Celebrate Halloween with Favorite Spooky Episodes of Current Disney Animated Series

Halloween is on approach and with the favorite spooky holiday landing on a Saturday this year, why not keep a marathon of some cartoons on well into the evening?! Having been exposed to a number of Disney Channel animated series for over half-a-decade now, I have compiled a list of some favorite fun (and sometimes genuinely frightening) editions of some current favorites on the network and/or on Disney+! 

Let’s start with the two series that have been a constant for the network in the latter day, starting with the longest continuously-running animated series for Disney Channel…

Big City Greens

There have been a number of Halloween episodes through the years across five seasons of this hit animated series. The first, “Blood Moon,” is a true standout, as Bill embraces an old-wives tale/curse and sets the farm animals free during a rare lunar event - if only to keep his kids at home during prime trick-or-treating time. 

Halloween amped up by the third season, when “Squashed” arrived and saw Tilly steal one of BigTech’s newest alien substances to help grow an impressive pumpkin crop for their Halloween Party. While the episode is full of spooky Alien fun, this episode is also known because it introduced us to “Monster Man,” the Big City Greens legally distinct iteration of the Monster Mash. 

Personally, I’m a fan of "Pizza Deliverance," which is a Halloween edition of the hit series, but the first to only take up one 11-minute half of an episode. The other Halloween episodes have taken up the entire 22-minute block. This season three episode, perhaps the most unexpectedly entertaining of the Halloween collection, turns an ordinary pizza delivery into a full backwoods cannibal horror spoof. All under the guise of the hunger for a long-awaited pizza. 

The audience sympathizes with the Pizza Delivery girl, Tina, as she ventures from Big City to Smalton to bring the Greens their Pizza - after having watched “The Country Cannibal Catastrophe” before leaving the restaurant. 

From there, it's a series of misunderstandings (?) and confusion that plays with her imagination and turns the delivery into a truly frightening but hilarious experience. 

If you’re looking for real fun and fright though, this year’s episode really takes the cake. Having debuted only a few weeks ago, the Season Five Halloween episode is not one 22-minute story like previous versions, but two 11-minute Halloween stories. The first one features the (and I say this as a true fan of the show) how-did-they-get-him cameo of Stephen King in a parody of Christine, featuring Bill and his truck, “Killer Kludge.”

However, the second half of this latest Halloween installment is definitely the one that was truly the outstanding entry in my opinion, with “Tricked.” Immediately in the short, we see Bill fall victim to one of Cricket’s pranks (kids should definitely not try this at home) as he throws a pumpkin dummy wearing his clothes into the way of the Kludge. The truck hits the dummy and explodes it everywhere and Bill thinks he just ran over his own son before we see the kids laughing and playing. It sets up the genuine anger that Bill has over Cricket’s pranks, and it’s a sentiment echoed by the rest of Smalton. 

As Halloween night descends upon their country town, Cricket and Tilly go trick or treating and the town is scared of what will happen if they don’t have candy at the ready for Cricket. As they approach a spooky old house, the kids realize that they are being followed by a maniacal scarecrow come to life. It’s a parody of a slasher film in the loosest sense of the word parody. In fact, you might even call this a G-rated slasher flick because we do see things happen via shadows and silhouettes, and there are even some jump scares but it's all comedic at its roots - and without giving any really good spoilers - all is okay by the end. 

So if you’re picking one Big City Greens Halloween episode, definitely put on the latest one - “Killer Kludge/Tricked”. 

Kiff

Sorry to the team at Big City Greens, but if I have to pick one Disney Channel animated series that can really up the ante for their Halloween specials and episodes, it’s - without a doubt or moment of hesitation - Kiff. 

I was able to talk with creators of the series, Nic Smal and Lucy Heavens ahead of the debut of Season Two. When asked if there would be more at the time, Lucy explained that “we love our Halloween specials… Nic and I did not grow up experiencing Halloween like people in the U.S. and we were always jealous of it.” Nic added, “For us, we’re getting all the pent up years of no Halloween out of our system with these specials.”

This was asked because of how spectacular the first Halloween episode was, with “Trevor’s Rockin’ Halloween Bash.” That episode introduced us to the candy-eating demon, Scarm Scaremly. As Trevor throws a Halloween party that quickly gets out of hand - despite traditionally being a safer option in Table Town - Barry inadvertently unleashes the demon who not only wreaks havoc at the party and turns all the kids into decorations, but also on the whole of Table Town and it was up to Kiff and Barry to stop him…with a little help from Roy Fox and a whole mess of spiders. All who would appear in later Kiff episodes. 

Later in season two, we got another trip to the frighteningly fun side of Halloween with “Ye Olde Candy Shoppe of Horrors.” This one saw Kiff and Barry have all their candy stolen by some older kids, and needed to replace it as Halloween night is just starting to take off. When another strange child shows up and is turned away without candy, Kiff and Barry are desperate to find an open candy shop, and find one still operating and run by a creepy owner. When they leave the store, they find themselves magically whisked to Table Town past. 

This year, we saw the return of Scarm as he took us into the nightmare realm. In fact, this one featured so many jump scares that it had a disclaimer during the opening titles, where Scarm himself appears to warn viewers. What followed was a Nightmare on Elm Street-esque visit by Scarm who haunts not only the dreams of Kiff, Barry, and Roy Fox, but is attempting to take over all of Table Town’s residents. It’s fun, it’s frightening, and it’s even a little uncomfortable, but a fantastic Halloween viewing regardless. 

But if there is one Kiff Halloween tale that stands above the rest - it’s their first ever special, “The Haunting of Miss McGravy’s House.” 

This special is everything that the show is - fun, funny, beautifully animated, and with plenty of humor for the parents watching as well. Where the show really amps it up though, is that it has genuine moments that are G-rated frightening. We see shadows and ghosts lurking and crawling down hallways, and the spirits create ghostly visions that show each of the kids' greatest fears. Some of these are creepy for the younger set, but also funny (while still being a little unsettling) for the adults as they parody other horror movies and horror tropes. 

Perhaps out of everything mentioned on this list, or what will be mentioned - this is truly the standout Halloween episode from latter day Disney Television Animation in my opinion. 

The Doomies

One of the newest series from Disney Television Animation is only available on Disney+, and that is The Doomies. 

The newer show already has a spooky and paranormal bend to it, following two vloggers named Bobby and Romy and their channel and followers - all dubbed (ready?) “The Doomies.” We follow them in the very French seaside town of Ouimper. Convinced that something evil is lurking about, the pair investigate all the strange goings on in town, inevitably leading to Bobby himself being cursed and (perhaps) causing more of the paranormal activity in their seaside village. 

Each episode is spooky and fun in its own way, but there are a pair that stand out as good viewings for Halloween episodes. 

The episode, “The Party is Dead”, takes place during Ouimper’s annual “Spook Fest,” and Bobby and Romy’s friend and protector, Kim, has gone missing. The duo sets out to find her during the festival, and knowing that Kim naturally gravitates to where the monsters lurk, the kids (and Doug!) follow clues to the outskirts of town, where a goblin points them to a different party that’s attended by supernatural monsters.

There’s a bit more to this party than meets the eye, and Kim is definitely going to be in attendance - but if I’m telling you to watch it, why would I dish out so many spoilers? 

A runner-up episode, “Nosfera…Who?” is also another one in particular that I would find enjoyable for the Halloween holiday. Bobby’s new aunt is going on a date, and he and the rest of “The Doomies” are sure that he is hiding a dark secret. A lot of clues and his lineage suggest he is a Vampire… but is he? This one plays more into some gothic Halloween fun, and the title suggests a classic horror film we are all familiar with - but keeps the theme, style, and humor of The Doomies intact. 

There are plenty of other past Disney Channel shows that could be looked to for some more Halloween fun, including some of the obvious choices like Gravity Falls, The Owl House, and The Ghost and Molly McGee. However, keeping this to the shows that are currently running on the network leaves us with these options. 

You can catch these episodes as they air on Disney Channel or as you want as they are also all streaming currently on Disney+.