By now, cartoons having a set of scary stories for Halloween stories have become a common practice. The Simpsons is the king of this, obviously, with their Treehouse of Horrors, but we've also seen this with Regular Show and Gravity Falls.
However, one of the lesser-known examples - and easily the most underrated of these in my humble opinion - is the hour-long Tiny Toon Adventures special "Night Ghoulery", produced in 1994 and aired in 1995 after the series finished its regular run.
Not only did the entire crew managed to not miss a single beat despite most of them becoming acquainted with Animaniacs for a couple years, but the visuals from TMS are up there with How I Spent My Vacation as some of the absolute best, if not *the* best they've ever turned out for Warner Bros' 90s TV output. Not only are the characters constantly full of personality while still remaining perfectly on-model, but the shading, backgrounds, and color work combined make a great number of images a true sights to behold.
You can tell there was a serious dedication to nailing the dark, more ominous atmosphere, but still retain just enough saturation and brightness to keep everything somewhat lighthearted, making the constant jokes not feel the least bit out-of-place. No other studio (at least none that Warner Bros was using) could've pulled off anywhere near this level of quality. And if that wasn't impressive enough, each of the many stories still carry their own visual identity in some capacity, whether it be the type of location each takes place in or how they're generally laid out.
The way this special begins, at least on some copies, is this Nightmare Before Christmas parody (specifically looking at "Jack's Lament") which goes beyond setting the stage for what's to come. The lyrics are comical, but it comes across as a loving tribute, especially with the attention to detail in replicating the source material (most notably the Pumpkin Guy reflecting on the doorknob). This immediately segues into a special theme song with new lyrics that definitely create more vivid, ominous imagery than the normal one while retaining the same distinct wit and innocent charm.
Unfortunately, this intro is not in the copy available on Hulu; it was omitted for the initial Fox airing, presumably due to it not airing anytime near Halloween, and that was the master they happened to use. But you should find rips of it off the VHS release online with little problem.
These Night Gallery spoofs segue between each of the six 'main' segments of the special, and for simplicity's sake will all be discussed right here and now. They aren't hilarious or even really that dramatic, but they're kept quite brief and often intermixed with Tress MacNeille sporadically impersonating other figures (the best one easily being Gene Shalit).
And from there, we cover a very wide variety of horror story parodies, from Edgar Allen Poe, to Frankenstein, to the Twilight Zone, and even Abbott and Costello. And despite most to all of them being mocking yet loving takes on existing stories, they all manage to stand out in one form or another.
"The Tell-Tale Vaccum", to start with, constantly juxtaposes the calm, serene narration with Plucky's insane imagery and ideas, obviously to match the source material. But there's a constant tongue-in-cheek vibe going on, like Plucky insisting he's mentally sane while making these demented faces in the mirror or just him constantly twiddling and slouching as Hamton rattles on about vaccums. And it's impressive that, despite the target of Plucky's wrath being much more trivial and innocent, most of the story beats from the Tell-Tale Heart are not only there, but are used to excellent effect, with background paintings that only make the tension all the stronger (especially contrasted with the relatively barren sets).
"The Devil Dog on the Moor" is probably my least favorite of the six main stories here, but it still greatly succeeds in how it plays out almost like a campfire story (especially with Jeff Bennett's vocal performance selling the frightening, slow tone you'd always get with those - while still seamlessly transitioning into his more humorous lines), and for a segment that entirely takes place in one area, it's impressive how much they are able to vary up the camera angles and get so many dynamic shots out of it. Plus Jim Cummings plays a crazy guy; you can't go wrong with that. The final gag, while predictable, is also good for a laugh, mostly since Babs was kind of asking for it.
