Four lonesome ghosts, desperate for a few new souls to haunt, make a phone call to the Ajax Ghost Exterminators hoping to “scare the pants off of them.” Luckily for Disney fans, the exterminators happen to be Disney’s Holy Trinity: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.
The trio, surprised by the fact that someone called them, head out to the haunted house in order to eliminate the terrors within. They decide to split up in order to surround the ghosts and each one has a prank-filled encounter.
Mickey has a run in with surfing ghosts. Donald gets paddled by one of the specters. Goofy, in the longest sequence in the short, utters the line, “I ain’t’a scared’a no ghost” while being taunted by a trombone playing apparition who tricks him with a mirror. Do our heroes save the day or do they succumb to the terror of four lonesome ghosts? Check out the short for yourself to find out!
Directed by Burt Gillett and featuring the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey, Clarence Nash as Donald, and Pinto Colvig as Goofy, this nine minute short is perfect for youngsters and older Disney fans alike. Billy Bletcher, best known for voicing Pete during the 1930’s through the 1950’s, voices the “short ghost” in the animated short. That’s four legendary voices in one nine minute film!
People that know me are well aware of the fact that Goofy is my all time favorite Disney character. Originally created in 1932 by Walt Disney, the character has always held a special place in my heart. Seeing him take the spotlight in this short was wonderful. It’s currently available to stream on Disney+ and has been released multiple times on VHS and DVD as either an extra or as part of a compilation. As far as I know, it is not available on Blu-ray just yet but I may be wrong.
As always, thanks for checking out my post. If you haven’t seen this short, be sure to give it a look. I’ll have another animated short review for all of you tomorrow!
My first trip to Walt Disney World was way back in 1999. Having been a massive fan of Disney for my entire life and wanting to visit at least one of the company’s theme parks, this was a major moment for me. My wife and I visited all of the parks at Disney World over our week-long honeymoon that year. One of the highlights for me was getting the chance to visit the Haunted Mansiondark ride.
One of the first things that I noticed about the line queue leading up to the mansion was the numerous headstones that littered the path. “Here Lies Good Old Fred, A Great Big Rock Fell On His Head” is just one of the many humorous epitaphs that I read along the way. Once my wife and I were inside the mansion, a “ghost host” welcomed us and the rest of the foolish mortals. Then the walls began to stretch and the lights go out. Above our heads, a person is hanging from the ceiling. Then we enter a corridor that leads us to our “doom buggies.”
The buggy takes us through the rest of the mansion. It features numerous animatronic ghouls and ghosts, projected images (including a breathtaking ballroom full of dancing ghosts), eerie music, and tons of spooky sound and light effects.
The ride eventually ends up in a graveyard where the ghost host warns us to not pick up any hitchhikers. We then see three ghosts hoping to hitch a ride in our doom buggies. As we make the final turn to exit the ride, there’s a special surprise waiting for us in our doom buggies!
This ride is one of my favorites at Disney World. Sure, there are plenty of other horror rides out there that will scare the bejeezus out of you, but the attention to detail, the brilliant effects, and the wonderful music make this my favorite haunted ride. Be aware that there are definitely a few scary moments during this ride that will definitely spook younger audiences, but overall it is a very fun and enjoyable ride.
In 1996, Disney released an album entitled Music From The Park that featured a number of famous artists performing covers of park songs and a few original songs as well. Artists as varied as Tim Curry (he performs a spoken word version of The Ballad of Davy Crockett) and the Pointer Sisters (Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)) appear on the album with highlights including the original tune Remember The Magic by Brian McKnight and the hard-to-find Illuminations 25 by the Disney Big Band. My favorite track on the album is a cover of Grim Grinning Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion attraction by the Barenaked Ladies. Copies of the album are available online, but copies that contain Illuminations 25 are difficult to find. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of the rare release from my sister who visited the park in 1996.
Thanks for checking out my post. I hope that you get a chance to visit one of the Disney theme parks and experience the Haunted Mansion. I’ve been to Disney World a total of three times and plan on going again in a few years. If you have visited the mansion, let me know what you think about it in the comments section! More spooky goodness coming up tomorrow!
When one thinks of horror films, they probably don’t think about films produced by Disney. While the Mouse is best known for its family films, it has managed to produce a few solid horror flicks, albeit mostly of the family friendly variety. One of the earliest Disney horror films to push that family friendly envelope was 1980’s The Watcher In The Woods. Based on the novel A Watcher In The Woods by Florence Engel Randall, the film has garnered a decent cult following over the years.
Non-Spoiler Review Ahead!!!!
The film starred Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, Lynn-Holly Johnson, and Kyle Richards. It tells the story of two young girls, Jan and Ellie (Johnson and Richards), who experience bizarre occurrences and witness strange lights and ghostly apparitions in the woods near their new home in England. They are also creeped out by their landlord, Mrs. Aylwood (Davis), who tells Jan that she looks very similar to her own daughter who went missing thirty years prior.
Ellie buys a dog in town and is compelled to name it Nerak. That name stuns Jan and a local boy that she’s taken a liking to named Mike (Benedict Taylor), who tells Jan about the mystery that surrounds the disappearance of Mrs. Aylwood’s daughter. Driven by a desire to find out the truth and pushed to do so by an apparently supernatural force, Jan goes on the hunt to find out what really happened to Mrs. Aylwood’s daughter and hopes to bring her home. Does Jan find out the truth? Check out The Watcher In The Woods to find out!
I decided to give this film a spoiler-free review because even the smallest spoiler could ruin the film as a whole. It’s not Disney’s best film and I wouldn’t rank it very high as a horror film, but it definitely has tons of creepiness and atmosphere throughout its run time. It’s safe enough for children to watch but younger kids will probably get very scared at certain moments.
The film’s original ending and original opening sequences were met with criticism by early audiences in a limited release. Disney went back to the drawing board and completely changed the original opening and edited the ending for special effects, monster effects, and even deleted an entire sequence that many felt was just too “out there” for audiences to understand. There are currently three different endings and two opening sequences available to check out.
The cast does a surprisingly good job, especially Lynn-Holly Johnson, who carries the bulk of the film on her shoulders. Bette Davis is sufficient with her limited role and Carroll Baker does a superb job as Jan and Ellie’s mother, Helen. David McCallum, perhaps best known for his role as Illya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., does a nice job as the father of Jan and Ellie. The rest of the cast do a great job of building tension during the film and bringing the suspense level to its peak near the film’s climax. The film’s music also did a great job of building the creepiness of the film overall.
The film isn’t currently available on Disney+ and was last released on DVD in the early 2000’s. It is available for purchase in the Disney Movie Club if you’re a member of that particular group. You can also find the film on YouTube but you’ll have to do some digging to find the original opening and/or the other ending sequences.
Thanks for reading my brief review. I hope that you check out The Watcher in the Woods if for no other reason than to see just how bizarre a Disney film can be when the “family friendly” reins are loosened a bit. More horrific Disney fun is on the way the rest of this month!
Despite a major hurricane destroying most of my home and internet service that won’t be very reliable, yours truly will go forward with Thirty-One Days O’Horror! My first post will be published tomorrow and I will do my best to review a minimum of three films each week and I’ll also throw in a few other horrific goodies not pertaining to this year’s theme: Disney Horror.
One of those wonderful extras will be a review of David J. Skal’s Hollywood Gothic. Be sure to look for that review in a couple of weeks. Other reviews will include a few creepy collectibles, possibly another book or two, and a few other spook-tacular tidbits that I’ll surprise you all with during the month.
My research into Disney horror started prior to the hurricane, so I’ve already found some ghastly gems that will definitely haunt you as you read my posts this month. If there’s something in particular that you’d like me to cover, let me know in the comments section!
As always, thanks for reading. Get ready for a month of monsters, mayhem, and Mickey!
Featured image from the flickr account of Matt Pasant. Check out his work here.
If you have ever lived along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico or along the Atlantic coast in the United States of America, you’ve probably lived through a hurricane or two. 2019’s Crawl, starring Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, gets so many things wrong with hurricanes, alligators, and blood loss, but gets so many other things right that you can ignore its shortcomings.
The film’s plot is pretty simple: Haley (Scodelario) heads to her father’s home in southern Florida to check on him and hopefully convince him to evacuate before a Category Five hurricane slams into the state. She finds him injured and trapped in the crawlspace beneath his home. She attempts to pull him to safety but is cutoff by alligators that have apparently slipped into the crawlspace with them.
As the film continues, Haley and her father, Dave (Pepper), attempt to outwit the gators as the water rises under the house and the crawlspace begins to flood. Looters show up and are dealt with as expected by the gators as are a few other folks intending to help Haley and Dave. Eventually the water forces Haley to take drastic measures in order to save herself and her father.
The film is carried by the performances of Scodelario and Pepper. With lesser actors in the roles, the film would have flopped terribly. The alligators’ behavior is terribly off (I am from Louisiana and know what I am talking about) and things that happen (and don’t happen) as a result of the hurricane (again, Louisiana boy here) are wildly inaccurate, but the acting and direction lift the film above those shortcomings and makes for a really fun flick.
There are a number of genuinely suspenseful moments and a few “gotcha” scares that work to perfection. I found myself cheering on Haley and Dave and couldn’t wait for the next big obstacle to land in front of them throughout the film. The special effects are fairly solid and there’s plenty of action to keep horror and suspense fans interested. It’s a really fun ride and I highly recommend it.
Thanks for reading my post. If you’ve seen Crawl, let me know what you thought about it in the comments section. If you want to know more about the miscues in the film, let me know and I might make another post specifically about the screw ups.
As many of you already know, my home was lost in the destructive path of Hurricane Laura. My family and I will be spending the next six to eight months (possibly more, hopefully less) in a temporary home until our house is repaired and rebuilt. I still plan on going ahead with my Thirty-One Days O’Horror in October, but I probably will not be posting on all thirty-one days.
One special surprise that I was going to hold off on announcing was a review of the book Hollywood Gothic by David J. Skal. However, I decided to go ahead and announce it today since I probably won’t be reviewing another book that I hoped to sink my fangs into, Legendary Comics’ Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I really want to buy this graphic novel, but I probably won’t have the time nor the money to pick it up. Sooner or later I will get a copy and review it, but it probably won’t be for October of this year.
The story will be a more direct interpretation of Bram Stoker’s famous tale than the classic 1931 film featuring Bela Lugosi. It will feature illustrations that include Lugosi in the role that made him, and vampires in general, a worldwide phenomenon. El Garing and Kerry Gamill will breathe new life into the immortal Lugosi as he takes the stage (at least on paper) one more time as the infamous Count Dracula.
As far as the previously announced Disney horror films that I’ve mentioned, I’ll definitely review the films that I haven’t seen, but I might hold off on films that I’ve already reviewed like The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Haunted Mansion. Just know that I’ll do my best to keep Thirty-One Days O’Horror interesting.
I lost some collectible items as a result of the hurricane but I did manage to save all of my film and television Blu ray/DVD collection. If you are able, please donate time, money, or supplies to southwest Louisiana. My family and I will be okay, but many other families will continue to struggle long after the government and volunteer groups have left the area.
“A Coors Banquet for me and a Shirley Temple for the lady”
Originally released in 2018 on YouTube Red, Cobra Kai is a web series that continues the story of two of the primary characters from the classic The Karate Kid franchise. Those two characters are Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). I’m a huge fan of the original film and this series picks up over thirty years after the events of the original film and its sequels, so it was a no-brainer for me to watch this series once it hit Netflix.
Mild Spoilers Ahead!!!
The series opens with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as a man trapped in the 1980’s, haunted by his failures as a member of the Cobra Kai dojo, and a generally down-on-his-luck person. He loses his job as a handyman and still lives in the shadow of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who owns a successful line of car dealerships throughout the Los Angeles area.
Somewhat desperate for work, Johnny agrees to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo and takes on his first student, the quiet and somewhat nerdy Miguel (Xolo Mariduena), who is practically a mirror image of Daniel LaRusso from the original film. Eventually more outcasts and nerd-types join Cobra Kai including Aisha (Nichole Brown) and Eli (Jacob Bertrand). Johnny is verbally abusive at first, but he slowly comes to love and appreciate the students. His abrasive form of caring convinces Eli to revamp himself as “Hawk,” a bully with a massive mohawk and all of the other students hold fast to the “No Mercy” mantra of Cobra Kai.
As the series rolls along, Johnny and Daniel reignite their rivalry, with Daniel reviving the Miyagi-Do dojo and unknowingly taking on Johnny’s son, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), as his first student. Daniel also has to come to terms with his daughter, Sam (Mary Mouser), being in a relationship with Miguel, who continues to believe in his sensei despite Johnny’s many shortcomings.
While Johnny is battling his own demons, Daniel’s revival of Miyagi-Do dojo doesn’t go over as well as he’d hoped. He struggles to find students and helps build the rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do despite his good intentions. In both business and personal affairs, Daniel consistently makes bad decisions that cause issues between him and his family and between him and Johnny. In particular, the second season focuses on how Daniel’s desire to best Johnny results in a strained relationship with his wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler).
A number of other relationships and rivalries build over the show’s two seasons. Robby and Sam become close and events happen that cause Robby and Miguel to despise one another. Hawk develops a rivalry with his longtime friend, Demetri (Giani Decenzo), who is forced out of Cobra Kai by the returning John Kreese, Johnny’s sadistic sensei from the original films. Tory Nichols (Peyton List) is thrown into the fray in the second season as a foil to Sam.
The series works on three levels in my opinion: 1) The nostalgia is deeply rooted in each episode. From classic 80’s music to fan favorite characters and references, the series is loaded with Easter eggs for those of us who grew up with the original films. 2) It’s a solid teen drama that develops all of the new young characters for the younger demographic but doesn’t sacrifice the adult drama of the classic characters for older fans. 3) It’s a morality tale that shows us that just because Johnny was the “villain” long ago, it doesn’t mean that he can’t change. Also, Daniel isn’t the great white knight that some older fans might remember him to be from the old films.
The cast is solid all around. Zabka really gets to shine as Johnny and Macchio shows his range as Daniel struggling with poor decisions. The younger cast do great jobs, especially Xolo Mariduena and Nichole Brown. Martin Kove slithers right back into his devilish role as Kreese, and does a great job of undermining both Daniel and Johnny. Fans of The Big Bang Theory will recognize Courtney Henggeler as Sheldon’s twin sister, Missy. The rest of the cast do great jobs as well, giving us characters to love, hate, cheer for, or despise altogether.
Flashbacks help catch up any viewers that haven’t seen the original films, but they don’t overshadow the new stories in the series. Old fans will love seeing these moments and new fans will find them useful to understand Daniel and Johnny’s backstory.
This is an excellent series. For myself, nostalgia made me watch the show initially, but the stories and relationships of the series have kept me interested. Season Three is due out sometime next year on Netflix, and I can’t wait to see how Johnny and Daniel come together or grow farther apart in the series. Season Two ended with a bang, with a number of the characters in terrible positions. I’m excited to see how everything is resolved.
Thanks for reading this post. Be sure to check out Cobra Kai. You will not regret it! Also, I’m totally in love with Courtney Henggeler, so if you know her or anybody that does, please get me in touch with them because I want an autographed photo of Courtney!
As some of you may already know, I lost my home as a result of Hurricane Laura. My family and I were forced to pack over ten years worth of our lives in just a few days in order to prep our house for a demolition team. One of the few good things about losing my home was that I got to dig up a bunch of my collectibles that I haven’t really looked at in a long time. The KISS Funko Wacky Wobbler Bobbleheads that I’ve collected were some of the first items that I boxed up and packed away. I have a decent collection of bobbleheads, most of which I’ve opened, but these KISS Wacky Wobblers are three that have never left their boxes.
Released in 2011, I managed to collect three of the four bobbleheads. The Spaceman (Ace Frehley, Tommy Thayer) is the only one that has eluded me over the years. I’ve found plenty of the figures on the web, but the ones in “new” or “like new” condition have all been too expensive for my blood.
The three figures that I do have are all in excellent shape and look pretty good. Although they are sold with images of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss on the boxes, I do think that the actual bobbleheads resemble Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. I’m not complaining about this at all as I have no issue with any of the members, past or present, represented on KISS items.
Sooner or later I will break down and purchase the Spaceman to finish my collection. Until then, I’ll enjoy the three that I do have in my possession.
Thanks for reading my post. Be prepared for more posts similar to this one as I’ll be revisiting a lot of old collectibles that I’ve uncovered due to the hurricane. Posts will be sporadic, but I will do my best to keep this blog from dying.
My home was lost in Hurricane Laura. Please help out the people in southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas if you are able. Spread the word about the destruction left in Laura’s wake. We need help down here.
I still plan on blogging, but it will be sporadic. Please bear with me as I navigate insurance, FEMA, and everything else that is waiting for me.
Fans of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, and pretty much anyone that hasn’t been under a rock for over a year now, know all about the Child (or Baby Yoda, or The Asset, or whatever you might call it). It’s also safe to say that people either really love or really hate the little guy. Buffalo Games created a game based around one of the Child’s most famous moments in the Disney+ series: Frog eating.
The game is very simple to play: Set up the giant cardboard head on its stand, attach the cardboard ears, grab some frogs, and then flip them through the Child’s mouth onto your opponent’s side of the table until there are absolutely no frogs left on your side.
The game comes with six frogs (three orange and three blue) and two flippers that allow you to launch the frogs through the Child’s mouth. The game is fast, simple, and can be played multiple times without becoming a bore. My only complaint about this game is that the cardboard ears, despite being pretty thick, don’t appear to be very strong. I imagine that sooner or later they will be torn to shreds or lost.
In any case, this is a fun game that myself and the kids love to play. If you have children of any age (even fifty years old), I’m sure that they’ll enjoy this game as well.
Thanks for reading this quick post. I hope that you have a great week!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 