Tomorrow is the premiere of the Pixar produced “Toy Story of Terror”, a Halloween special starring the “Toy Story” gang. I’m very excited for this. In celebration I’m looking back on memories I have on some favorite Halloween specials. Read on to find out which ones…

D-TV: Monster Hits (1987)

This is an awesome Disney special that we had recorded on VHS. As a kid I learned how to use the VCR just so I could watch this special, specifically for the “Ghostbusters” segment which I mentioned in a previous post. In the video above you can watch the whole special and see it was just music videos made out of cut-up Disney cartoons (shorts & features) using “spooky” or “spooky-ish” songs from different eras including some awesome hit’s from the 80’s like “Thriller”. In some cases I only associate some of these songs with this special. CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising” will never be the same to me. I recently discovered that the host of the special, the Magic Mirror, was played by Jeffrey Jones at the height of his 80’s popularity.

Claymation Comedy of Horrors (1991)

Will Vinton produced many Claymation specials, all of which I personally remember as amazing, sadly he’s best known for the “California Raisins” and that’s about it. Luckily both Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel would play his stuff. This special I remember enjoying, the animation is a little creepy which helps make this a creepy special. I haven’t rewatched it since childhood and I will probably keep it that way for now, if only so that I don’t tarnish its memory.

Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977)

This a pretty fun special that can be watched in its entirety in the video above. Not as charming as the Christmas classic, and missing the one-two punch of Chuck Jones animation with Boris Karloff vocals, but still works pretty well. You can see that Dr. Seuss was an influence on Tim Burton, and this special reeks of his type of vibe. The animation is okay for the 70’s, I remember liking it a lot as a kid. It might have been one of those things where I kept missing it on t.v. when it was on so that made me desire it that much more.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

I guess I should mention this one if only because people expect it to be mentioned. I enjoy the special but have probably watched it too many times that I’m literally numb to its charms. I prefer the Christmas special and have a soft spot for the Thanksgiving special too if only because we had it on a VHS. I should probably mention that our parents used to make us VHS mixtapes of cartoons recorded off the television. The odd groupings on some of these are fascinating even if they are now ingrained on my memory as always being together. This Charlie Brown special did not make the cut on any of those tapes. It holds up pretty well and you should watch it if you haven’t but why haven’t you? What are you racist?

Any specials I left out? Thoughts?