Short Subject: Trick or Treat (1952)

The month of spooks, pumpkins, and eating far too much candy is upon us so let’s take a look at some Halloween themed stuff.

First off I love the theme in this short.  The trick or treat song used throughout it is great and very catchy.  I love the opening credits as well, using a white paint effect of Donald’s face and titles, and it ties back nicely with the song when Witch Hazel bewitches the paintbrush to start painting Donald’s white house green.

Speaking of Witch Hazel when I heard her name I immediately thought of Witch Hazel from the Warner Brother’s shorts and thought that that was too much of a coincidence and it turns out I was right.  Chuck Jones used this Witch Hazel as the inspiration for the Warner Brother’s character and that’s why they’re so similar.  Also why she only shows up in this short I’m guessing before somebody got sued.  Her mischief making personality works well here though because of who is on the receiving end.

Now Donald Duck is my favourite character among the fab five, but he is such an asshole in this short and so the blast of karma the Hazel gives him is so richly deserved.  Unlike the plot in other shorts like Crazy Over Daisy Donald is the one who instigated things when he tricked Huey, Dewy, and Louie with the firecrackers in their treat bags and the bucket of water.  If he had done that and then gave out the treats that he obviously had that would have been one thing, but he didn’t.  So I think his comeuppance is perfectly acceptable especially since Hazel comes to the door after the first trick to try and do things politely and he repeats the water trick.  This also makes me wonder why Donald even bothered to have a bowl of candy considering he seemed determined to be an ass to everyone who came to his door.  If you don’t want to hand out candy Donald you can just turn off your porch light you know.    

Still I really like this short in-spite of Donald’s rotten behaviour.  In fact that probably helps it because I can just root for Hazel and the boys to triumph over Donald while not feeling that he is getting something he doesn’t deserve since he started it.  The music is excellent obvious, the story is funny, and it’s Disney so of course the animation is good.  All in all a fun spooky short that gets me in the mood for the Halloween.