Most of the Halloween costumes that children to this day wear are from Walt Disney classics such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and so on.

Before these beautiful masterpieces, he was also a Frankenstein, experimenting with cartoon animation styles and techniques in his Golden Era from 1937 until his Silver Era in 1949.

In these eras, Walt Disney attempted to bring dark, spooky, and eerie themes to his earlier creations, which perfectly crafted the villain characters we know today.

Get spooked out with his Halloween cartoons you probably forgot or never saw before.

1. Silly Symphony: Babes In The Woods (1932)

Silly Symphony was one of Walt Disney’s technicolor series of musical short films and was his team’s cauldron for experimenting with drawing styles for human characters.

One of which was Babes in the Woods, an 8-minute retelling of Hansel and Gretel by the Grimm Brothers released on November 19, 1932.

This children’s story follows Hansel and Gretel, lured by the witch of the gingerbread house, devising a trick to save themselves, along with the captured children transformed into animals.

The story of a witch in the woods is definitely a classic for scaring children this Halloween.

2. Mickey Mouse: The Mad Doctor (1933)

Walt Disney, wanting to continue featuring his first-ever characters, Mickey Mouse and Pluto, decided to create an original animation and plot.

On January 20, 1933, he produced the black-and-white short series “Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse” and wrote an original horror short story, Mickey Mouse: The Mad Doctor.

True to its title, the story begins with Pluto being captured by a mad doctor who wants to create a dog-chicken fusion. Mickey attempts to save him, only to wake up from the nightmare.

This scary short is sure to give a little spook but huge laughter with the classic character duo.

3. Silly Symphony: The Goddess Of Spring (1934)

Another Silly Symphony short that tested the realistic human animation and the character design of our beloved Snow White was The Goddess of Spring.

Reimagining the story of Persephone and Hades, Walt Disney was able to capture the four seasons’ story and his approach to producing musical songs, but in the time of opera and Broadway.

Hades being the God of the Underworld is enough to bring you to the world of fire, especially with the actor’s deep voice contrasting with Persephone’s warm voice.

4. Mickey Mouse: Pluto’s Judgement Day (1935)

The Mickey Mouse series takes a spin on the phrase ‘every dog’s worst nightmare’ in the short Pluto’s Judgement Day.

Pluto is disciplined by Mickey as he keeps on fighting with a kitten, his spirit tumbles down to the underworld, and he faces the other cats he has fought with before being declared guilty by the cat jury.

He wakes up from the nightmare and ends up becoming friends with Mickey’s new kitten.

Cats and dogs may have their differences, but feeling the guilt of fighting with one another is a true horror of conscience.

5. Fantasia: Night On Bald Mountain/Ave Maria (1940)

Dubbed the ‘disturbing series’ of Walt Disney was Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain, a story inspired by the Slavic-mythological story of the evil god Chernabog.

Fantasia was a seven-segment animation film accompanied by a heavy musical orchestra and led by Leopold Stokowski.

Spine-chilling and gloominess from The Night on Bald Mountain paved the way for the dark introductions of other Disney villains such as Maleficent, Ursula, and Hades.

6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)

After the successful release of Snow White and Pinocchio, Walt Disney finally mastered the human animation style with the right mixture of music and score.

Continuing what was deemed impossible for an animated cartoon film, he produced The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving at the end of his silver era.

The story starts with Ichabod Crane arriving in Sleepy Hollow one night while traveling home from a party. He stumbles upon the legendary headless horseman with a pumpkin head, which was feared by the townsfolk.

Another humorous take on a Halloween classic, but it can also make you alert in the dark and believe in superstition.

Most of these animations are now under recoloring to enjoy Disney’s true artistic direction; who knows, we might even get to find another scary animation hiding from the new world.

Photo Credit:
https://www.facebook.com/DisneyMovieInsiders, https://www.youtube.com/@MovieCon_Animation, https://www.youtube.com/@NetworkFilm, https://www.youtube.com/@floribellavevo1659

Source:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/, https://www.imdb.com/list/, https://filmmusiccentral.com/