When it comes to Halloween specials, what do you typically turn on? Do you go for something as simple as Casper the Friendly Ghost, something chilling like The Halloween Tree, or do you keep things classic with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown? For our favorite specials, we’re taking a detour to the house of mouse.
Disney has no shortage of Halloween tricks and treats, and though they are responsible for flicks like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, their TV specials can be just as frightening and fun. Don’t believe us? Have a look at ten of Disney’s fun and forgotten Halloween specials.
Toy Story of Terror
One of the newest on our list, Toy Story of Terror had its moment in 2013 but has since kinda faded into the background. It may not be the most memorable short featuring Woody and company, but it’s definitely one of the most unique specials on our list.
When a group of Bonnie’s toys get stranded and stuck in a roadside motel on a trip, strange things begin to happen when they start vanishing one-by-one. Without going into spoilers, let’s just say that the short gives classic horror tropes a twist when seen through the eyes of the toys. Definitely don’t skip this one.
Boo To You Too, Winnie the Pooh
Don’t let the willy-nilly, silly old bear throw you off, this is actually a really good kid-friendly special, even with some light scares thrown in. With humor, heart, and haunted hijinx, this adventure of Winnie the Pooh will give you the warm and festive feeling autumn always brings.
The plot is more complex than most Pooh episodes, branching from a night of trick-or-treating, Piglet conquering his various phobias, and Rabbit protecting his prize-winning pumpkin patch. Whether you’re a child seeing this for the first time, or an adult wanting something more nostalgic, light your jack-o-lantern and put this on this Halloween.
Terrifying Tales of Recess (Recess)
Now that we’ve got the more fun and festive specials out of the way, let’s bring out some episodes that really give us the creeps. What better way to start than with Recess’s “Terrifying Tales of Recess.” As if Ms. Finster wasn’t already haunting our dreams…
What happens if you take a series from Disney’s One Saturday Morning and blend it with Tales from the Crypt? You get this nifty anthology of playground terror. These sequences feature a tribute to Stephen King’s Christine, a werewolf-hunting excursion, and an army of zombies lurking beneath the school. It’s definitely not your average episode for this fondly remembered series.
The Ghost in Suite 613 (Suite Life of Zack and Cody)
Love it or hate it, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody is one of Disney’s most memorable and quotable sitcoms of the 2000s, but many fans’ favorite episode is definitely “The Ghost in Suite 613.” Though the series was rife with screwball comedy, cliches, and cheezy lines, this is one episode that gave us the shivers.
When the boys find out about the ghost of a heart-broken woman resides in the titular suite 613, they decide to spend the night as horror cliche dictates. Anyone who’s seen this episode knows how eerie it gets, and it’s definitely not something we’d expect from the show.
Mickey’s House of Villains
Disney’s House of Mouse was one of their greatest animated series. A club featuring all of our favorite Disney characters sounds like a great idea until the villains decide to take over. What follows is a straight-to-video special that puts Jafar and Disney’s best villains against Mickey, Minnie, and all their friends.
The Mickey vs. Villains plot works great in providing a frame, but the short-films aired also ring in the spooky season. With classics like Lonesome Ghosts and more modern shorts like Donald’s Halloween Scare (which is actually kinda creepy), Disney fans young and old will d certainly get a kick out of this villainous treat.
Spooky (Lilo and Stitch: The Series)
Remember when Pennywise was a featured guest on Lilo and Stitch: The Series? Okay, that’s not 100% true. But what else would you call an alien that can transform into your worst fear (including a clown)? Jumba called him Experiment 300, but Lilo and Stitch call him Spooky.
Despite starring our favorite alien troublemaker, this episode really pounds that creep factor, especially when he transforms into a decapitated zombie Lilo to scare Myrtle and her minions. From zombies to clowns to Jumba’s evil ex-wife, Spooky certainly gives a certain killer clown a little competition when it comes to transformations.
Under Wraps
We’re kind of cheating on this one by including a Disney Channel Original Movie, but because it was technically the first so we’re going to let it slide. With the wake of such Halloween favorites as Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown, Under Wraps is often swept under-rug, but we consider it an underrated classic, in and out of Halloween.
The plot is pretty simple for a Halloween flick, a group of kids befriends a resurrected mummy and must reunite him with his sarcophagus before he turns to dust. As DCOMs go, it’s pretty good for a first try and is certainly better than some of their later attempts, we’re looking at you, High School Musical.
Disney’s Haunted Halloween
In spite of it being an educational special produced by Disney, we have to admit this one gets a little spookier than others, mostly thanks to an uber-creepy narrator. How many other Disney specials talk to Goofy about druids, witchcraft, ancient traditions, and evil spirits?
Although the feature is only eight minutes long, it does give a pretty engaging lesson in Halloween history. It might not be as memorable as some of the other specials featured on our list, but we’ve got to give props to Disney for giving us some chills while trying to educate us at the same time.
Walt Disney Presents: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
We can already hear you complaining on this one. Yes, we know it’s already part of a Disney feature film, but Walt Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow gets a special mention for two huge factors.
First, it was a TV special presented by Walt Disney himself, which is already a pretty big honor. And second, Walt Disney and his animators made a short prequel dedicated to the life of the author Washington Irving. The Sleepy Hollow portion is identical to the half featured in Ichabod and Mr. Toad, but let’s get real, no Halloween is complete without it.
Disney’s Halloween Treat
If ever there was a Disney Special that embodied all the best tricks and treats of Halloween, it’s Disney’s Halloween Treat. Released in 1982, this special features everything you could want from Disney during the season. With ghosts, witches, and a few of Disney’s best villains, what more do you need for a Disney Halloween?
The special is a compilation of Halloween shorts and Silly Symphonies, but it also opens with the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence from Fantasia and ends with Disney’s version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Disney’s Halloween Treat is essentially a best-of sort of affair, with plenty of tricks and treats to ring in the haunted holiday.
