A rotation of Halloween specials can go on repeat so quickly that it’s almost, well, scary.
To freshen up one’s seasonal viewing, it’s great to seek out spooky TV animation beyond Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin Patch and incorporate specials and series episodes that haven’t been seen in some time and could quickly become perennial favorites.
It was so much fun to write the first Hidden Haunts: Seldom Seen Halloween Specials here on Cartoon Research recently. The real treat from both were suggestions of other “long lost,” but still loved Halloween specials and episodes.
So, here are some additional “Hidden Haunts” suggested by Cartoon Research readers:
Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile, 1979, (suggested by Frederick Wiegand)
The unmistakable style of animation legend Chuck Jones merges seamlessly with the world of Raggedy Ann and Andy in this charming special from 1979.
The two lovable, iconic rag dolls notice Ralph, the young boy who lives next door, is sad and lonely in his room while all the other kids are trick-or-treating on Halloween. It seems Ralph’s Aunt Agatha despises Halloween and won’t let Ralph participate.
Raggedy Ann and Andy, along with their plush toy dog Raggedy Arthur (who was introduced in this special), decide what will make Ralph most happy is a pumpkin. The three toys embark on an adventure to a nearby pumpkin patch (where “Punkins” are for sale). There, they find the titular pumpkin, the last one left, passed over and never purchased during the holiday season.
Raggedy Ann, Andy, and Arthur bring the sad pumpkin back to Ralph, and by doing that, does it melt Aunt Agatha’s heart and change her perspective toward Halloween? Well, this is a Halloween special, after all.
Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile is filled with a number of creative, ingenious cartoon touches, such as when the Pumpkin cries, pumpkin seeds flow instead of tears. There is also great pantomime personality animation from a mouse fed up with listening to the Pumpkin. A well-choreographed chase sequence featuring Raggedy Ann, Andy, the Pumpkin, and a black cat is very reminiscent of Jones’ classic Warner Bros. shorts.
This comes as no surprise; when watching the ending credits, one sees that many talented and legendary artists, who had worked on some of Warners Bros.’ best, were also a part of this special. They include Ben Washam, Phil Monroe, Virgil Ross, and Mark Kausler.
And, speaking of legends, the small but mighty voice cast here features some of the best-to-ever grace animation: June Foray as Raggedy Ann, Daws Butler as Raggedy Andy, and Les Tremayne as the Pumpkin. Foray (billed as Mrs. Hobart Donovan ) also voices Aunt Agatha.
Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile, like so many popular Halloween specials, captures the “feel” of the season and adds a nice dose of heart.
Gary Larson’s Tales from the Far Side, 1994 (suggested by Brad on Cartoon Research and Top Cat James on Animation Scoop).
This Halloween special could almost be considered lost media, as it only aired once on CBS. There was a sequel produced that aired in the UK, and the special has been released on VHS and DVD (the latter is available on the official Far Side website (https://www.thefarside.com ). Some clips can still be found on YouTube
As the title suggests, Tales from the Far Side was a collection of quick anthology segments inspired by Larson’s brilliant one-panel comic strip. The special is filled with the same off-kilter, hysterical punch lines, this time focusing on darker, horror-inspired elements.
Some segments include a farmer creating a Bride of Frankenstein cow, flies as passengers on an airplane, where the in-flight movie is The Fly and a woman who has to call “Elephant Removers” to stop the elephant in her house from standing on her husband’s head.
Directed by Marv Newland (who in 1969 had created the cult animation short Bambi Meets Godzilla), Tales from the Far Side perfectly captures the look and tone of Larson’s world, where little kids, aliens, monsters, ladies with bouffant hair, and cows all exist together in a skewed realm.
If anyone knows of a copy online we can embed here – let us know!
“The Tale of the Tell-Tale Taffy,” episode of Teacher’s Pet, 2001 (suggested by Hans Christian Brando)
This distinct series from Disney, created by Gary Baseman and Bill & Cheri Steinkellner, followed nine-year-old Leonard Helperman and his dog Spot, who yearns to be a boy so much that he comes to class disguised as a student and becomes the most popular kid in school.
The Halloween episode of this series, directed by Alfred Gimeno and supervised by Don MacKinnon, is equally unique and creative. Leonard’s mother, Mary Helperman (also Leonard’s school teacher), wants him to stay on their block for a “safer Halloween,” where the neighbors are handing out fruits and vegetables instead of candy.
Leonard and Spot try to obey Mom’s wishes. Still, the siren song of candy being handed out just one block over cannot be denied (especially since the next block over is a veritable Halloween wonderland, complete with bounce houses that look like brains and bat-shaped neon lights).
