Walt Disney’s production Trick Or Treat (1952) has become the stuff of gifs and memes which litter social media every Halloween. Although the film debuted in the fifties its longevity as part of the media iconography of Halloween stems from its inclusion in the television special Disney’s Halloween Treat (1982). This holiday special would be re-aired in various forms over the next two decades, incorporating Trick Or Treat into the fabric of three generations’ traditional Halloween media consumption.
The reason that this animated short is so attractive is that it evokes the Halloweens of the past. The figures and forms that populate Trick Or Treat adorned the walls of every elementary school in October throughout the eighties and nineties, hung by teachers who grew up when the images in Trick Or Treat were fresh and even new. Halloween, like Christmas, is a holiday that celebrates the past as traditions along with decorations are passed down from generation to generation. Trick Or Treat represents a nostalgia for a wholly imagined and idealized past in much the same way that 80s horror films appeal to those born in the twenty-first century who came of age with the cast of Stranger Things.
Trick Or Treat, like any Donald Duck (voiced by Clarence Nash) cartoon, is about the belligerent character getting his comeuppance. In this case trick-or-treaters Huey, Dewey and Louie (also voiced by Nash) go to Uncle Donald’s house for Halloween candy and get a series of nasty tricks played on them by Donald. High above, Witch Hazel (voiced by June Foray) spies the boys’ plight and aids them in separating Donald from his candy with some wild spells set to a catchy little song.
The animation is gorgeous and the direction by Jack Hannah evokes the wonder of a spooky autumn night lit by jack o’ lanterns. Hannah directs Trick Or Treat so that even the scarier elements of Witch Hazel’s spell take on a sort of whimsy. The baritone voiced pumpkin in particular manages to be spooky while also being funny. When coupled with the song “Trick or Treat for Halloween” (which is as catchy as the jingle in Halloween III) the animation takes on a kinetic quality that the Disney studio rarely replicated outside of their short films.
Speaking of Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982), I happen to be of the opinion that Trick Or Treat is the perfect short to screen before Tommy Lee Wallace’s ill-fated entry in the Halloween franchise. Both films play into the nostalgic undercurrents of the holiday and focus on the tradition of trick-or-treating specifically. It’s also a good way to find out which song is more catchy.