"The Devil and Daniel Webfoot" is the shortest of the main segments and is easily the least fleshed-out of them, but all the same they get a lot of great subversive comedy out of this. The segment introducing this story claims Daniel is brilliant and convincing... but loses instantly when the Devil expy, Mr. Scratch, shows contractual evidence. There's also the bit where it's shown Montana Max sold his soul for $10 million, because "a man's gotta eat", so beautifully in-character. Not to mention it has the most variety in the visuals, from the transparent, outlined appearances of the jury members, to the bright fires of hell, and the appealing contrast between the red Mr. Scratch and the green Plucky Duck.
This is then followed by the longest story, "Hold That Duck", meant to be the classic black-and-white haunted house plot mixed with an Abbott and Costello routine. John Kassir's performance as Buster especially shines in his impression, and the fact he was the Crypt Keeper only adds more authenticity to the role. The story is a standard 'character A sees scary things (in this case, your standard Universal monsters), but they disappear before character B can see them', but they make up for it with probably the best expression work of the entire special (they had way too much fun with Plucky) as well as the lack of color allowing for especially immersive grading and shadow work, even for this special's standards.
We then get to, in my opinion, the funniest story of the batch, "Franken-Myra". Visually, the reds and blues present throughout, along with the nighttime setting, already make for one of my favorite color palettes ever, but it's the way Elmyra's character is used that drives this segment home. Putting her in a mad scientist role is such a natural fit with how psychotic she can already get, and Cree Summer is clearly having the time of her life here. And when the monster (who is Gossamer by the way) is revived with part of her brain, *she* gets a taste of her own medicine in an incredibly satisfying and cathartic twist for anyone who ever hated her. And that's not even getting into some of the other great jokes, like a cameo from the Brain, and especially the ending, which is so clever and hilarious that I don't dare give it away.
And finally, there's a retelling of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", because you gotta slip the Twilight Zone in there somewhere. It's very well-shot and full of memorable bits like all the others (Hamton's opening line about the safety of air travel is a riot), but it's also one that overrelies on the in-joke that Plucky is channeling Captain Kirk with his monotone inflections and bizarre dialogue (because William Shatner was in said Twilight Zone episode). Still, it's hard not to appreciate the visual imagination that is put into this with all the ambitious camera work, and while it's not the best note to go out on, it certainly at least provides a pretty decent climax of sorts with Plucky attempting to stop the Gremlin.
There are a few shorts intermixed in there as well, which also do a good job keeping the types of horror comedy mixed while still genuinely delivering in both aspects. "Sneezer the Sneezing Ghost" is alright; apart from a memorable theme song (accompanied with gorgeous imagery and animation) and June Foray popping in for a bit, it's probably the most forgettable portion of the entire special.
"Fuel" fares considerably better, with visual gags that are so out-there you can't help but find them hilarious. Easily the best is when Calamity Coyote attempts to call for help... which proves useless when he can only communicate through signs. On a side note, I think this is the only scene in the whole 45 minutes to take place in sunlight.
But the best is "Night of the Living Dull", going for a trailer vibe with a narrator and graphics and such. These allow for faster cuts and breezier gags than normal. Not much actually happens, but the little that does is pretty hilarious, especially the nerd (based off a real-life fan who harassed the Tiny Toons staff) asking if Fifi is going to get her own series. And this was the same year as the Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation short on Animaniacs, by the way...
So overall, "Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery" may not be the most hilarious special or adds anything really new to the pile of Halloween classics, but it's certainly one that is able to deliver on such widely-diverse tropes, stories, and styles and somehow succeed in virtually all of them, with animation that only further enhances the experience with near-theatrical precision. I highly recommend this to any fan of Tiny Toon Adventures, and even those unfamiliar with the show but generally enjoy horror comedies and Looney Tunes-esque charm will likely get more than a few kicks out of this as well.
Unfortunately, this is one portion of Tiny Toons material that is not available on DVD, but as of this writing, it is available on Hulu. Hopefully, one day this will be given the full preservation it deserves.
And before I close this, allow me to grace you with the last-ever look at the Acme Loo gang (apart from occasional cameos and an unfortunate, executive-mandated spinoff, of course):
I really can't think of many drawings that are a better note to go out on.