Spot even lures Leonard over to the “other side” by singing a show-stopping song, “It’s All About the Candy.” The two eventually begin eating the titular Tell-Tale Taffy, shaped like a brain but addictively delicious. It even comes with its nod to Edgar Allen Poe, when Mom catches the two near the end of the episode.
Meanwhile, Leonard’s two other pets, the parrot, Pretty Boy, and the cat, Mr. Jolly, take in a poor kitten named Spooky, who may or may not be a vampire.
Written by David Maples, “The Tale of the Tell-Tale Taffy” has plenty of sharp, laugh-out-loud moments to spare. “Open your eyes and smell the candy corn,’ declares Spot when they cross the street, “We are in Halloween heaven!”
Delivering lines like that perfectly is done so well by the show’s eclectic cast, which includes Nathan Lane as Spot, Shaun Fleming as Leonard, Jerry Stiller as Pretty Boy, David Odgen Stiers as Mr. Jolly, Debra Jo Rupp as Mrs. Helperman and none-other than Tim Curry as Spooky, the would-be vampire cat.
Much like Leonard and Spot, watching “The Tale-Tale Taffy” will also have you in Halloween heaven.
“Spook-a-Nanny,” episode of The Woody Woodpecker Show, 1964 (suggested by DBenson)
This oh-so-fun outing of Woody Woodpecker’s show fully embraces its concept of a Halloween party. After the show’s standard introduction, where Woody “pecks” the logo on the side of the tree, he appears in a live-action/animated sequence, where he introduces his “boss,” Walter Lantz.
Lantz appears at his desk wearing a Halloween mask that scares Woody. The office is decorated for a Halloween party, and Lantz keeps getting Woody to help decorate and blow up balloons. At the same time, Lantz introduces two cartoons, 1954’s Under the Counter Spy and 1948’s Playful Pelican.
When Woody explodes a giant balloon, Lantz tells him to go off and find a Halloween party, dropping a napkin over Woody, which acts like a ghost costume.
This then segues to the last cartoon, “Spook-A-Nanny,” in which Woody heads off as a ghost to a Halloween party where everyone in the “Walter Lantz shared universe” is in attendance: Chilly Willy, Smedley, Andy Panda, Woody’s niece and nephew, Knothead and Splinter, Wally Walrus, Buzz Buzzard, Sugarfoot the horse, and even Homer Pidgeon, Cuddles the Great Dane, and… Space Mouse!
When Woody comes to the door to trick or treat, the gang pulls tricks on him, including a Jack-O-Lantern dropped on his head by innocent lil’ Chilly Willy.
Woody spots a group of ghosts with mop-top haircuts playing a rock-a-billy version of “The Woody Woodpecker Theme Song.” He disguises himself as one of the ghosts to get into the party and then is able to lead the whole gang and the rockin’ ghosts in a rendition of the song “Spook-A-Nanny.”
Everyone has a swingin’ time as Halloween images (witches, black cats) parade by, while the titular tune plays. This earworm will stay with you after seeing the cartoon and for many Halloweens to come.
The show then concludes back at Walter Lantz’ office where, sitting on the edge of his desk, he offers up PSA-like advice to the audience at home, saying, “Ya know kids, Halloween is a time that’s supposed to be fun for everyone, kids and grown-ups. So, enjoy yourself. But remember to be polite when you ask for treats, and don’t play tricks that are harmful. Help make Halloween a night that everyone will enjoy.”
Good advice then, good advice now.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
Based on Tuesday’s post, I guess “Spook-a-Nanny” doesn’t get an annual run at Jerry’s house.
Cuddles even appeared in a Beary Family cartoon.
Well, considering that Marcus co-direct this short, I let that one slide. Heck, I think he may had done more than Smith here.
I was interested to see that Earl Robinson composed the musical score to “The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile”. He was blacklisted in Hollywood during the Red Scare and wound up teaching high school in New York. His best-known work is “Ballad for Americans”, a patriotic cantata for narrator, chorus and orchestra written under the New Deal-era Federal Theatre Project. I played in a performance of it at a convention of the National Urban League in Boston in 1976, narrated by Brock Peters; I’m reminded of that whenever I see Peters in “Soylent Green”. Robinson also wrote the song “Black and White”, recorded by Three Dog Night among others.
I remember seeing the Far Side special in its one and only broadcast and hoping that it would be the first of many. So much for that.
