Raggedy Ann: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile

"Why couldn't I have gotten work in a pie or something?" asks the poor pumpkin. "I'm a failure. I can't help it. That's the way I was carved." And he cries - his tears are pumpkin seeds. Nice touch. Chuck Jones, the Looney Tunes director, directed this special, and there are times when it shows. This was one of a couple of Raggedy Ann specials that were made in the late 70s, when Ann was being "branded" as a mulitmedia licensed character. A few years later, guys like Strawberry Shortcake and The Care Bears would overshadow her in that arena.

I haven't seen her other specials, but it's almost a shame Ann got shoved aside, because, while I'll admit I expected to really hate it, this special turned out to be awfully funny - thanks, I assume, to Chuck Jones, who realized that just because he was writing a sickly-sweet show for little kids didn't mean he couldn't be funny. The people who wrote "Casper Saves Halloween," "Which Witch is Which," and any number of other C-list specials would have done well to take note.

Anyway... far away, on the other side of town from the lonely pumpkin, Raggedy Ann and Andy are almost as sad as the pumpkin because of a nearby little boy named Ralph whom they've never seen smile. He has no reason to - he lives with an aunt who happens to be a real pill. The house is an old Victorian, and the aunt dresses as though she's been there since it was built. She won't let him go trick or treating, and, when kids come to trick or treat at her house, she runs them off and shouts "can't you find honest jobs?"

The Raggedy pair try to come up with plans - Andy suggests accusing the aunt of income tax evasion. Ann, who is not nearly as funny as Andy, suddenly shouts "Pumpkin!" to which Andy replies "Pumpkin? What do you mean 'pumpkin?' Heh. You're always yelling 'pumpkin.'" Life at these guys' house must have been strange. I wouldn't know, I guess. I'm a boy. If having Raggedy Andy was an attempt to make this stuff appealing to boys, it didn't work very well.

Anyway, they hit on the notion of bringing the poor boy a pumpkin and go to work with the help of a skateboarding stuffed dog who would have been far more at home in the 80s. The last pumpkin in the patch is still sitting on the shelf, beating down on himself so loudly that even the nearby mice get fed-up and leave.

So, that's act 1. Act 2 and Act 3 consist entirely of Ann, Andy and Arthur getting the pumpkin and bringing it back (which is kinda hard for dolls who aren't strong enough to lift a jack-o-lantern.) It's not a terribly involving plot - each scene moves along at a very, very leisurely pace. There's no suspense for even a second.

Luckily for the viewer, Chuck Jones was involved not just as director, but as a writer. If the plot lacks any twists, or suspense, or any particular obstacles to be overcome, or anything like that (and it does), he made up for it by having some pretty clever dialogue, mostly on Raggedy Andy's part. It's though Jones said "well, I have to write a show about talking dolls that will appeal mainly to the under 6 set. Might as well make the most of it." This isn't to say it's as anarchic or clever as an Animaniacs episode, or even "Witch's Night Out," but the people involved in this clearly had fun about as much fun as they could with the gig. It may be faint praise, but this is probably the best of all possible Raggedy Ann halloween specials.

Consider this dialogue:

Raggedy Andy: "Why don't we just take someone else's pumpkin?"
Raggedy Ann: "You can't make someone happy by making someone else sad!"
Raggedy Andy: "Ever try it?"

Or how about this:
Ralph (on the trick or treaters): But it's Halloween, aunt Agatha! They were just having fun!
Aunt Agatha: That is no excuse, young man, for threatening honest citizens....be a good boy, and tomorrow we'll go the museum and look at the rocks.

What do you know - trick or treating CAN get you accused of taking part in a rumble, just as Sally suspected in It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Sure, I got bored at times while watching this special as an adult. The song at the end is pretty forgettable (it's about the polar opposite of the disco ending songs that were popular at the time), but the funny moments seem all the funnier in a special like this, and make it worth finding a copy of, though it's pretty rare these days.

Currently on youtube: