The Halloween Tree

The Halloween Tree is an animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1993. It was based on the children's book by Ray Bradbury.
== Summary ==
The narrator (Ray Bradbury) describes one small town's preparations for Halloween night. Four friends are shown at their respective homes donning costumes excitedly: Jenny Smith as a witch, Ralph Bengstrum as a mummy, Wally Babb as a monster and Tom Skelton as a skeleton. They plan to meet up with their best friend Joe "Pip" Pipkin but he doesn't appear. They go to Pip's house and see him being loaded into an ambulance. He has written them a note explaining that he is going to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy and that they should celebrate without him. They feel they cannot start Halloween without him, so they follow the ambulance to visit him at the hospital. Tom suggests a shortcut through the spooky woods: the dark and eerie ravine. They see what looks like a translucent Pip running along the ravine trail, and Tom leads them on, convinced that Pip has designed an elaborate hoax for them. The group races after Pip, who disappears near a towering and darkened mansion.
A man named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud greets them inside. Moundshroud expresses disappointment that none of the children know what their costumes symbolize. He reveals that he is after the ghost of Pip. Pip seeks and steals a pumpkin with his face carved into it from Moundshroud's Halloween Tree of jack-o'-lanterns. Tom begs Moundshroud to let them come with him and help bring back Pip. Moundshroud initially refuses but relents: if they can keep up with him before dawn, then they might be able to retrieve the pumpkin and get Pip back, while also going on a scavenger hunt of sorts to learn about the significance of their costumes and the origins of Halloween. They begin their pursuit of Pip, traveling back in time.
First, they travel to Ancient Egypt to learn of the celebration called 'The Feast of the Ghosts'. Following Pip's spirit to a tomb in a pyramid, they learn about the significance of mummification. Ralph finds a weak-spirited Pip and begs him to come back. The group scares away the priests trying to embalm Pip and Pip disappears again.
Next, arriving at Stonehenge during the Dark Ages, they witness rituals carried out by Celtic druids and villagers of the old Celtic world. As Moundshroud teaches them, Pip briefly appears as a black cat. They come across a field of straw being harvested and made into brooms and discover a coven of witches chanting and celebrating the new year. Moundshroud helps the children escape a mob of anti-witch villagers by making some of the brooms fly, then knocks Pip off his broom. Jenny catches Pip but is afraid of losing him. He encourages her and then darts away.
They follow him to France and arrive at the unfinished Notre Dame Cathedral, learning of the cathedral's use of gargoyles and demons. The children use Moundshroud's magic to finish the cathedral, and Wally climbs to reach a Pip-shaped gargoyle that is holding Pip's pumpkin. He begs Pip to be strong; Pip flees again and the group follows.
Finally, in Mexico, they learn about the significance of skeletons during "Día de los Muertos" — the Day of the Dead festival. They look for a very weak Pip in a catacombs. Tom manages to get to Pip and apologizes to him, admitting that he feels guilty for the whole ordeal because he wanted something bad to happen to Pip so Tom could lead the group for once. Pip smiles and forgives him, promising to let him lead anytime he wants. Pip's spirit crumbles into dust and is gone.
Moundshroud tells the children they did not make it in time and Pip is now his property. The children offer him a year from the end of each of their lives in exchange for Pip's return. He accepts the deal and gives each of them a piece of a sugar candy skull with Pip's name on it to eat, sealing the bargain. Pip's spirit then revives and he snatches his pumpkin back from Moundshroud and flies out. The group is then immediately transported home. The children go to Pip's house to see if the experience was real, and are delighted to see him back from the hospital. At the mansion, Moundshroud blows out his pumpkin's candle and disappears; the Halloween Tree is assaulted by strong winds, blowing all the pumpkins away — all except for Pip's "pumpkin", which the children rescued by their sacrifice.
== Voice Cast ==
* Annie Barker as Jenny Smith, The Witch
* Ray Bradbury as The Narrator
* Darleen Carr as Additional Voices
* Lindsay Crouse as Additional Voices
* Alex Greenwald as Ralph Bengstrum, The Mummy
* Edan Gross as Tom Skelton, The Skeleton
* Andrew Keegan as Wally Babb, The Monster
* Kevin Michaels as Joe "Pip" Pipkin
* Leonard Nimoy as Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud
* Mark L. Taylor as Additional Voices
== Credits ==
* "The Halloween Tree"
* Based upon the work by: Ray Bradbury
* Music by: John Debney
* Produced and Directed by: Mario Piluso, Greg Ford, Terry Lennon
* Written by: Ray Bradbury, Greg Ford, Terry Lennon
* Narrated by: Ray Bradbury
* Leonard Nimoy as the voice of Moundshroud
* Executive Producers: David Kirschner, Buzz Potamkin, Kathleen Helppie-Shipley
* Co-Executive Producer: Mark Young
* Additional Story Dialogue: Ronnie Scheib
* Line Producer: Veronica Chiarito
* Associate Producers: Kunio Shimamura, Christopher Walsh
* Art Director: Al Gmuer
* Unit Production Coordinator: Tori Pollock
* Storyboard Directors: Gary Graham, Dick Sebast
* Additional Sequences Storyboard Artist: Sherilan Weinhart
* Animation Directors: Robert Alvarez, Emroy Myrick, Marlene Robinson-May, Karen Peterson, Michel Richon, Woody Yokum
* Track Reader: Jim Hearn
* Recording Directors: Gordon Hunt, Kris Zimmerman
* Casting Director: Kris Zimmerman
* Talent Coordinator: Jill Ziegenhagen
* Supervising Recording Engineer: Edwin Collins
* Recording Engineer: Alvy Dorman
* Voices by: Annie Baker, Alex Greenwald, Edan Gross, Andrew Keegan, Kevin Michaels
* Additional Voices: Darleen Carr, Lindsay Crouse, Mark L. Taylor
* Designers: Virginia Hawes, George Goodchild, Mario Williams, Marcus Nickerson
* Additional Designs by: Roger Chiasson, Karenia Kaminski, Bob Tyler
* Character Designer: Floro Dery
* Design Assistants: Dana Jo Granger, Donna Zeller
* Animation: Nancy Beiman, Russell Calabrese, Doug Compton, Tom Decker, Frank Gabriel, Bob McKnight, Nelson Rhodes, Larry Ruppel, Louis Tate, Dean Yeagle
* Key Assistant Animation: Karenia Kaminski, Mike Wisniewski
* Assistant Animation: Edy Benjamin, Kevin Brownie, Ed Cerullo, Ed Klein, Rich Krantz, Jeff LaFlamme, Levi Louis, George McClements, Roger Mejia, Don Poynter, Juan Sanchez, Dick Williams
* Layouts: Owen Fitzgerald, Alan Bodner, Kevin Brownie
* Background Layout Keys: James P. Alles, Ron Roesch, Dean Thompson, Joseph Binggeli
* Background Supervisors: Craig Robertson, Jerry Loveland
* Backgrounds: Alan Bodner, Kevin Brownie, Larry C. Grossman, Patricia Keppler, Cotty Kilbanks, Kimball Miskoe, Bill Railey, Donald Watson
* Additional Backgrounds: Leonard Robledo
* Ink and Paint Supervisors: Alison Leopold, Marilyn Carrington
* Ink and paint: Sharon Alsheimer, Anne Barrett, Eva Bloom, Maria Bouzakis, Sue Burgos, Chris Carrington, Amber Chiarito, Connie D'Antuono, Yvonne Eng Moy, Jennifer Gaston, Mary Grant, Cathy Greenfield, Edna Jacobs, Marc Korn, Richard Laslo, Stella Loguirato, Deborah Lomax, Mary Mazzarella, Elizabeth Olivier, Aline Ratke, Ann Steindecker
* Color Key: Suzette Darling
* Xerography: Star Wirth, Chris Carrington
* Graphics: Bill Franks, Tom Wogatzke
* Animation Checking Supervisor: Jan Adams
* Animation Checking: Beth Goodwin, Rose Eng, Ken Stytzer
* Technical Director: Jerry Mills
* Camera Operators: Steve Mills, Neil Viker, James Keefer, Robert Jacobs, George Davis
* Orchestrations by: Frank Bennett, George Daugherty, Brad Dechter, Don Nemitz, Arlon Ober
* Additional Music by: Virg Dzurinko, Nomi Rosen
* Music Direction and Conducted by: George Daugherty
* Director of Music Production: Bodie Chandler
* Music Supervision: Hal Willner
* Music Editor: Kim Naves
* Music Producer: Bruce Goldstein
* Scoring Mixers: Murray McFadden, John Richards
* Musicians: George Doering
* Post Production Supervisor: Tom Gleason
* Supervising Editor: Michele Douglas
* Editor: Gil Iverson
* Creative Bubble · Editor: John R. Tierney
* Assistant Editor: Rick Gehr
* Post Production Coordinator: Jeannine Roussel
* Audio: Blake Norton, Tim Lester
* Sound Effects Supervisor: Joel Valentine
* Sound Effects: Elmo Ponsdomenech, Rich Macar, Dick Maitland
* Sound Effects Editors: Chris Drozdowski, Frank Raciti
* Additional Group ADR: Cynthia Daly
* Telecine Colorist: Trent Johnson
* Sound Engineer: Pam Bartella
* Sound Re-Recording Mixers: Chris Jenkins, Mark Smith, Adam Jenkins, Elmo Ponsdomenech
* Additional Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Michael Stern
* Post Production Sound Services: Sync Sound
* Videotape Editors: Evamarie Keller, Linda M. Long
* Negative Consultant: William DeBoer, Jr.
* Production Executive: Catherine Winder
* Program Executive: Joy Every
* Production Supervisors: Debby Hindman, Bill Exter
* Production Manager: Jim Katz
* Production Assistants: Sandy Benenati, Valerie Menk, Linda Moore, Gail Prewitt, Allan Greenfield
* Animation Service by: Fil-Cartoons, Inc. · Philippines
* Overseas Production Supervisor: Jerry Smith
* Overseas Layout Supervisor: Margaret Parkes
* Overseas Layout Director: Tapani Knuutila
* Overseas Animation Director: Chris Cuddington
* Animators: Allan Abelardo, Jeffrey John Imutan, Bong Macarayan
* Special Thanks to: Michael J. Masucci, Michelle Renee, William Hohauser
* The events, characters and firms depicted in the photo play are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or firms, is purely coincidental.
* © 1993 Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. All Rights Reserved
* This Picture Made Under the Jurisdiction of IATSE-IA Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.I.O.
== External Links ==
* The Halloween Tree at the Internet Movie Database
Category:Hanna-Barbera films
Category:The Funtastic Index