Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular
Directed by	Ezekiel Norton
Produced by	Kevin Gamble Sharan Wood
Written by	Heath Corson Jill Thompson
Starring	Garry Chalk Noel Callahan Alex Doduk Brittney Irvine Britt McKillip Danny McKinnon Scott McNeil Adam Pospisil Tabitha St. Germain
Music by	Robert Buckley
Editing by	Anne Hoerber Patrick Carroll William Lau Craig Mcewen
Studio	Mainframe
Release date(s)	July 18, 2003 (SDCC)
Running time	48 minutes
Country	Canada

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular is a fun computer-animated comedy film from Canada. It came out in 2003 and is based on the Scary Godmother books by Jill Thompson. The movie tells the story of a girl named Hannah. While she is trick-or-treating with her cousin Jimmy and his friends, Hannah meets a friendly witch called the Scary Godmother. The witch takes Hannah to a special Halloween party in a magical place called the Fright Side.

The movie features the voices of Canadian actors like Tabitha St. Germain, Britt McKillip, and Garry Chalk. It was directed by Zeke Norton and produced by Kevin Gamble and Sharan Wood. Jill Thompson, the author of the books, was also very involved in making the film.

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular was made by Mainframe Entertainment, an animation company known for other computer-animated shows like ReBoot. This movie was the first time Mainframe used new computer tools to create its animation. The film uses 3D characters and backgrounds that look like 2D drawings, similar to the original books. This movie was meant to start a Scary Godmother TV series, but that didn't happen. The only other movie in the series was a sequel called Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy (2005).

The film first showed at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 18, 2003. It was released on DVD in North America on September 3, 2003. It aired on TV in many countries during Halloween that year. In the United States, it first aired on Cartoon Network on October 1, 2004. The movie was very popular when it first aired on U.S. television. It also received good reviews from critics and won some Leo Awards for the film itself, its music, and its direction. Both Scary Godmother movies became a Halloween tradition, airing every year on Cartoon Network for many years.

What Happens in the Movie?

On Halloween night, Hannah Marie is dressed as a fairy princess. She is ready to go trick-or-treating with her cousin Jimmy and his friends. Jimmy is wearing a devil hoodie, Katie is a black cat, Daryl is a piece of candy, and Bert is a baseball player. Jimmy doesn't want Hannah to come along. So, he plans a prank to scare her away.

They go near an old house in a graveyard, which Jimmy calls the "spook house." Jimmy makes up a scary story. He says that monsters live there and eat kids who don't leave candy in the basement. He tells Hannah to go inside and leave some candy. Hannah is scared but goes in. Once she's inside, the other kids lock the door!

Inside the house, a friendly witch appears with her ghost cat. She introduces herself as the Scary Godmother. She takes Hannah on a broomstick ride to the Fright Side. This is a magical place where the Godmother's friends live. Her friends include Mr. Skully Pettibone, Harry the werewolf, a fuzzy monster named Bug-A-Boo, and a vampire family: Count Max, Countess Ruby, and their son Orson. They are having their yearly Halloween party.

At first, Hannah is scared of the monsters. But soon, she starts to have fun and enjoy the party. They dance, play games, and Hannah becomes good friends with Orson. Harry, the werewolf, keeps eating all the food and talking a lot, which annoys the others.

Meanwhile, outside the "spook house," Jimmy, Katie, Bert, and Daryl have been waiting for hours. It's getting late for trick-or-treating. Bert, Daryl, and Katie start to worry that Jimmy's scary story might be true. They think Hannah is in danger. They want to go inside and get her. But Jimmy says there are no monsters and insists they wait longer. However, Jimmy quickly changes his mind, and all four kids finally go into the house to find Hannah.

Near the end of the party, Hannah tells the monsters about Jimmy's prank. Bug-A-Boo remembers Jimmy and is upset because Jimmy spreads rumors that Bug-A-Boo eats little girls. The Scary Godmother and her friends decide to play a trick on Jimmy and his friends. Hannah pretends to scare the monsters away. The kids believe the monsters are real and run out of the house very fast! Before Hannah leaves, the Godmother gives her a special skeleton key. This key lets Hannah go back to the Fright Side whenever she wants.

How the Movie Was Made

Making the Film

Work on Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular started in January 2002. The actual production, which means making the movie, began in July and lasted for eight months. The team grew from 25 animators to 50 people.

Jill Thompson, the author of the books, was very involved in making the movie. She helped write the story, edited parts, directed the art, and even chose the voices for the characters. She also designed sets and painted backgrounds. Jill was in her studio in Chicago while the movie was made in Vancouver. She would send her drawings and paintings by fax. Mainframe would send her videos of their progress, showing storyboards and early animation.

