For the final post in Cartoon Network's week, we have the classic Scary Godmother, who appears to show Hannah a good time when she's afraid on Halloween. Scary Godmother's first foray into the movie world opens on Halloween night, with a sweeping shot of kids trick-or-treating. We follow one, Daryl, dressed as a piece of candy, as he runs to a graveyard entrance to meet his friend Katie, who is in a cat costume. He explains that his costume is an attempt to make people give them more candy, and that he believes their friend Jimmy is getting his cousin Hannah, whom his parents are making him take trick-or-treating. Their friend Bert runs up as a baseball player in an SUV, which has a laser cannon, and asking about Jimmy causes the boy to suddenly jump onto a headstone behind them, dressed as the devil. Katie chides him for being late, and he calls out to Hannah. The girl walks out as a fairy princess and gives everyone candy bars, except her cousin, who declares he can get his own candy. Jimmy tries to get his "creatures of the night" moving, but as all but Katie point out they're not creatures, they have to spend time figuring out reasons they could be evil. When Jimmy continues about the evils lurking in the night, Hannah becomes frightened and blinds him with her flashlight. The other kids decide a flashback is needed to explain Hannah's outburst, somehow knowing and reenacting earlier that night when Hannah's parents told her she could scare monsters off with her flashlight. Jimmy suggests that she scare any nearby monsters away, and while she's busy he tells the others that they're going to ditch her. The group is hesitant, but he ultimately pressures them into agreeing as they rationalize getting her to run home. Jimmy tells Hannah that if she wants to be a "big kid" like them, she'll first have to go leave candy in the "spook house," where he claims previous owners were once eaten for not leaving candy for monsters, and as a result a "new kid" every year has to leave candy in the basement. When Hannah surprises them by actually going inside, they cause creepy shadows and sounds, urging her to hurry. She tosses some bandy downstairs and rushes to the doors, but with the others holding it shut from outside, she becomes upset and cries. While she's crying, Scary Godmother and her ghost-cat Boozle appear in dramatic fashion. As Hannah is too distracted crying, Scary Godmother pretends to cry herself to get her attention. She explains that she came because Hannah needed her, and upon learning the girl was scared of monsters, she decides to take Hannah to the "Fright Side" to meet her monster friends. They ride off on Scary Godmother's broom, through magic clouds in the sky and into the Fright Side, decked out in pumpkins. Hannah is quick to accept what's happening, and back in the real world, the other kids become concerned when she doesn't run out screaming. In the Fright Side, Scary Godmother looks for her "broommate," Mr. Skully Pettibone. He suddenly comes out of the closet, one of many gags hinting at him being gay. Hannah is scared at first, but Scary Godmother explains he's her friend, and they tell the girl about a party SG has every year for Halloween. Once introduced to Hannah, he explains that, as most people have skeletons in their closets, he spends his time there rattling around. He asks if Hannah is staying for the party, and when she is hesitant because of monsters, he tries to cheer her up by comparing monsters to spiders: some are nice and some are not-so-nice, but all of them are creepy and crawly. SG cheers up Hannah again by spicing up the room, and we head back to our world where Bert and Jimmy frustrated to not be trick-or-treating. Katie and Daryl, having gotten candy a bit before the meet-up, are trading, and Katie shows she likes him by offering to trade him something for three kisses. Bert interrupts them and thunder crashing turns the kids back to the house as we transition to the Fright Side. Hannah gets another scae as Harry the werewolf shows up, showing both his gluttonous nature going after food, and a feud between himself and Skully, who distracts him with candy. Harry sees Hannah and mistakes her for the actress Ophelia St. TaTa, from his favorite show, and as he chatters away and eats, SG takes us into a side-zone to show how to make a candy treat, which she uses to gum up Harry's mouth. As Skully mocks him, they get more visitors: the vampire family of Count Max, his wife Ruby, and their son Orson. SG, missing that Hannah is afraid of them being vampires, notes that royalty can be intimidating, but offers refreshments. Though the family agrees with everything she suggests, SG remembers she has yet to invite them inside; she explains to Hannah they can't come in unless she does so. Upon finally entering, they go to eat Hannah, but stop when SG explains that she's a friend. Hannah and Orson take an interest in each other, confused by the similarities and differences between them. The pair ignores Ruby's rule to not run, slamming into Skully and Harry. The former breaks apart, and the latter stumbles backward, falling against a counter, where he waits with an open mouth for food that was tossed up, only for a drink to fall in instead, allowing him to talk again. Harry flits with Ruby, so an angry Max gets in the way. When Harry asks him to get an autograph from a celebrity, he hypnotizes the werewolf. Max makes a joke asking for a Bloody Mary without the Mary, when suddenly there is banging on the door from Bug-a-boo. SG invites in the large, multi-eyed monster, whose appearance and excitement horrify Hannah, so she screams, which causes him to scream back. Bug-a-boo tries to mend the problem, but ends up chasing Hannah through the house with everyone in tow. She shines her flashlight in his face, and when he is un-fazed, SG comes up with the explanation that flashlights work on monsters in your closet, while Bug-a-boo goes under beds. Bug-a-boo saddens everyone by deciding to go when Hannah is still afraid, so the girl decides that he might not be all that mean. He admits that monsters are big and scary, but not mean, and agrees to stay, and the true party commences with the movie's classic song. Jimmy becomes annoyed with Bert in our world, already frustrated that Hannah isn't screaming, when in reality she is, mostly in joy and occasionally in fear of Bug-a-boo. While the party gets more lively there, in the human world everyone is turning out their lights and going home. With everyone upset with how things have gone, Katie's demand that they go in for Hannah causes an argument about who the leader is. They decide to take a vote, and all choose themselves. We get a joke of Bert, and then Jimmy also, demanding a recount of the votes repeatedly, with poor Daryl not realizing he's being duped. Katie interrupts and suggests they do rock-paper-scissors, and when Jimmy wins, he declares that they'll keep waiting. Hannah continues to warm up to the monsters, claiming she's not afraid of Orson although she shows different feelings about Bug-a-boo still. As the two discuss their futures, we go to the main room where Harry is being used as a rack with a sight-gag sign around his neck. Max shows his old age, frustrated with fashion changes, and accidentally wakes Harry, who immediately goes to the food. Ruby comforts a sad Max, who feels he isn't good at parties, so she suggests he try making a joke and the two begin "necking," to Orson's disgust. Skully becomes upset upon finding that Harry ate all the food, and SG groups everyone up, where they decide to order a pizza. Orson has to intervene when Max attacks Harry for suggesting they get garlic, and as everyone suggests toppings, Hannah finds that Bug-a-boo, like her, enjoys olives. Harry faces the angry crowd, deciding he'll order the pizzas, and we head to the normal world where everyone but Jimmy is afraid, wondering why Hannah isn't back. Everyone begins to have meltdowns, so Jimmy gives them a slap and rants that there's no such thing as monsters. Back in the Fright Side, the pizza arrives and, to SG's surprise, is $197 before the tip, because Harry ordered 12 expensive pizzas, claiming he wanted to satisfy everyone. As they don't have enough money, the group searches Bug-a-boo, scrounging up enough money to pay. SG grabs Harry with magic, angry about how inconsiderate he can be, and as people take away the pizzas, he says he'll do anything to be let go, which she finally does after listing off a bunch of tasks. As the party continues, Hannah decides to do what she came to do: she gives Bug-a-boo candy, apologizing for being afraid of him. She explains what Jimmy told her, and SG brings us to the climax as she decides they need to teach the others kids a lesson. Like Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, this is another movie that I feel many my age likely enjoyed as kids.
While I don't always watch the other movies I discussed each year, Scary Godmother's Halloween Spooktacular is one I always get the urge to watch. The movie is an adaptation of books and comics from Jill Thompson, who some might know from her work with comic companies like DC. She named Hannah after her niece, and while there are aspects of the movie that follow her water paint style, notably when Scary Godmother gives her snack advice, she wanted the movie to be CGI, according to this interview. I know the CGi definitely isn't always the best, and it might not be great to everyone, but for me it's a charming way of making the art stand out. The designs are interesting and it's clear a lot of care went into making the movie, in the art as well as the story. There's kind of a classic idea in it at the start, with the kids tricking Hannah to go into a "spook house," as stories about kids growing up often involve a nearby house that's been abandoned and is considered haunted. From there it becomes it's own thing, however, as Hannah gets the opportunity to both see that her cousin was lying, and learn that there's actually no reason for her to be afraid of monsters. There's lots of jokes that were put in so adults can enjoy watching like kids do, especially with Skully. While it will go over kids' heads, it's incredibly blatant that he's a representation of homosexual tropes. There's also sight gags like Harry having a sign around his neck calling him a "screwball," and having all these monsters in a normal setting provides the opportunity for jokes like garlic on pizza being a killer for the vampires, and the delivery boy suggesting SG trade her soul to pay for the pizzas. There's also a lot of entertaining moments with the other kids as they wait, like when Bert pretends to have a cb radio. Jimmy notes that no one would have a cb in an SUV anymore, only for Bert to point out that Jimmy is questioning something small when he led his cousin into a house under the pretense that she'd be eaten. As the kids are waiting and becoming frustrated, some of the jokes reflect that, as Bert irritates Jimmy by repeating "door is ajar," and when they take a leader vote, Bert takes pleasure in making Daryl recount the votes. Overall the movie is fun and charming, and despite the adult jokes has a kind of child innocence to a lot of it. This makes it a lot of fun to break out around this time as we prepare for Halloween, and next year there's Hannah's second trip to take a look at!
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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