Halloween: Trick or Treat

 

Welcome to the final review of Halloween.  Before we move on there is something that I have been wanting to do this entire time even though it has no relevance to today's article whatsoever.  Hit it.  

Sorry but had to get that out of my system. Anyways join me today for one final Halloween review where he take a look at a short that stars Donald and his nephews alongside Disney's Witch Hazel.

The Plot

The plot of this short is simple but it works in the context of a Donald Duck short. Hewey, Dewey, & Louie are trick or treating. We see them go to Uncle Donald's house but instead of giving he gives them firecrackers.  Witch Hazel who had been watching from her broom, Beelzebub.   Seeing this upsets her and she wants to help the boys get candy anyway she can.  Therefore she goes about working on a spell to cast on Donald that she uses to help the boys.  As I said the plot is simple but it works and it does keep the short moving at a rather nice pace.

Characters

I'll just be doing this as Main characters seeing as all of the characters played somewhat of an important role.  Our old friend Ducky returns to voice not only Donald but also his nephews as well.  Shouldn't be too surprising when you think about it.  It also explains why the boys had very little dialogue.

Main Characters

Donald Duck voiced by Clarence "Ducky" Nash

  

Now there is no true villain in this short but Donald comes mighty close to being one.  I have noticed that in the shorts with the nephews you either get Angry Donald or Jerk Donald.  In this short, we were given Jerk Donald. He was just being rude to the boys playing a prank on them like that. Yes I know that the boys have done far to their Uncle Donald but it is never stated what provoked Donald other than he thought it would be funny. Really, that's all you need. Because it worked and led to a great battle between him and Witch Hazel over the candy.  Donald's actions and movements when Witch Hazel cast a spell on him were just priceless.  I have come to the forgone conclusion that most shorts Donald appear he is show stopper and that was clearly evident here.  It's no wonder that for a while he overtook Mickey as the most popular Disney character because he is just so funny.  

Hewey, Dewey, & Louie also voiced by "Ducky"

Hewey, Dewey, & Louie while I have always liked them and thought that they could be fun in shorts. I don't think that was the case here as they felt underused but when your working with characters such as Donald or heck even, Witch Hazel who is a scene stealer in her own right it's easy for them to be overlooked.  They are fun in the short but I don't think this was their best appearance. Honestly in some moments it felt as though they were being pushed to the side for Donald and Witch Hazel.  Which begs the question, how would a short with just Donald and Witch Hazel work?   Personally, I could see it working quite well.

Witch Hazel  voiced by  June Foray

While Hazel may be a witch she comes across as sweet and caring.  It also seems that she has a fondness for children as evidenced by how she wants to help the boys.  Now before we go any further, yes I'm aware of the Looney Tunes character of the same name but other than that these two witches are as different as night and day.  She is another fun character especially with how she casts the spell on Donald and it makes him dance like crazy. Not to mention it brings to life in a song that reminds both of Grim Grinning Ghosts and Pink Elephants on Parade.  It's a fun little Halloween song.  One ting I noticed about this character is while she got mad she never lost her temper.  Donald did cause to almost but she didn't.  That was a great counter for Donald.  

Music

Trick or Treat

This is a fun little song and to be honest I had forgotten about it before I watched this short.  It is a fun Halloween song.  It works well  in the context of the short. Up above I said that this song reminded me of Pink Elephants. That mainly has to do with the objects coming to life and the freakout Donald is having.  Though that probably isn't the best comparison.  All the same, it's a fine song.

My Final Thoughts

In the end, I thought this was a good short. In some ways, I'm glad that I reviewed this instead because I always enjoy watching old Disney shorts starring the original voice actors and seeing how they brought these characters to life.  I may like Tony Anselmo, the current voice of Donald Ducky but he has nothing on "Ducky".   This is a fun Halloween short that I suggest you track down if your interested.  Look now I know I was supposed to review Mickey's House of Villains. Here's this instead from that...

I hope you have enjoyed these Halloween articles and...