The Disney Halloween special you never got to see, Tim Burton’s “Trick or Treat”

Jim Hill

14 years ago

Did you see where Walt Disney Studios put Tim Burton‘s “Alice in Wonderland” back in theaters last week? Not all over the country, mind you.
But just in the LA area. With the hope that this limited engagement might then
make Academy members remember this 3D blockbuster when awards season rolls
around again.

Boy, what a difference a few decades can make. I can
remember back in the early 1980s when Tim used to make live-action featurettes like “Frankenweenie“
…

… and TV specials like “Hansel and Gretel” …

… that executives at Walt Disney Productions just had no
idea what to do with. In the case of Burton’s dark & weird “Hansel and
Gretel,” this Disney Channel production was only shown once (on Halloween night
1983, appropriately enough) before it was then shoved to the back on the
infamous Disney vault and never aired again.

But at least “Hansel and Gretel” did ultimately get
produced. In the 4 years that Burton worked at Walt Disney Productions (as an in-betweener,
assistant animator and – finally – a concept artist), he proposed a number of
projects that never made it off the drawing board. Among them “Little Dead
Riding Hood” …

… which was supposed to have been this “suspenseful tale of torment
and demon possession.” (Gee, I can’t understand why Ron Miller would have
balked when it came to putting an animated short like that into production back
in 1981.)

But this time of year, there’s one project that Tim proposed
back in 1980 that I really wish that Ron had greenlit. And that was “Trick or Treat.”

Just as “The Nightmare Before Christmas” started out as an
idea for a holiday special much in the style of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer“
and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Trick or Treat” was supposed to be this half
hour-long TV show. Only instead of being
set in an otherworldly realm like Halloweentown …

… where the Pumpkin King learned the hard way what happens
when holidays collide.

Well, this time around, Burton set this seasonal story in
the real world. Where a kid who was growing up in a bland suburban neighborhood
much like the one that Tim grew up in in Burbank, CA …

… has noticed that there’s something unusual about the house
that’s just down the street.

That the people who live there just seemed … Well, kind of usual.
They pretty much keep to themselves. More importantly, they really, really,
REALLY seem to like Halloween.

So one day, this boy just has to know what the deal is with
this family. So he sneaks into that house …

… goes upstairs …

… and discovers this family of monsters …

… who have been getting by suburbia by masquerading as
humans.

Of course, in the now-well-known Tim Burton tradition, these
monsters aren’t really all that monstrous.

They’re actually thrilled to find a human in their midst.

Since they’re kind of hoping that this kid will help teach
the trick of passing for human in suburbia. So – for that one night a year –
these creatures will actually be able to get out of the house and really enjoy
Halloween.

And Burton … He really wanted to turn “Trick to Treat” into
a holiday special. So much so that Tim created 181 separate drawings of
characters & scenes that were to have appeared in this seasonal show.

Then – working with fellow CalArts grad Rick Heinrichs – Burton
then sculpted character models of various monsters for “Trick or Treat.” If you
look closely in the above drawing, you’ll recognize these 3D versions of the
Clown Totem Monster …

… and the Candy Monster.

But in the end, the Walt Disney Productions management team
of the early 1980s – while they recognized Tim’s obvious talent – didn’t have
enough faith in this fledgling filmmaker to let him start out with making TV
specials for the Mouse. So first came “Vincent,” a 7-minute long stop-motion
short …

… Which got such great reviews that Burton was then allowed
to try his hand at live-action. Which is where “Hansel & Gretel” …

… and “Frankenweenie” came in.

Of course, what’s kind of ironic about all this is that it
was “Frankenweenie” that convinced Paul Reubens & Warner Bros. that Tim had
what it took to direct “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” And the success of that
August 1985 live-action film was what led to Burton being offered “Batman.” And
that June 1989 release was such a huge success that … Well, Tim had his choice of follow-up projects.

Which is why – when Burton reached out to Disney in 1990 and
asked if he could buy back the rights to “The Nightmare Before Christmas” –
Jeffrey Katzenberg saw the opportunity to repair Ron Miller’s mistake in
letting Tim slip away. Which is why he immediately proposed that Burton make
that movie for Touchstone.

Now jump ahead to November of 2007. Where Burton revealed
that – as part of the two picture deal that he’d just signed with Walt Disney
Pictures – that Tim was thinking of revisiting “Frankenweenie.” Taking this
30-minute live-action featurette and then turning in that into a full-length
stop-motion animated feature.

So one has to wonder: Given that Walt Disney Pictures would
dearly love to extend its current deal with Burton (so that this acclaimed
filmmaker could then follow-up “Alice in Wonderland” with Maleficent. Which is
supposed to put a “Wicked” -like spin on the tale of Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis),
could the Company perhaps offer Tim “Trick or Treat”? Which – because Burton
developed this project while he was still a Mouse House employee back in the
1980s – it’s Mickey’s property.

Because – as this photo of Tim’s Jack Skellington-like costume (which he built to wear for Halloween 1967) costume proves …

… Burton is never one to give up on and/or let go of a good idea.

So what do you folks think? Based on the artwork &
character models that are featured in today’s JHM article, would you someday
like to see Tim Burton revisit “Trick or Treat”? And – if so – would you like
to see these characters & this concept used as the basis of a new Halloween
television special or a full length feature film?

Your thoughts?