Halloween Cartoons I Still Love as an Adult

Whorticulture.com Presents: The Halloween Cartoons I Still Love as an Adult, and You Should, Too!

Last night I made some Halloween brownies and forced my boyfriend and his sister to watch two of the Halloween cartoons I loved as a kid.  When I was little, my mom recorded a bunch of Halloween cartoons off the TV for me, and later in life I miss that tape so much.  Not only was it filled with awesome 80's commercials (Fry Guys and Crispy Critters Cereal, just to name a few), but the some of the cartoons are ones you just can't find anymore.

Check out this Fry Guy commercial, and put yourself in an 80's mindset.  This is dated 1987.  Ah, memories.

This is my ode to those Halloween cartoons.  Some I'm sure you've heard of, and some you probably haven't.  But if you have kids, try to find them because they'll LOVE them.

First on the tape was the classic that I'm sure you've heard of:
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

If you haven't seen this one, you need to hit yourself in the head with a brick, then check it out when ABC shows it this week.  Peanuts never went wrong when it came to Holiday specials.  This one is great because it teaches kids many valuable lessons, such as:
#1: Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.
#2: There are three things you should never discuss with people - politics, religion, and the Great Pumpkin.
#3: The importance of notarizing signed documents.

Your kids, and the kid in you will adore this 25 minute special.  It's available on DVD but like I said, ABC will be showing it this week so check your local listings & see it for free!

Second on the tape is my personal favorite, which they never show on TV anymore but you may have seen if you grew up in the 80's:
Garfield's Halloween Adventure

Oh, how I love this.  I sing the musical numbers year round, which thoroughly annoys everyone.  This was the only Garfield special based on original content, and I think they do a fine job.

So join Garfield as he finds a costume for trick-or-treat, cons Odie into going with him, finds the spookiest house EVER, and then has an extra scary run-in with (as Korn would say) P-p-p-p-p-pirate ghosts!

Next on the tape was a cartoon that never gained the fame of its Christmas counterpart:
Halloween is Grinch Night

When I was really young, I have to admit that it made me a little freaked out.  There's just some weird shit in this one.  You can find it on YouTube in a few parts to see what I mean.  There's stuff I totally didn't get until I was older, like that they cleverly call the bathroom the "Uphamisim."  And for some reason, all the Whos have Amish names like Josiah, and Ukaraiah (our hero).

Little Ukaraiah gets stuck in the sour-sweet wind that's a'howlin' on Grinch Night and blown far, far away from his "Uphamisim," where he encounters the Grinch.  Can he save his whole town?  Obviously he can.  Oh, and he saves the Grinch's dog Max, too.

Here we see Ukaraiah Who narrowly escaping his grinching

Next on the tape is one that's probably too cutesy for most viewers.  I wouldn't love it so much if it weren't ingrained in my childhood:
Raggedy Ann & Andy's: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile

Yeah, I know what you're thinking.  I'm losing my touch.  Well you can suck it.  This one is great if you have little kids.  Raggedy Ann and Andy (and their skateboarding dog, Raggedy Arthur) help a glum, glum pumpkin who can't smile find a happy home.  And see that boy up there?  They teach his total bitch of an aunt a lesson, too!  Okay maybe I exaggerated that a little.  I guess maybe I ruined it, because you can totally see the pumpkin smiling in that picture.  Goddammit, how will I live with myself.

Anyway, finally we come to the end of the tape:

Disney's Halloween Treat

This one is only available on VHS and I think that's total fail on Disney's part.  This special was half Halloween cartoons and half Disney movie villains.  So, for example, they'd show the duel between Merlin and Mad Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone, then this great cartoon of Huey Dewey and Louie trick-or-treating at a witch's house.


There was one that really kind of freaked me out as a kid.  It was called Donald Duck and the Gorilla.  Check it out: