The Halloween Tree (film)

For other uses, see The Halloween Tree.

The Halloween Tree
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
Distributor	Turner Entertainment
Release date	October 2, 1993
Run time	1:09:25
Starring	Leonard Nimoy Kevin Michaels Edan Gross Andrew Keegan Alex Greenwald Annie Barker
Narrated by	Ray Bradbury
Executive producer(s)	David Kirschner
Music composed by	John Debney
Screenplay by	Ray Bradbury
Director(s)	Mario Piluso Gordon Hunt (voices) Kris Zimmerman (voices)
Title card

The Halloween Tree is an American animated fantasy television film for Halloween. It aired on October 2, 1993 on ABC. It was adapted from the 1972 novel of the same name, both written by Ray Bradbury, directed by Mario Piluso, and voice directed by Gordon Hunt and Kris Zimmerman.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Narrator (voice only)	Ray Bradbury
Jenny's mother (voice only)	Unavailable
Jenny	Annie Barker
Ralph	Alex Greenwald
Ralph's mother
Ralph's father	Mark Taylor
Wally	Andrew Keegan
Tom Skeleton	Edan Gross
Pip Pipkin	Kevin Michaels
Mr. Pipkin	N/A
Mrs. Pipkin	N/A
Mr. Moundshroud	Leonard Nimoy
Granddaughter	Unavailable
Witches	Unavailable
Zombies	Unavailable

Organizations

• Di'a Demuertos (mentioned)
• Vuz de Mexico (mentioned)

Locations

• Earth
  • Midwestern United States
    • Jenny's residence
    • Ralph's residence
    • Wally's residence
    • Skeleton residence
    • Pipkin residence
    • Moundshroud residence
  • Arctic (mentioned)
  • Africa
    • Egypt
  • France
    • Paris
      • Notre Dame
  • Mexico
• The Moon

Objects

• Jenny's bike
• Flying broomsticks
• Di'a Demuertos newspaper
• Vuz de Mexico newspaper

Vehicles

• Ambulance

Production

Development

Author Ray Bradbury had initially conceived the idea of an animated film after a meeting with animation director Chuck Jones, based on a painting of a "Halloween tree" Bradbury did in 1960, which had historical references from around the world, some of which occur in the special. Both Bradbury and Jones felt that kids didn't understand the meaning behind Halloween. Bradbury was hired to write a screenplay at MGM, where Jones worked, but according to Bradbury, the studio ceased business producing animation at the time. Bradbury turned it into a novel, instead, which was published in 1972. The Halloween Tree had been optioned as a cartoon by small studios, but nothing came of it until he got a call from David Kirschner, chief at Hanna-Barbera. Bradbury worked with Hanna-Barbera for a year, finding a "great rapport with the staff," especially director Mario Piluso. Kirschner had also arranged for the special to be syndicated by Turner Program Services.

Filming

It was copyrighted in 1993.

Music

The music was composed by John Debney. The director of music production was Bodie Chandler. The music editor was Kim Naves, and the scoring mixer was Murray McFadden.

Crew credits

• Executive producer: David Kirschner
• Co-executive producer: Mark Young
• Associate producer: Kunio Shimamura
• Art director: Al Gmuer
• Unit production coordinator: Tori Pollock
• Storyboard directors: Gary Graham, Dick Sebast
• Additional sequences: Sherilan Weinhart
• Animation directors: Robert Alvarez, Emory Myrick, Marlene Robinson-May, Karen Peterson, Michel Richon, Woody Yokum
• Track reader: Jim Hearn
• Casting director: Kris Zimmerman
• Talent coordinator: Jill Ziegenhagen
• Supervising recording engineer: Edwin Collins
• Recording engineer: Alvy Dorman
• Designers: Virginia Hawes, George Goodchild, Mario Williams, Marcus Nickerson
• Additional designers: Roger Chiasson, Karenia Kamenski, Bob Tyler
• Design assistants: Dana Jo Granger, Donna Zeller
• Background layout key designers: James Alles, Ron Roesch, Dean Thompson, Joe Binggeli
• Background supervisors: Craig Robertson, Jerry Loveland
• Additional background designer: Leonard Robledo
• Ink and paint supervisor: Alison Leopold
• Color key animator: Suzette Darling
• Xerographist: Star Wirth
• Graphics artist: Tom Wogatzke
• Animation checking supervisor: Jan Adams
• Animation checker: Beth Goodwin
• Technical director: Jerry Mills
• Camera operators: Steve Mills, Neil Viker, James Keefer, Robert Jacobs
• Post production supervisor: Tom Gleason
• Supervisor editor: Michelle Douglas
• Editor: Gil Iverson
• Post production coordinator: Jeannine Roussel
• Sound effects supervisor: Joel Valentine
• Additional group ADR: Cynthia Daly
• Telecine colorist: Trent Johnson
• Re-recording mixers: Chris Jenkins, Mark Smith, Adam Jenkins, Elmo Ponsdomenech
• Negative consultant: William DeBoer, Jr.
• Production executive: Catherine Winder
• Program executive: Joey Every
• Production supervisor: Debby Hindman
• Production assistants: Sandy Benenanti, Valerie Menk, Linda Moore, Gail Prewitt
• Animation service: Fil-Cartoons
  • Overseas production supervisor: Jerry Smith
  • Overseas layout supervisor: Margaret Parkes
  • Overseas animation director: Chris Cuddington

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: October 2, 1993 at 8:30 pm on CBS
• United Kingdom and Ireland:

Behind the scenes

• Ray Bradbury provided audio commentary on LaserDisc releases of the film.

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result
Daytime Emmy Awards	1994	Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program	Ray Bradbury	Won
Daytime Emmy Awards	1994	Outstanding Animated Program	David Kirschner Mark Young Mario Piluso	Nominated

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • September 14, 1994: Turner Home Entertainment releases The Halloween Tree on VHS.
  • August 29, 1995: Turner Home Entertainment releases The Halloween Tree on VHS.
  • October 18, 1995: Image Entertainment releases The Halloween Tree on LaserDisc.
  • September 10, 1996: Turner Home Entertainment releases The Halloween Tree on VHS.
  • August 28, 2012: Warner Archive Collection releases The Halloween Tree on DVD.
  • August 30, 2016: Warner Home Video releases The Halloween Tree on DVD.
• In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
  • October 10, 1995: First Independent Films releases The Halloween Tree on VHS.