Since I'm a big kid at heart, and also because I'm in the throes of trying to potty train an obstinate three-year-old and need a little more laughter and a little less screeching in my life at present, I thought I'd do something fun and festive today. I love Halloween...every year, I wish I could turn into a seven-year-old kid again, just for the night, so I could get away with trick-or-treating while wearing an awesome costume. And in case you're wondering, yes, I was one of those kids who trick-or-treated even as an obnoxious teenager. I have a friendly and very well-developed "Gimmie candy!" smile. It all worked out. Anyway, today, in honor of the impending sugar-filled holiday, I'd like to present my Top 5 Halloween Specials and Must-Watch Movies (how's that for a mouthful?). So without further adieu...
1. Garfield's Halloween Adventure
I watched this every Haloween, growing up, and even though cable now stinks and they don't play Halloween specials actually ON Halloween anymore, some wise person had the idea to put out all of the Garfield holiday programs on DVD. So now my kids enjoy the fat orange cat and his scary adventure with Odie and the pirate ghosts as much as I do! There's nothing like a spooky story featuring the irreplacable Garfield snark...this one's a keeper.
2. Disney's Halloween Treat
Don't know if anyone will remember this one with me, but it's another one I always caught while sorting through my Plastic Pumpkin Bucket O' Booty on Halloween night. It's a "best of" of scary Disney cartoon moments, with such gems as Ichabod Crane's encounter with the Headless Horseman and the incredibly awesome Night on Bald Mountain. I still get the theme song from it stuck in my head at random times. Which isn't actually weird, considering what a wasteland of pop culture trivia my brain is.
3. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Oh, come on...you didn't think I was going to leave it out, did you? I just DVRed this for my kids, like I do every year. It's kind of a bummer...I mean, who gave Charlie Brown a rock in his sack? You know he grew up and needed therapy. But it's cute, regardless, and something I hate to miss.
4. Hocus Pocus
Don't tell me this movie's just for kids...I will have to stick my fingers in my ears and hum loudly. I must watch this movie a dozen times every year with my daughter, and we both love it every time. There's nothing like watching Bette, SJP, and Kathy cast spells, chew scenery, and sing "I Put A Spell On You" for a couple of hours...puts me in a Halloween mood every time!
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas
I love this movie! And last Halloween it was released in 3-D, which was a lot of fun to take my two older kids to. Tim Burton's twisted little tale of Jack, a Pumpkin King with delusions of grandeur, and his misadventure trying to steal another holiday to spice up his life a little, won my heart immediately. The love story woven through the movie (with Sally, of course, the rag doll with nimble fingers and a heart of gold) is a joy to watch, and the songs...well, I annoy the universe with my renditions of "This is Halloween" and "Jack's Lament" every year.
So those are my favorites...I'd love it if you'd share some of yours! Happy Haunting, everyone!
-Kendra
Hmm, can't really add too much to your list Kendra. Now, if we're talking Christmas, I'm all about The Year Without A Santa Claus! Happy Halloween! Enjoy your kids and good luck with the potty training. I don't miss those days.
ReplyDeleteI was a deprived child. England did not celebrate Halloween, though I think there is a bit of it going on now, and I love to dress up. I will tomorrow night. I always made fantastic costumes for my kids and I always went to work in costume, to the embarrassment of my staff. But they liked the candy I gave out.
ReplyDeleteI only celebrated one real Halloween growing up, when I lived in Scotland. I lived in the Outer Hebrides (island stuck out in the Atlantic) and my friend took me trick or treating. We dressed up as witches. The cottages were miles apart and we had to wear wellies under our long black dresses and an ugly witch mask. It was very scary because there were no street lights, can't remember there being streets actually, just fields. There were no other kids either. So it was pitch black walking from one twinkle of light to the next. I thought it was great.
At each house they invited you in to the kitchen with a big coal fire range, and tried to guess who you were, and since no one guessed right, much to my satisfaction, I got lots of candy .. and I never took my mask off once. You only took it off if they guessed right.
Weird. I just wish I had taken notes because it was so... traditional. Then we went back to my friends house, a farm, and bobbed for apples and peeled them -- something to do with finding your sweetheart. More than you ever wanted to know.
I liked Johnny Depp in the movie about the headless horseman. Sleepy Hollow I think. I hope that counts cause its the only one I can remember.
What a fun walk down memory lane. Thank you Kendra
Kendra, you know I love the lists, and this Halloween special list is a treat! Pardon the pun. Also is probably more palatable than my list of horror movies I blogged about last week. Charlie Brown is one of my lifelong loves. Still, it's not Halloween to me without watching "Halloween", directed by John Carpenter . . . which you don't want to show the kiddies.
ReplyDeleteKendra you hit all the best ones. I'm not the blood and guts type of person but the cartoon one.
ReplyDeleteI love to answer the door when the kids come just to see all the adorable costumes. My neighborhood seems to get hit really hard with trick-of-treaters because the houses are fairly close and it's an old neighborhood that most of us have been here for many years. I usually get hit with between 100 to 300 children depending on the weather. Looks like it will be nice tomorrow so better buy extra.
I hope all of you have a great and Happy Halloween and please stay safe.
huggs,
Terra
I've always been a Charlie Brown fan, too, but my favorite part of the Great Pumpkin story was Snoopy behind enemy lines!
ReplyDeleteAside from that, I'd have to go with Practical Magic as a good movie for Halloween viewing. I love it when they all fly off the roof at the end.
I enjoyed reading about your Halloween in Scotland, Michele. VERY traditional! Where I live, I've never had even one trick or treater, and didn't have many after my family moved to the farm when I was twelve.
Before that, though, it was terrific! We lived in a subdivision with lots of kids, and that was before everybody got to scared to go out. There were kids all over the neighborhood until about eleven o'clock. My father would take the glass and screen out of the front door and then sit on a bar stool and freak all the kids out by reaching right through the door to give out the candy.
Thanks for sharing, ladies!
ReplyDeleteMarie, I'll definitely do another list around the holidays, because I am a Christmas movie junkie:-) I LOVE The Year Without a Santa Claus! The potty training, however, I do not love. Not at all. This is the third and final time for us, and it looks like it's going to be a doozy. *sigh*
Michele, your Scottish Halloween experience is totally fascinatng...I'm so glad you shared it! I love the whole idea of how they do it. Not nearly so commercial as here, though I can get pretty tacky with the deco if I let myself, I'll admit:-) I loved Sleepy Hollow as well...nothing like a Tim Burton movie, especially starring Johnny Depp!
Christina, I think it's cool that you know enough horror movies to HAVE a list...they freak me out so badly, all I do is avoid them. My sister loves them, though. There's no accounting for the vagaries of genetics:-) "Halloween" always looked super frightening, I gotta say! Glad our lists could sort of bookend one another. Now we have scary AND silly!
Terra, I'm glad you enjoyed the list! I'm all kid when it comes to my taste in holiday-related stuff. Sounds like you live in a great neighborhood! I think we're finally living in a neighborhood where we're going tob e inundated...there are kids EVERYWHERE! I've stocked up on candy bigtime, and my kids are chomping at the bit to get out there.
Hi Cheryl! Agreed, the Snoopy part was great. And I almost tacked Practical Magic onto this list, because while I watch it anytime, it's the perfect October movie. LOVE the end!! I wanted to be a witch so bad after I saw that movie at the theater...yet another unfulfilled childhood wish, to have magical powers:-)
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