Fun Size

Premiered on October 26, 2012.

"Everyone loves Halloween especially in Cleveland.  When you’re known as “the mistake by the lake,” the chance to pretend you’re somebody else for a night sounds pretty good."

-Wren Desantis

Wren Desantis (Victoria Justice) is getting ready to celebrate Halloween in Cleveland, OH.  She's invited to attend a party by Aaron Riley (Thomas McDonell), a boy she likes.  Wren's friend April (Jane Levy) thinks the party would be great for her popularity. 

But Wren's plans are changed when her mother Joy (Chelsea Handler) tells her she needs to take her younger brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) out trick or treating.   Wren and Albert's father has recently died and this will be their first Halloween without him.  Albert hasn't spoken since their father died.  Joy is busy attending a Halloween party with her new (much younger) boyfriend Keevin (Josh Pence).

All is going well until Wren loses Albert in a "haunted house" attraction.

She drops everything to find Albert.  She gets help from her "nerdy" friends Roosevelt (Thomas Mann) and Peng (Osric Chau).  Both boys are nursing crushes on Wren and April, respectively. Roosevelt offers to borrow his moms' car to assist in the search for Albert.  That is, if his moms (Ana Gasteyer and Kerri Kenny) give permission.

Joy's Halloween isn't going very well either.  She accompanies Keevin to a party hosted by his friend Brueder (James Pumphrey).   It's very loud and full of drunk people who are much younger than Joy, she feels out of place.

Albert ends up in a local convenience store where he befriends a clerk named Fuzzy (Thomas Middleditch).  They embark upon adventures, attempting to play Halloween pranks on Fuzzy's ex and her new boyfriend Jorgen (Johnny Knoxville).

Albert and Fuzzy team up!

Will the Halloween misadventures work themselves out?  Will Wren find Albert in time to get to Aaron's party?

Four teenagers in a Volvo on Halloween night.  What could possibly go wrong? 

J.A. Morris says:
Fun Size is not very good, there's no sugarcoating it.  On a positive note, the "romantic leads" Victoria Justice and Thomas Mann are decent (if not great) actors and they seem like nice kids.  Jane Levy is pretty good at making the "stinkface" expression.

I haven't seen Chelsea Handler act before, she's okay too.  And I'm always happy to see Ana Gasteyer (one of my favorite 90s SNL vets),even if her role isn't great. 

Kerri Kenny and Ana Gasteyer as Roosevelt's moms.

Albert meets a woman who's dressed as Galaxy Scout (Riki Lindhome), his favorite comic book character and is smitten.  Their moments of interaction feel sweet and genuine.

However, Fun Size feels like several bits of movies stuck together that don't add up to a whole movie.  We get a speech from Joy about how tough it is to be a single mother.  I'm sure it is and I have lots of respect for single moms.  But Joy's speech feels like it was phoned in from a much more serious movie.

There's also an awkward combination of the sort of humor found in sitcoms aimed at "tweens" and R-rated gross-out comedies.  When Roosevelt backs his car into a chicken restaurant, the car gets..."violated" by a robotic chicken.

At one point, April tells Wren that she accidentally put Nair on her butt.  This "plot point" exists so the Nair can cause Roosevelt's cat to get sick.

Albert and Wren are both placed into great danger when Albert is held captive by Jorgen. I have a pretty good sense of humor and I know this is just a movie, but child-endangerment isn't funny.

Fun Size is available on DVD and Blu-ray and can also be streamed on Amazon.

Unless you're a hardcore fan of any of these actors, there's not a lot to recommend in Fun Size.

J.A. Morris' rating:

1 and a half jack o'lanterns.

Galaxy Scout to the rescue!

RigbyMel says:

I really want to like Fun Size more.  There are not all that many feature-length Halloween movies out there, and in some regards,  Fun Size gives an overview of various ways of celebrating the occasion.
We see a truly massive and impressive trick or treat scene ...

the teen house party ...

Cute boy Aaron serenades Wren

the college (ish) aged dance party ...

Albert and Galaxy Girl tearing up the dance floor

and the man-child house party.

Wren's mom Joy is not as comfortable partying with 20-somethings as she'd hoped.

We get all manner of Halloween pranks, inversion and mayhem and costumes galore.

Albert and Fuzzy attempt to TP someone's abode.

There's even a walk through haunted house attraction AND a visit to a costume store.

The young actors are all appealing in their roles too.

There's even an appearance by Aaron Burr -- so to speak -- that would probably play better in this post-Hamilton world.

Peng is not throwing away his ... shot!

