Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Scaredy Squirrel: "Halloweekend"

Premiered October 4, 2011


"This year I'm gonna scare someone else for a change. I vow that for this Halloweekend, I will stop being the scaredy...and start being the scared-er." - Scaredy Squirrel

Chronically frightened Scaredy Squirrel is planning for Halloweekend, a two-day Halloween fest held at his workplace, the Stash & Hoard.

His friend Dave the skunk is skeptical, pointing out that Scaredy always gets terrified every year at Halloween.

They arrive at the Stash & Hoard, and Scaredy's boss Nestor immediately starts mocking Scaredy for being petrified of everything. Scaredy says he wants to be in charge of the store's Haunted House on Halloweekend. Nestor thinks he'll ruin the holiday, but Momma (Nestor's mom and the owner of Stash & Hoard) tells Scaredy to go for it.

Scaredy's "Tour of Terror" - On the Perils of Unwashed Ice Cube Trays ...

Scaredy welcomes his co-workers into the "Tour Of Terror". His "Haunted House" mainly consists of Health Code violations (in addition to being scared, Scaredy also appears to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) such as ice cube trays being refilled without being washed and a restroom that hasn't had a sanitation check in over 45 minutes. None of his co-workers are scared or entertained by this, and Nestor says Scaredy has "out-lamed" himself.

Dave tells Scaredy to cheer up, there's still another day of Halloweekend, so Scaredy has a chance to redeem himself. The next day, the squirrel decides to read a ghost story to his co-workers. Scaredy and Dave decide that during the spookiest part, Dave will run out in a ghost costume. Unfortunately, Dave never shows up, and everyone walks out (led by Nestor, who mocks Scaredy yet again). Scaredy is alone, when suddenly a ghost shows up. Scaredy tells "Dave" he's late...but it's not Dave! It appears to be a real ghost! Scaredy is more scared than ever and the ghost chases him all around Stash & Hoard! Will Scaredy be able to save Halloweekend (and himself) from the ghost?

J.A. Morris says:

I'll start by saying that I've never seen an episode 'Scaredy Squirrel' before watching this one. But a Halloween story is a great place to begin, since a major plot point of the series is Scaredy's constant state of being scared of...well, just about everything. On the one hand, Scaredy is his own worst enemy, on the other, I did admire his determination to conquer his fears and try to enjoy Halloweekend.

This is a decent enough Halloween episode, but no classic. I'm about 30 years older than the target demo, but I enjoyed it, even if I don't see this becoming something I'll watch next year.
My rating:
2.5 jack o'lanterns


RigbyMel says:

This was a cute short, but I agree with J.A. Morris that it's not a classic.

I did enjoy Scaredy's attempts to be the "scared-er" rather than the "scaredy", as well as the silly wordplay inherent in those terms. The show's aesthetic definitely owes a lot to other animated programs like Ren & Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants. In fact, it may actually cross the line from being influenced by these shows to just being derivative.

As someone who toyed with becoming a children's librarian for a bit, I feel it necessary to point out that the "Scaredy Squirrel" cartoon show is based on a series of picture books by Canadian author Melanie Watt - my suspicion is that the books are better. (Aren't they usually?)

My rating:
2 jack o'lanterns

2 comments:

bga said...

I had never heard of this film or character. I tend to agree that the book would probably be better than the film, but I need to check both out.

J.A. Morris said...

"Scaredy" is new to us too, bga, but it's a fun enough series. We'll probably review Scaredy's Christmas episode, if one is produced.

Thanks for stopping by!