Tag Archives: Halloween

Today is All Souls’ Day

Day of The Dead by William Bouguereau (1825-1905) Public Domain
Day of The Dead by William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Public Domain

All Souls’ Day is to commemorate the faithful dead and is celebrated by special mass by Catholics and other Christian denominations. Some Christian churches celebrate it on a different day. It is not to be confused with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) which does remember friends and family who have died but is not a Catholic or Christian religious event(though it takes place from 31 Oct through 2 Nov which coincides with Halloween, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day).


Today is All Saints’ Day

The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (about 1423-24) Public Domain
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (about 1423-24)
Public Domain

 

All Saints’ Day(Solemnity of All Saints,All Hallows, Hallowmas or All Saints)is celebrated on 1 November by most Western Christians and is to honor all saints known and unknown. In some Catholic countries, it is a holiday. It is a holy day of obligation for most Catholics except when it falls on a Saturday or Monday. In that case it is celebrated on Sunday. Eastern Orthodox is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost and is called All Saints’ Sunday.

 

Countdown to Halloween#7

Halloween is tomorrow so this is the last countdown. To wrap up our countdown are our old friends in the Muppet Labs. This time Dr. Bunson Honeydew has come up with a way to solve all your pumpkin carving problems. Carving a pumpkin is a chore having to cut it open, empty out the insides, and carve a suitable face on it (tip carve a hole on the bottom so your pumpkin goes right over the candle or light). Many opt for the ease of premade or fake pumpkins. But not any more! Dr. Honeydew has solved it all. And now for the demonstration.


Countdown to Halloween#6

Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett was a 1962 novelty song that was #1 on the Hot 100 chart from October 20-27. It became a popular Halloween tune ever since. For Pickett, it would be his one and only big hit. There are many variations out there but the original still is pretty darn good. First up is his performance from American Bandstand on October 13, 1964. And that very young guy introducing him is Dick Clark and not Jim Carrey!

Now a more modern version done by Mannheim Steamroller in 2006 from their Halloween music collection.

And finally poor Mickey Mouse visits a house where a monster mash is taking place. The footage comes from a 1934 Disney animation Mickey’s Gala Premiere.


Countdown To Halloween#5

Bela Lugosi as Dracula Photo:Public Domain
Bela Lugosi as Dracula
Photo:Public Domain

Bela Lugosi had played Dracula on stage prior to his casting in Tod Browning’s 1931 movie Dracula. Standing at 6 foot 1, he had a commanding presence and the fact he was Romanian (where Transylvania is located)added to his mystique. He was able to show Dracula as alluring on one hand, dangerous on the other. And many consider his performance still to be one of the best though the movie itself gets panned by many horror movie enthusiasts. For Lugosi it was both a blessing and a curse. He would forever be associated with the role that brought him such fame but kept him stuck in horror movies. He found it very difficult to get roles outside of the genre. He was cast by Universal in a few movies as a good character: The Black Cat (1934),The Invisible Ray(1936), and the movie serial The Return of Chandu(1934). However it did little to overcome the shadow of Dracula. His addiction to methadone also affected him getting jobs and by the 1950’s was almost broke. Ed Wood planned to cast him in several features but only appears in Plan 9 From Outer Space(1959) arguably one of the worst movies of all time. And his scenes were done for another Wood movie and Lugosi had died by the time this movie was released in 1959. Lugosi passed away in 1956 from a heart attack and was buried in a Dracula cape (his fifth wife and son made that decision).

And now here is Bela Lugosi greeting his guest in the opening scenes of Dracula. Francis Ford Coppola borrowed from this opening in his movie treatment of the same character.


Countdown to Halloween#4

One of my favorite stories is Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There have been many film and tv adaptations over the years. One of my favorites is Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. While it deviates from the original book it does so in a way that does justice to the source material. And I think Headless looks even more scary in this treatment than on the Fox tv show. There was nothing really nice about him in life, who happily lopped off heads until his own was finally taken from him. He was brought back from the dead to wreck vengeance on Van Tassel and his family.

The tv version has twisted the theme into a war between good and evil with Headless being a horseman of the apocalypse. Entertaining but going this route may end up driving people batty over the confusing mythologies being employed and intertwining with Book of Revelations. At any rate here is the official trailer for this movie. I am not sure the official rating but no actual violence is shown (you are not going to see heads chopped off in the trailer)but plenty of action. A good movie to watch on Halloween.


Countdown To Halloween#3

Fantasia (1941) is perhaps Disney animation at its finest. While Disney has done other animations that get praise, this movie is at the top of most lists. There are two sequences of interest in the Halloween season. One is the famous-and scary-Night on Bald Mountain using the music composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1867. Mussorgsky composed it as a symphonic poem but it was not well liked in his day and never performed. In 1886, five years after his death, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov arranged the music as a fantasy for orchestra. And it is this version that is used rather than the original one composed by Mussorgsky. It was first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1886 to great acclaim and became a concert favorite. For the Night On Bald Mountain chapter in Fantasia,Leopold Stokowski arranged this version based on Rimsky-Korsakov. It has become a classic. And now here it is.[Disclaimer: Our attorneys at Dewey,Cheateam, and Howe want to remind that unless the video is an authentic authorized version by permission of the copyright holder,this public showing may be in violation of copyright law. While this has been posted to YouTube, it does not mean the copyright holder has given permission to be shown on YouTube.]


Countdown To Halloween#2

Exploring haunted houses to find ghosts is often done by so-called paranormal teams fitted out with all kinds of special gear. Not to be outdone,the Muppet Labs has gone mobile to prove the existence of ghosts. And Beaker, the ever faithful assistant, is sent into a haunted house while the doctor in charge is safely outside in the mobile lab. And now the story of that adventure….


Countdown to Halloween#1

The animation is from Ichabod & Mr.Toad (Disney,1949) and is two animated adaptations containing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Wind in the Willows.The song was originally sung by Bing Crosby and is a delightful scene on its own. In 1963, Disney issued a record of various songs and one of the was a remixed version of The Headless Horseman Song from 1949. This version is sung by Thurl Ravenscroft. If do not recognize the name, you probably recognize the voice. His unique voice and stylings were used in other animations and in commercials. (Note:You can only watch this video at YouTube. Simply click on the text that appears on upper left side to access the video at YouTube.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwx3q0gBc70&feature=player_embedded