Happy Halloween 2024!

Here we are on the big day itself. Thank you for stopping by and ringing the bell, and I hope you enjoy the candy you got here. Check out all the other Cryptkeepers...and thanks for suiting up in some spooky wear for the Countdown to Halloween 2024!

Inktober Art For Halloween

Be sure and check out the (almost) daily postings of hand drawn art by Dean Brinkerhoff for Inktober. Dean Brink's Instagram account On the Brink is part of our Countdown to Halloween 2024. 

We Don't Talk About Brutus

If you have hit the link that takes you to Countdown to Halloween, you hopefully have explored the sites and blogs an accounts of some of the other Cryptkeepers. One of my favorites is Garage Sales Finds, recently displaying some classic Halloween masks and costumes. Here are a selected few. And be sure and visit Garage Sales Finds to see a lot more classic Ben Cooper costumes and artist Frank Romano.    

                                                        

                                                 

                                                          

                                                             

We The People Join The Battle Of The Bands

As part of our Countdown to Halloween each October, Back to the Future (1985) is featured. After all, Marty McFly accidentally rocketed back to 1955 on October 26, 1985. This past year, Dean Brinkerhoff and I visited one of the real-life locations used in filming Back to the Future. The Olive Recreation Center located in Burbank California is home to a large basketball court. The scene in particular features Marty in a Battle of the Bands competition, where he and his band rock out for the school board. One of the administrators (Huey Lewis in a cameo performance) abruptly stops the music to inform Marty and the Pinheads that they’re just “too darn loud.” 

                              

The Pumpkin King Says Get Yours Today!

This Is Halloween: Published last Fall, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Visual Companion by Dave Bossert is a must-have for all Disney, Burton, Nightmare Before Christmas, stop-motion etc fans…in other words, everyone! Dave interviewed Tim Burton, Henry Selick, Danny Elfman, Rick Heinrichs, Eric Leighton, Kelly Asbury, most of the animators, and so many others who helped handcraft this beautiful stop-motion film.  I had the honor and distinct pleasure of serving as Senior Editor (with Jen Eastwood) on this excellent volume, featuring the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film plus rare art and photos. If you don't already have this outstanding book in your library, the Pumpkin King says get yours today…it’s perfect for Halloween OR Christmas!  

Brewing Up Some Wicked Disney Fun

Twenty years ago, this frightfully wonderful Disney Catalog was published for Halloween 2004. Featuring menacing Disney villains rising in the smoke from the cauldron of the old hag from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (aka the wicked Queen). This corrupt crew of evildoers are here to celebrate Countdown to Halloween 2024. 

Tom And Jerry And...Ghost?

The Tom and Jerry show debuted on CBS on September 25, 1965. A showcase for classic theatrical MGM cartoons, the show had a specially produced title sequence with varying scenarios to introduce the Tom and Jerry moniker. For our , here’s a spooky example, created by animation legend Chuck Jones. This was right around the time he produced-directed Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! also for MGM. (Interestingly, both Tom and Jerry and The Grinch are now owned by Warner Bros., which of course own all of the Chuck Jones-directed Looney Tunes cartoons.)     

                                         

                                         

                                       

                 

                 

                 

                   

                                              

                 

               

                

       

                

Thanks-give-a-ween Pie

Though many consider this classic comic-book cover by master artist Carl Barks as having a Thanksgiving theme, I like the Jack-O-Lantern look of the pumpkin pie that speaks to a Halloween theme! Tulgey Wood presents this festive and fun cover from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories no. 134 1951 for your viewing pleasure as we Countdown to Halloween 2024. 

Super-Powered Costumes For Halloween

Archie can always be relied on for Halloween fun each year in comics both new and vintage. This cover from Archie's Halloween Spectacular 2017 shows Betty and Veronica in alluring versions of a mummy and pussycat (from Josie and the Pussycats, an Archie Comics publication?), but Archie is costumed as Pureheart the Powerful, his very own superhero persona. Check out my TikTok video for a glimpse of KJ Apa as Archie from the Riverdale TV series wearing a perfect representation of the Pureheart the Powerful costume. 

Witch Is Tom And Witch Is Jerry? (And Witch Is Tuffy?)

In 1956, Tom and Jerry appeared in one of their Cinemascope cartoons, The Flying Sorceress. Did that witchy widescreen cartoon inspire this comic-book cover just one year later, for Halloween 1957?  “Witch”ever the reason, this classic cover by (I think) Harvey Eisnenberg for Tom and Jerry no. 159 is a creepy-season keeper. All spooky fun for Countdown for Halloween 2024. 

Getting Spooked At McDonald's

Get ready for a spook, because McDonald's Boo Buckets are back for Halloween 2024 as of October 15th! These fearfully fun buckets first made their eerie debut in 1986 and have been haunting us (occasionally) ever since. When you grab a Happy Meal this spooky season, will you be picked by a white, orange, green, or blue monster on your Boo Bucket? 🎃👻🍔 They will be available till October 31st—but they always sell out frightfully fast, so  add them to your boo bucket list now! 

Dance, Skeleton, Dance!

Today, The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 101st anniversary,  having been founded by Walt and his brother Roy on October 16, 1923. What better day to honor Walt Disney's The Skeleton Dance (1929), that wonderful historic animated short, celebrated as the first Silly Symphony. Crucial to the Disney story, The Skeleton Dance is also a lot of fun especially around Halloween—so just right for the Countdown to Halloween 2024. 🎃  The Academy Museum in Hollywood, California has a fascinating exhibit about animation, displaying art and artifacts from the film such as music transcriptions, animation drawings and (incredibly) the very xylophone on which some of the score was played. Photo credit goes to Dean Brinkerhoff from our visit to the Museum in August. Spooky scary skeletons beware, the dancing has begun!

Monster Quest

2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest. And since the classic animated TV series frequently featured monsters or monster-like creations (including the most dangerous animal, humans), Jonny Quest is a perfect fit with our Countdown to Halloween 2024. PS Be sure and listen to Greg Ehbar's brilliant Hanna-Barbera podcast tribute to Jonny Quest. 

Life Is Like Halloween Here In Duckburg Hollow

How many of the Crypt Keepers participating in this Countdown to Halloween 2024 blogathon have you visited? Be sure and click here to get in on the frightful fun. In the meantime: This poster showcased in DuckTales Magazine no. 6 Fall 1989  exhibits a scene of Uncle Scrooge, the nephews, and Webby encountering a sword wielding specter reminiscent of the Headless horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Whether it’s Donald or not (remember, Donald was rarely included as part of the DuckTales ouevre so its clever of the artists to include him here, however half hidden he is), the fear in their eyes make it evident that this spooky Halloween will be remembered for years to come.

Halloween Plus

Countdown to Halloween 2024 continues: Disney+ has some fun Halloween treats. Here’s the horrifying header from their Halloween selection of spooky titles. Look for The Nightmare Before Christmas, Trick or Treat, Lonesome Ghosts, Hocus Pocus, and more! Classics and curiosities abound! And be sure and read my D23 article all about Disney's Hocus Pocus. 

Ghosts In The Hall

A spooky Disney TV production created for the Disney’s Wonderful World anthology series, “The Ghosts of Buxley Hall” conjured up some intrusive specters, thanks to fun Disney special effects—including the "haunted" portrait itself, painted by David Mattingly who was head of the Disney Matte Department having studied under and worked with the Ellenshaws. This TV Guide article from summer of 1980 gave a glimpse of the ghostly goings on. Broadcast in two parts on December 21 1980 and January 4, 1981, these particular poltergeists seem picture perfect for Countdown to Halloween 2024.