wasn't declaring Fahrenheit 451 was about liberalism and TV, or writing about philosophizing wangs a'la Chintsubu, Mr. Bradbury wrote a rather cute story about four kids running around in the dead of night with a creepy old man (voiced by uber-GQMF Leonard Nimoy) promising to help them find their missing compatriot, if they'll just follow him into his basement the past, on a journey to learn why Halloween is srs bsns. The cartoon adaptation may try to sanitize a tiny piece of the climax concerning children contemplating mortality, but when I was ten, it was still ambiguous enough to make me feel a little twitchy between the shoulderblades.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile-- This one only showed up recently, but I've been trying to find it for ages, and I can't entirely explain why, since parts of it have not aged well at all. (Let me put it this way: Raggedy Arthur died on the way back to his home planet.) Why do I still find it worth watching? Two words: Chuck Jones. Nobody could ever draw a Woobie face quite like he did. It still gets me choked up in parts, I'm willing to admit, in spite of a few awkward lines -- both Jones, and the Raggedy Ann and Andy franchise figured more largely into my childhood psyche than I should probably try analyzing right now. And June Foray kicks ass, too.
'Anything Can Happen On Halloween' from The Worst Witch. -- Okay, I'm cheating, this one is not actually part of MY childhood, though it apparently figured into everyone else's. Damn you, HBO. In any case, it's a musical number starring Tim Curry, a green screen, and the best visual effects a middling TV movie budget in the 80's had to offer. It might cure any trauma you may have suffered from seeing Curry as Pennywise the Clown in IT... or, just make it ten times worse. Either way, what fun, huh?