The Halloween Tree (1993)

To me, this movie is perfection.

A different way of telling a story

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This movie and Novel are both staples in my year. They are a tradition that I love and enjoy every year. When I hear the theme music of John Debney it gives me that nostalgic Halloween spirit, particularly the scene at the ravine. I feel like I did when I first watched this as a kid. This movie is as timeless as Halloween itself, and I highly recommend it to all lovers of the holiday. It truly shows the history of All Hallows' eve- a vividly creative journey through the ages, visiting and observing different cultures and customs, and teaching the different ways they celebrate it. This movie is packed full of spooky fun and adventure, and best of all, in my humble opinion, the bond of friendship. Watch it if you haven't. You will be glad that you did- maybe you will find you have a new Halloween tradition as well!

when i was growing up holidays like Halloween & Christmas use to have special meanings now both are used only for political holidays to get votes. but to me both are still special I love it when months like September & October roll around cool air starts arriving brown leaves falling everywhere in neighbors yards. or late summer months like june sitting on your front porch and you feel a slight cool breeze off of the summer wind just to give you a tease of whats to come in a few months. sitting on the couch with your windows raised watching all types of college. nfl and highschool football on the weekends. seeing all the masks. decorations. candy and scary movies in stores watching the young children enjoy theirself for one night of the entire year as they knock on doors asking for candy. carving jack o lanterns. if you get a chance to watch this movie ....do it you wont regret it you'll get that special feeling you had when you were a kid at halloween

I'm a huge Ray Bradbury fan so I was excited to see this animated adaptation of his great novel The Halloween Tree. Bradbury himself scripted this movie and even provided the narration. The story is magical, poetic, and even educational. I would recommend it for parents to share with their kids. It's beautiful.Interestingly, Bradbury wrote the novel after he had collaborated on a Halloween Tree screenplay with the great Chuck Jones for an animated film that never came to be. As pleasant and enjoyable as the animation is in this version, one can only wonder how amazing the collaboration between two greats of their respective mediums would have been.

First, I'm going to say that if you haven't read Ray Bradbury's masterpiece, "The Halloween Tree," go buy it and read it through and through, especially the copy illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini originally published in 1972 by Alfred A. Knopf, Publishing. (The story was originally conceived with co-author, animator, Chuck Jones as a screenplay by Bradbury in 1967). This is some of the best and most poetic of Bradbury's writings. Before the great animation factory of Hanna-Barbera finally closed its doors, they managed to produce this gem of a story using updated and original material and the voice of the author himself as the narrator. The combination of voices and the memorable theme music penned by John Debney, including the great Lenard Nimoy as the magical, chilling, informative, yet somehow comforting Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, embellishes the animated version with a breezy, leaf filled Fall season feel of warm humanity. At once educational and entertaining, this is one of the greatest and least appreciated features from television's stellar collection of seasonal classics. Like Disney's "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh," from 1964, I expect that someday Warner Brothers will clean up a copy of this motion picture and distribute it on DVD for the sake of its production quality alone. And, were I a producer with a reasonable budget, I could think of no better challenge than to translate this incredible story to live action, hopefully remaining faithful to the heart and soul of Bradbury's original concept.