Unfortunately,  Fun Size never quite decides what audience it wants to play to -- family fun of the Nickelodeon/Disney Family persuasion or teen gross-out comedy a la American Pie.  Since it can't decide, it tries to cram everything it can into a less than 90 minute feature (that feels like it was originally shot for a television audience -- look at all the shot reverse shot sequences throughout the film).  As a result, the whole thing never quite gels into anything coherent,  which is a shame, because with a little more thought, it could have become a Halloween "classic."

As it is, though, Fun Size feels more like a missed opportunity.  

RigbyMel's rating:

2 jack o'lanterns

Beavis and Butt-Head: "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest (aka Butt-O-Ween)"

Premiered October 31, 1995.

Beavis: That sucks that we're like, too old to get candy.
Butt-Head: No way Beavis, they're aren't any laws about Halloween.

It's Halloween in Highland and kids are trick or treating.

Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Mike Judge) hadn't realized this. After getting clocked for taking candy from kids, they become angry that they're now too old to get free candy.

Beavis and Butt-Head decide to create make-shift costumes and go trick or treating anyway.  The boys are rebuffed at every house, everyone says they're too old for Halloween.

When they arrive at the home of their neighbor Tom Anderson (Judge again), he's going to turn them away too, but his phone rings.

While Anderson is distracted, Beavis finds a bowl of Halloween candy and consumes every piece of it in seconds.  Beavis is suddenly transformed into his hyperactive alter-ego, the Great Cornholio!

As Cornholio, he continues to roam the streets of Highland, terrorizing children and eating their candy.  (As well as pissing off Butt-Head who still hasn't gotten any candy.)

Beavis & Butt-Head meet ... The Great Pumpkin? 

Beavis and Butt-Head later encounter local tough guy Todd (Rottilio Michieli).  Butt-Head wants to hang out with Todd and his crew, but he ends up being thrown in the trunk of Todd's car.

The night grows late and the trick or treaters are fewer and further between.
Cornholio and Butt-Head find themselves in a deserted field near a graveyard ...

RigbyMel says:

I remember watching this when it first aired.  I always enjoyed Beavis and Butt-Head in small doses (and my younger brothers were HUGE fans).  Having been on the receiving end of the "aren't you too old to be trick or treating?" wheeze from adults, I can understand the duo's frustration.  Their methods, however, are ... questionable.

The Halloween hijinks and mayhem are right in line with what you'd expect from two dim-bulb. miscreants such as Beavis & Butt-Head.  It's a nice touch that they initially didn't even know it was Halloween and mistake trick or treaters coming to their door for salespeople giving out free samples.

The Doofus Duo shows off their "costumes"

Their eventual "costumes" are painfully uninspired  -  Beavis puts his underwear on his head and says he's a "nad" and Butt-Head elects to pour hot melted cheese over his head in order to be nachos. (Ouch!)

Beavis terrorizes the Red Ranger (and his parents)!

We see 90s relic kids out and about dressed as Power Rangers (both Red and White Ranger costumes are seen during this cartoon), which may add a twinge of nostalgia for cartoon viewers of a certain age.

It's also evident that Mike Judge (who created the series and voices the titular morons) had a lot of fun doing the voice-over work for our "heroes" in this episode.   Some of Cornholio's rantings are particularly inspired.

Cornholio strikes fear in the hearts of the hapless Stewart Stevenson and friends

The only issue I have with this special is the ending -- which feels like it flew in out of a (mild SPOILER) slasher movie.   I think it could've ended a minute or two sooner to no ill effect.

If you're a fan of Beavis & Butt-Head and want to revisit the 1990s (or see a Halloween special very much situated in said decade) "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" is worth checking out but I cannot quite give it my highest rating.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

J.A. Morris says:

Beavis and Butt-Head was a polarizing series two decades ago.  It's funny to think about that now, since they seem so tame by today's standards.  It might sound simple, but if you enjoyed Beavis and Butt-Head, you'll like this episode, since it's a typical episode with some nice Halloween elements thrown in to the mixture.

The boys' hippie teacher Mr. Van Driessen sports a Nixon mask--the scariest thing he can think of!

I enjoyed "Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" and laughed out loud more than I expected.  Beavis' talking into the mirror, rehearsing his "How's it goin'...I'm a nad" introduction is particularly funny.

I agree with RigbyMel about the joy on display when Mike Judge is voicing Cornholio.  I would guess that lots of Cornholio's rants were ad-libbed on the spot by Judge.

I also share my co-blogger's disappointment with the ending.  It seems like Judge and company just ran out of ideas.  But that's not enough to ruin what comes before.

This episode can be streamed on Amazon  and has been released on dvd.

"Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" is a very funny Halloween episode.  If you were in high school or college (like I was) during Beavis and Butt-Head's heyday, this will be a nice way to get reacquainted with the boys, and newcomers will also likely enjoy it.  The lackluster ending means "Bungholio" gets slightly less than my highest rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 and a half jack o'lanterns

Garfield's Halloween Adventure (aka Garfield In Disguise)

Premiered October 30, 1985

"Halloween is my kind of a holiday. Not like those other stupid holidays. I don't get pine needles in my paws. There's no dumb bunnies, no fireworks, no relatives, just candy. Boom, you go out, you get candy. It's as simple as that."

Garfield (Lorenzo Music) wakes up and is excited to learn that it's Halloween.  He informs Odie (Gregg Berger) that this is the night when dogs help cats get candy.  If Odie helps, he'll get one piece of candy.  They go hunting in the attic for costumes.

After trying on many outfits, they settle on pirate costumes.

Orange Beard the Pirate and Odie the Stupid 

Their owner, Jon Arbuckle (Thom Huge) sends them off to trick or treat.

They have a productive evening of trick or treating, and score bags full of candy.  (Plus a couple of unusual trick or treaters.)

"Candycandycandycandycandy!"

Garfield then notices lots of houses on the other side of the river and wants to go across to pillage more candy.  He and Odie find a boat and commandeer it "in the name of Orange Beard, the pirate!"

However, Garfield's plan doesn't work out as intended.  Odie quickly loses the oars and they drift downstream for a while, unable to steer.  They are dejected and Garfield says he's done being a pirate. Just when all seems lost, Odie spots a dilapidated, old house on an island.  Garfield thinks maybe  they should go inside.

What the house contains will make this a Halloween they will never forget!

RigbyMel says:

I remember watching this special when it first aired.  I was a big fan of Garfield back in his 1980s heyday and watched many (but not all) of the assorted tv specials and series featuring the character.   This one really sticks in my memory because the whole pirate ghost plot scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a wee, sensitive little girl.

ZOINKS!

That being said, Halloween is supposed to be spooky and this special delivers horror and hilarity with just the right amount of gusto for kids (and the young at heart).

The scenes of Garfield and Odie trying on Halloween costumes found in a trunk in Jon's attic are quite amusing as is Garfield's mantra of "Candycandycandycandycandy!" and also stuck in my memory.  Recent re-watchings made me realize how many inoffensive, but forgettable songs were included in this special,   (The best ones are the cod pirate song Garfield sings on several occasions and the presence of Lou Rawls's singing voice.)

 We also get plenty of fun interaction between Garfield, Jon and Odie, as one would expect. There is also a nice little moment where Garfield doesn't let his greed get the better of him and decides Odie deserves his ACTUAL fair share of the candy after all they've been through together on this particular Halloween. This is not an unexpected plot point, but it is well deployed.

It's also interesting to note that Garfield's Halloween Adventure was the first Garfield animated special to feature a completely original story, as opposed to one that was adapted from the comic strips.

Garfield's Halloween Adventure is definitely worth seeking out during the Spooky Season!

RigbyMel's rating:



3 and a half jack o'lanterns

"My boat's gone, my candy's gone, the dead pirates are coming any minute, it's past my bedtime, and I wanna go home!"

J.A. Morris says:

While I was also a huge fan of the lasagna-obsessed feline back in the 80s, I didn't watch this special until recently.  But it's become a Halloween tradition in our house.  It has just enough spookiness to keep viewers (especially younger ones) on their toes.  The last act is especially chilling compared to other holiday specials of its era.

While the songs aren't classics, two of them are sung by Lou Rawls.  The opening theme is a fun up-tempo number.  Rawls also delivers another song called 'Scaredy Cat', sung from the perspective of Garfield.

Garfield & Odie get a scare from a creepy old man.

The voice actors here are the same ones who later worked on the series Garfield And Friends.  For me, Garfield will always "speak" with the voice of Lorenzo Music, and Music is great as always.  C. Lindsay Workman is also memorable as the voice of the old man who lives in the (possibly) haunted house.     

A note about the title:It originally aired as Garfield In Disguise, I'm not exactly sure when or why the name was changed.  The special currently streams on Hulu and Amazon.  It's being reissued on a dvd titled Garfield Holiday Collection on November 4. 

Spaceclown?

I didn't see this as a kid, so I'm giving it slightly lower rating than RigbyMel, since it doesn't hold any nostalgic value for me. But Garfield's Halloween Adventure is an entertaining special and a reminder of why Jim Davis' characters were so beloved in their time.
J.A. Morris' rating:

3 jack o'lanterns