I haven’t seen “Teacher’s Pet” in twenty years, but at the time I thought it was by far the worst cartoon ever to have the Disney name attached to it. A few minutes of the Halloween episode were enough to remind me how right I was.
I thought this was nice unique series done by Gary Baseman (who also did the artwork for the series of Cranium board games). The theatrical movie, which was the final of the series, was also quite good (I still have the DVD).
Having checked out the first few minutes of the Teacher’s Pet Halloween episode, I will say that it’s definitely better than Pickle and Peanut, at least.
“Pickle and Peanut” hadn’t yet come out the last time I saw “Teacher’s Pet”, and I had forgotten all about it. You’re right, of course, but “better than ‘Pickle and Peanut’” is about as faint as praise can possibly get.
We performed “Ballad for Americans” in elementary school. I didn’t know anything about the composer, until now!
The Woody Woodpecker Spook-a-Nanny became an annual treat. In those days reruns were more carefully planned by the local stations, and the show would usually get broadcast on the day of Hallowe’en if it fell on a week day. Airing in the late afternoon as it did on our local station, the show’s timing was perfect for getting kids in the mood for going out trick-or-treating. The entire half-hour manages to incorporate some spookiness without being too scary for kids. I believe that one of the illustrations above is from a coloring book that was released in connection with the show–which became one of my cherished possessions of childhood. Even though the “Spook-a-Nanny” itself may not have as much appeal for adult enthusiasts, may not even make much of an impression on modern kids, in its time and place it was the perfect Hallowe’en entertainment for kids in those pre-Great Pumpkin days.
One more thing that I note as I grew into my teens is that I had a sort of vague fascination with noir and elements of noir films, especially whenever they manifested in cartoons and comics. As a young writer, I incorporated some of this into a few early stories. For many years I didn’t recall where this fascination first came from. Until the DVD release of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons, where the Spook-a-Nanny episode was re-created in all its glory. I realized then that it was “Under the Counter Spy” that initially inspired my youthful forays into that genre. The character of the Bat had just the right creepiness factor without being overly-frightening.
Thanks for using my suggestion of the Raggedy Ann special. Happy Hallowe’en!
You’re welcome! Thanks for suggesting it!
Tales from the far side:
https://archive.org/details/tales-from-the-far-side_202309
https://archive.org/details/tales-from-the-far-side-ii_202309
Here’s a link for Tales from the Far Side:
https://archive.org/details/tales-from-the-far-side_202309
I loved that Far Side special, which was nothing like anything ever shown on TV. Perhaps it was too subtle for some people, the same ones who didn’t “get” Gary Larson’s brilliant comic panel The Far Side.
Think I mentioned before how Spook-a-Nanny was synergized on KTVU2, Oakland. Not sure if it was a special or just the regular Captain Satellite show immediately following, but the captain was presiding over a Halloween party of his own. At one point four kids came in as ghosts with Beatle wigs and toy guitars. The sheets came off — awkwardly — to reveal they were all wearing Ben Cooper Woody Woodpecker costumes.
Thought for a future column: Cartoons that got balloons (and sometimes floats) in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
I love the balloon idea! How about it Mike?
I’m in! Let me start researching now!
Jim Korkis did a Disney Macys article in Vault Of Walt Volume 2.
As for Sugarfoot…..
WJRT in Flint, Michigan aired this as a nighttime special with cutaways to a fairly well attended Halloween party hosted by the station’s own kids host Mr. Magic (Frank Cady). The host led the partygoers in a couple of choruses of the “Spook-A-Nanny” song.
I wonder how many other stations ran this in prime time and like KTVU and WJRT, added local host segments…
Would mentioning Shnookums and Meat in here get me on a list? I kid, but I also think Bill Kopp’s body of work doesn’t get enough respect. S&M’s blend of Spumco artists, Kopp’s penchant for odd in-jokes, and 1940s chase cartoons is no exception. I bring it up because “Night of the Living Shnookums” (to my knowledge, aired around October as part of Disney’s Marsupilami) is easily my favorite episode – turning cartoon tropes on their head while maintaining a spooky atmosphere. That ending is especially brilliant, and I imagine it was a horror gateway for quite a few kids.
I’m sure more than one hidden Disney Halloween episode/special/short exists out there, but I have a soft spot for manic, “trying not to be Disney” Disney.
I finally saw Spook-a-Nanny when I bought a Woody Woodpecker dvd set and was pretty disappointed. Not much plot to speak of, and it seems like just an excuse to trot seemingly every Walter Lantz character onscreen for a few seconds each.
Love the Raggedy Ann n Andy one. Never saw it before, thanks.