Because this was an hour-long movie made by a smaller team using new software, Mainframe changed how they usually worked. For example, they wrote down details about every shot on a huge whiteboard. This helped everyone know what was happening.

Choosing the Voices

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular's limited budget meant voice actors such as Scott McNeil (left), Garry Chalk (middle) and Tabitha St. Germain (right) were cast for multiple characters.

All the voice actors were chosen from Vancouver, where Mainframe is located. Some of them had worked with Mainframe before. To save money, some actors voiced two characters each. For example, Tabitha St. Germain voiced both Scary Godmother and Countess Ruby. Garry Chalk played Bug-a-Boo and Harry, and Scott McNeil was Mr. Skully Pettibone and Count Max.

When actresses auditioned for the Scary Godmother, many used a scary "Wicked Witch" type of voice. Jill Thompson felt this wasn't right for the character. She described the Scary Godmother as enthusiastic and a little silly. Jill thought Tabitha St. Germain's voice was perfect for the role.

The character Harry, who loves collecting things and comic books, was based on fans of Jill Thompson's work. She looked for someone who could sound like these collectors.

How the Animation Was Done

Scary Godmother series author Jill Thompson in 2011. She contributed her own paintings to the production, which would be used both as 2D image layers and textures on 3D sets.

Mainframe used new computer tools to make Halloween Spooktakular. They used special software to make the pictures look real and combine different layers of animation. They used 20 powerful computers to do this. Most of the backgrounds were first made in 3D. Then, they added textures and used a special tool to give 3D objects black outlines, making them look like 2D cartoons. Some backgrounds were also created using 2D animation for scenes like the "treats" scene and the dance. Jill Thompson also provided her own watercolor paintings. These were used as 2D images and as textures on the 3D backgrounds.

The film used a technique called key frame animation. Because some shots were very long, they used a tool that allowed them to reuse and combine movements, like walking cycles. This was very helpful for the dance and chase scenes. This tool also helped them blend different facial expressions. For the dance scene, they got ideas from Indian dances, the Peanuts specials, and old Scooby-Doo cartoons.

They added fur to characters like Harry and Bugaboo. They also added fur to the Godmother's hair and skirt, and Hannah's tutu. This was one of the hardest parts of the animation. Especially for Bugaboo, because his complex movements sometimes made his fur stick out in strange ways. They used special effects tools to hide these issues. The clouds during Hannah's flight with the Scary Godmother were also tricky. They used special techniques to make them look fluffy and light.

The Look of the Film

Hannah, Jimmy, Bret, Daryl, and Katie all meeting each other at a graveyard. The characters are animated in typical 3D CGI, while objects in the backgrounds are black-edged to give them a 2D cartoon feel.

Mainframe wanted Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular to have a unique look. They didn't want it to be compared to big movie studio 3D films. This movie was the first time Mainframe used their own special software, which gave them more freedom to try new things. The film's look is more like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994) than other modern 3D animated movies.

At first, the company wanted the whole movie to look like the 2D watercolor paintings from the books. But Jill Thompson loved stop-motion films like The Nightmare Before Christmas. So, she decided the characters should be animated in 3D. The final movie has 3D characters moving in front of backgrounds that look like still, 2D hand-drawn watercolor paintings. Even the character designs are different. Hannah has big, anime-like eyes, while Jimmy and his friends have a simpler style. The monsters have a softer, more detailed look. For example, Mr. Skully Pettibone didn't wear clothes in the movie, even though he did in the books. This was because animating clothes would have been too difficult for the computers.

When the Movie Came Out

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular was promoted with a sneak peek trailer online. There were also tie-ins with Halloween shops and candy companies. The movie first showed at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con on July 18, 2003. The audience loved it, clapping loudly when familiar characters appeared. It was clear the movie was a hit with fans of Jill Thompson's books. It also screened at the Chicago International Film Festival and the ION International Animation Festival.

The movie was released on DVD in North America on September 3, 2003. It then aired on TV in Canada, Europe, and Latin America in October of that year. In Canada, it was shown on the YTV channel. It also aired on Disney International networks in Asia, Latin America, Germany, and Italy. The movie had its first TV showing in the United States on Cartoon Network on October 1, 2004. It was shown three more times that month. In the United States, it was also released on DVD in September 2004, with one version even coming with a glow-stick.

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular and its sequel, The Revenge of Jimmy, became a yearly tradition for Cartoon Network to show during Halloween. They continued to air until at least October 2012. The movie was also included in DVD collections. On October 30, 2020, both Scary Godmother movies became available to stream on the Canadian service Crave.