Was I just not paying close attention,
or were the media observances of Ray Bradbury’s death at 91 this
June pretty subdued? Some old guy in California croaked; don’t
worry, no Kardashians were harmed. That’s the kind of thinking I
fear goes on in what newsrooms remain operational these days.
One of the most heartfelt tributes to
the fantasy-oriented author-poet-playwright hailed from local
novelist Les Roberts on his website www.lesroberts.com; I urge all to
read it who know of Ray Bradbury as more than just someone whose
stuff you had to ingest in school. For myself, I can only say that
when I was a young lad a next-door neighbor girl, Rita, gave me a
paperback of The Martian Chronicles as a Christmas gift. She
was almost apologetic about it; she had no idea what I wanted and
just grabbed the first book on the rack at the drugstore. Needless to
say, the book (which was not a homework assignment) held me
absolutely spellbound, and I’ve always been grateful to her.
I expect that if any cinematic tribute
to Bradbury appears on our screens, probably at the Art Museum or the
Cinematheque, it will be a revival of Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation of
FAHRENHEIT 451. Ewing was just knighted by the French, so his
hands were tied, no doubt. But were I to have any say about
Cinematheque programming (and the venue, hit by plummeting ticket
sales, would soon be deader than Ray Bradbury), I would point to
another title as the best-ever screen transmutation of the
notoriously tough-to-visualize author.
It’s 1994’s THE HALLOWEEN TREE,
a direct-to-video release from Hanna-Barbara Studios. Say what? Yes,
the same cartoon assembly line that gave the world the Flintstones
and the Jetsons pulled off a minor miracle, in my opinion. Director
Mario Piluso’s feature is a well-rendered, intelligent
phantasmagoria that follows Bradbury's 1972 novel quite closely but
stands on its own merits.
Ready to trick-or-treat on Halloween
eve, four costumed kids learn that their Peter Pan-esque leader Joe
`Pip' Pipkin is sick and won't be coming. Yet they glimpse his
phantom flitting ahead, and follow the apparition through the woods
to a tree hung heavy with Jack O’lanterns. Pip picks a pumpkin
possessing a face just like his, then disappears into a whirlwind.
From a nearby mansion emerges a
grotesque old man named Carapace
Clavicle Moundshroud, who proposes to help the children retrieve
their friend while touring the historical roots of Halloween.
The youngsters travel through time and
space, successive destinations dictated by their costumes; a mummy
disguise means a visit to ancient Egypt; a witch getup, the Dark Ages
in Europe; quasi-Quasimodo makeup, Notre Dame Cathedral with its
gargoyles, etc. Moundshroud materializes in each to emphasize the
macabre rites and folk customs that have enabled humanity through the
eons to face death. Pip, it turns out, is gravely ill, and
Moundshroud, some manner of Angel of Death, intends to claim him. But
that doesn’t mean the fiend can’t be bargained with…
Animation is just about the only medium
that could successfully convey Bradbury's magical and poetic text;
I’d expect a live-action production of The Halloween Tree
would have been as awkward as, well,
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES,
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, A SOUND OF THUNDER, the
made-for-TV MARTIAN CHRONICLES and other futile feints at the
writer's descriptive sorcery. While Hanna-Barbara's repute rests on a
cheapo drawing techniques heavily reliant on simplified lines and
Xeroxed cels, THE HALLOWEEN TREE is no quickie. Background
paintings are rich and detailed, and the circus-poster "October
kite" that transports the kids to distant realms is particularly
memorable.
Leonard Nimoy (who has recorded
Bradbury audio anthologies) gets top billing as the voice of
Moundshroud, affecting a great cackling falsetto similar to the late
Hans Conreid, nothing at
all like his famous role as the
emotionless alien Spock. Moundshroud also underscores that THE
HALLOWEEN TREE offers something rare indeed in the often
hackneyed scripts of “family” features, an ambiguous villain who
isn't even defeated in the end, but accommodated.
It would be treat, not a trick, to see
THE HALLOWEEN TREE on the big screen. I don’t know that it
will ever happen though. In any case, thanks for the inspiration, Mr.
Bradbury, thanks for the film, Mr. Piluso, thanks for the tribute,
Mr. Roberts, and thanks for the book, Rita.
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