If
you do not enjoy Halloween, you’re a square. That is literally true in
this very young-skewing Apple TV+ series. In a Three Bears-like distribution,
Square is miserable during Halloween, Triangle loves the holiday, especially
the tricks, while Circle enjoys celebrating in responsible moderation. Circle
will most likely have the right approach in Shape Island’s holiday
special, “Creepy Cave Crawl,” which premieres this Friday on Apple TV+.
Basically,
this is a late bonus episode for season one of Shape Island, but it is
still nice to see Apple semi-revive the tradition of the animated holiday special
(remember the B.C. Easter special?). The scares are all very gentle, but
Triangle is still cruising for a Halloween bruising. Circle is usually more
indulgent of his monster-themed pranks, but he is really pushing it this year.
In fact, when he repurposes all the holiday jam she and Square just finished
making for his haunted cave tour, they both storm out in a huff. That leaves
Triangle alone with all the cave’s spooky inhabitants, who had been quietly
watching them.
Of
course, there is no gore or serious peril in “Creepy Cave Crawl.” At least this
special is also refreshingly free of woke messaging and virtue signaling (I can’t
vouch for the rest of the series). There is also enough pumpkin spice and innocent
Halloween cos play to satisfy young viewers’ seasonal expectations.
The character designs
(adapted from Jon Klassen’s illustrations for Barnett’s books) are obviously
very simple, but they have distinct personalities. For older viewers, just
seeing a Halloween special is sort of nostalgic. It makes you hungry for Dolly
Madison Zingers. Nice and age-appropriate, “Creepy Cave Crawl” is recommended
for kids when it starts streaming Friday (10/20) on Apple TV+.
Normally, Tales from the Crypt’s Crypt Keeper is our host for horror stories. This
time he is the guest star, when Terry and Jesse, the two younger pro-Halloween
aliens from Planet Shlorp, mad scientist him out of a purloined corpse as a way
to celebrate the scary season. Chaos and foul language ensue in A Sinister
Halloween Scary Opposite Solar Special (a.k.a. Solar Opposites S3
E12), which premieres tomorrow on Hulu.
As
fans of the series know, Korvo dislikes Earth, but he really, really hates
Halloween. Yumyulack isn’t too crazy about either, but he is less emotional and
more contemptuous expressing his distaste. However, Terry and Jesse, who act
like the kids of the space-expedition-turned-family are totally down for it.
Frankly, they show us why Halloween, which very much is a nostalgic throwback
to small town Americana, can never be canceled (outside of pandemics or inclement
weather)—because an army of kids would rise up in arms.
Excited
to participate in the neighborhood house decorating campaign, Terry and Jesse plunder
a grave, reviving and mutating the body into an EC Comics like horror host, who
constantly spouts off little macabre anecdotes—in the voice of John Kassir,
from the long-running Tales from the Crypt franchise. Naturally, the
Crypt Keeper drives Korvo to distraction, but Yumyulack is not around to be
annoyed, due to a rather unfortunate misadventure.
If
you have not seen Solar Opposites before, it is easy to pick up the gist
of it from the Halloween special. Think of it as My Favorite Martian with
cussing and oral sex jokes. It is raunchier than The Simpsons but it
also has a sharper edge, while being far less didactic. Just about anyone
across the political and cultural spectrums can laugh at the Solar Special without
ever feeling attacked.
For 52 years, Scooby and Mystery Incorporated have been unmasking monsters.
If you haven’t kept up with their recent Cartoon Network series and straight-to-DVD
animated features, you might not realize they are as busy now as they ever
were. They haven’t aged a day in all that time—it must be those giant dagwood
sandwiches keeping Scooby and Shaggy youthful. There is a diet book somewhere
in that, but their next project is a reunion special. They never broke-up, but
reunion specials are hot, so Warners booked studio time for their
reminiscences. Yet, wouldn’t you know it, they end up with a haunted soundstage
in Scooby-Doo, Where are You Now?, a new hybrid animated-live-action special
premiering Friday on the CW.
A
gig is a gig for Mystery Incorporated, so they are happy to sit down with the
host and producer (both “real” people) in their old soundstage to discuss their
past cases. However, weird noises keep interrupting them. The Warner employees
did not want to admit it, but reportedly the studio is haunted. Recently, their
old nemesis the “Snow Ghost” has been scaring away productions, so they
naturally ask Mystery Incorporated to sleuth it out.
Even
by the standards of the early Saturday morning cartoons, this mystery is pretty
simple, but the “reunion” format facilitates some amusing self-referential
humor, including testimonials from the likes of Batman, Johnny Quest, Jabberjaw,
and the Power Puff Girls. There are also clips and soundbites from the
real-life voice-over artists, including Frank Welker, who has portrayed Fred
since the show’s inception and Scooby himself, for almost twenty years.
