Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku - Day 11: Trick or Treat... Bless their little black hearts !!

Greetings, Boils & Ghouls...

... and welcome to 'Day Eleven' of "Abnor Mal's Guide To Creepy Cartoon Classics on Roku" where I aim to bring you another creepy cartoon classic from the plethora of spooky animated short films that have been released throughout the course of animation history - any of which can be streamed on TV via the magic of Roku media players - so let's dim those lights, for some more fun & frights! :-O


If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - that I published eleven days ago, you will know that I plan to post a Hallowe'en / Horror related article every day, throughout the month of October, featuring one vintage cartoon classic with spooky overtones each and every time. With recommendations for thirty-one of the most spook-tacular shorts I can find, by the end of the month, this means you'll have plenty of great choices for your creepy cartoon viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en... as well as ensuring lots of laughs & screams come October 31st! :-D


Likewise... if you read my post from 'Day Ten' of this month-long blogathon, you may recall that it featured a witch who had a valuable lesson to impart, on the subject of Hallowe'en, and began with some youngsters getting ready to "Trick or Treat" the neighbours. Well, by some strange coincidence, there's also a witch in today's creepy cartoon classic... and the title of this short is"Trick or Treat"! :-)






Now, if you still don't recognise the origin of this vintage animated short, I'm sure you will recognise who the star is once you see the opening sequence... which features a likeness of the character painted in white across a garden fence - as per the still frame image shown below - so, can you tell who it is?






Yes, it's none other than 'Donald Duck'... and the caricature that's daubed on the fence is no doubt a bit darker than normal to signify that this is a Hallowe'en episode and 'Donald' is a little more sinister than usual - dare I say, even toocruel at times - when it comes to greeting Huey, Dewey and Louie as they arrive on his doorstep hoping to fill their "Trick or Treat" bags but get more than they bargained for from 'Uncle Donald', who takes even more delight than normal in pranking his nephews! :-O



























As the triplets sit in the gutter, feeling dejected, along comes 'Witch Hazel' on her trusty broomstick called 'Beelzebub' and says to Huey, Dewey and Louie: "I saw the whole thing, kids!" plus, on seeing their excitement at being in the presence of a "real" witch, she offers to help them get their candy! :-)











If you think that's bad enough, worse was yet to come... but, rather than reveal any more of the plot at this stage, why don't you sit back and enjoy this Hallowe'en episode of "Donald Duck" yourselves, courtesy of this 'YouTube' video, which was kindly uploaded by 'The Long 4' for everybody to see:-






PLEASE NOTE:- That, while there is also an 'HD version' floating about online, the higher quality is only offered at the cost of a (slightly) cropped image. From what I can tell, it looks like the picture on that copy has been zoomed-in prior to uploading. What I will say is that, if you're not bothered by the prospect of not seeing the full image on-screen, the colours in the 'HD' version really do "pop" and are far better than in the low quality embedded video above. However, for the purposes of this post, I wanted to share a video which showed the full picture (as the animators intended) so, for that reason, I decided to sacrifice the (cropped/zoomed) higher quality for the sake of seeing the whole thing! ;-)


Of course, in addition to watching this embedded version of the cartoon right here on this blog, you can also choose to stream it on your big screen television by using the "cast" function built-in to the 'YouTube' app(s) for mobile devices on both the iOS (Apple) plus Android platforms. For those who may have missed my special hallowe'en blogathon preview posted eleven days ago, to "cast" the video to your Roku player and/or NowTV device(s), you will first need to have the Roku channel (app) for 'YouTube' installed to act as a receiver for the stream you are casting. If you're not sure how to go about casting from your mobile device to your Roku there's a help article from 'Roku Support', which can be found on the official Roku website, that walks you through the process step-by-step! ;-)







YOUTUBE..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***



On whichever platform you decide to stream this video, listen-out for the recurring theme tune that accompanies different sections of this animated short. In addition to being heard during the opening sequence for this cartoon, the song is reprised (with additional verses & lyrics) just after the 4-minute mark... and again (briefly) from around 07m 46s until the end credits roll. Written by Paul J. Smith (who also composed the "Leave it to Beaver" theme, plus some feature-length Disney classics such as "Pinocchio", and "Cinderella", to name but two) the song "Trick or Treat for Halloween” is extremely catchy and will doubtless get stuck in your head for ages after you hear it. Full credit goes to the artist for doing such a great job with this track... and, if you'd like to discover more about "The Mellomen", there is a dedicated page on 'Wikipedia' which is as good a place as any to start. Meanwhile, in case you would like to sing along, I've transcribed the lyrics for all three sections of the song below:-


Lyrics to "TRICK OR TREAT FOR HALLOWEEN" by The Mellomen


PART ONE - from 00m 00s to 00m 30s:

Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat for Halloween
Better give a treat that's good to eat
If you want to keep life serene

Trick or Treat (Trick or Treat)
Trick or Treat (Trick or Treat)
Trick or Treat the whole night through
Little scallawags
With fiendish gags
Can make it tough on you

So when ghosts and goblins by the score
Ring the bell on your front door
Better not be stingy or
Your nightmares will come true...


PART TWO - from 04m 06s to 04m 50s:

Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat for Halloween
When the pumpkin shells
Cast evil spells
Your little white house turns green
Your little white house turns green
Your little white house turns green

Every post
Is a ghost
If you've got a witch's brew
And if you want your gate to circulate
Ho ho! We can do that too!

Trick or Treat (Trick or Treat)
Trick or Treat (Trick or Treat)
Trick or Treat for Halloween
When ghosts and goblins by the score
Ring the bell on your front door
You'd better not be stingy or
Your nightmares will come true...


PART THREE - from 07m 46s to 08m 08s:

So when ghosts and goblins by the score
Ring your bell or pound your door
Better not be stingy or…

BOOO!



Since we're on the subject of the music from this animated short, now seems as good a time as any to share a screenshot image of the front cover to the sheet music of "Trick or Treat for Halloween" and, as an added bonus, an excerpt from the official comic book that features the words to the song being sung by a chorus of ghosts in the night sky, as 'Donald Duck' watches them from his window below:-