Dead Cat's Tell no Tails

There's certain hallmarks of a holiday. For Halloween, it's pumpkin spice, jack-o'-lanterns, and leaves raked into neat piles... for some reason. No, seriously, why the hell do we do that?

One Halloween tradition that should be mandatory is *Garfield's Halloween Adventure*. It is for me, and by way of this site, it is for you readers.

Garfield has the ultimate Halloween. He makes a costume, goes trick-or-treating, and gets scared by pirate ghosts. Most of us only do one or two of those on Halloween.

Weekly Update 10/26/26 – Halloweener

A new week has raised its head, Zone Base readers, but not just any week. It's Halloweek! That's right, Halloween is this Saturday, meaning we've got one spooky week in store for us. Whether you're in school or in the working world, there's bound to be pumpkins and candy all over the damn place. Come Friday, many of you will likely have some sort of costume contest at your workplace, or at the very least one of those seasonal T-shirts that declares that this is, in fact, your Halloween costume.

All leading up to the main event: Halloween Saturday!

Of course, that means the decorations will be coming down soon around here, as we'll return to the regular, non-red-moon-affected Zone Base... which, to be fair, really isn't that different. I mean, that cursed tape has been playing on loop in the VCR since 2016.

For whatever reason, the embedded TikTok videos stopped working on the site over the weekend. I assumed it would clear itself up, but for whatever reason it's still not working. I've went back and edited last week's posts and updated the ones scheduled for this week to have pictures. From now on, site posts will have pics like they used to with a link to the video. Until the embeds start working again, I guess there's just a bunch of posts in the backlog with dead videos. Sorry guys, it's annoying for me too.

Transformers

Some recent leaks of upcoming Generations toys have me pretty excited. The direction of Studio Series figures being faithful to their source material while Generations offers more imaginative takes on the characters looks promising. I'm absolutely ecstatic for that Commander Class Thunderwing, but admittedly, I'm not happy at all about the upcoming price hikes.

I've got the feeling purchases will be slower, with more stuff being picked up on sale or when it shows up at liquidation stores. I can't think of a time when price gouging was a good thing.

Fight back.

Blokees

The long-anticipated Defender Version Volcanicus combiner was shown off at the recent China Toy Expo, much to my happiness. You all know just how much I love the Defender Version scale, and the combiners have been great! I mean... I kinda forgot about the Generations Bruticus, but absolutely pounced on the Bruticus Blokees kit when it was finally available.

Recent Defender Version cases have been including Dinobots in alt mode, leading to speculation (and teases) about Volcanicus. Knowing he'll be real and in my hands soon is super exhilarating. Longtime readers know I love my Dinosaur Squadron Beast Lord Volcanicus, so much so that I made up an unnecessarily long super robot name for no reason. Speaking of, Defender Version 09- Power of the Primes has been leaked and I am STOKED!

Also shown off were new Wheels and Galaxy Version previews. More IDW-inspired robot modes for Galaxy Version is definitely a good idea, as it seems to be the perfect size for that era.

More Wheels? Yes, please! A CT Ultra Magnus kit was shown off, something I'm definitely looking forward to, along with previews of CO5, which so far has included traditional G1 Optimus Prime and a space shuttle mode Sky Lynx. You guys know how much I'm enjoying Wheels, so these will definitely be pure dopamine. 

Yolopark

Yolopark showed off their upcoming Mini Wave 4 at the China Toy Expo as well, and it looks great! Wheeljack, robot mode Grimlock, and Sideswipe are just a few of the classic cast members showing up in this size class.

I still haven't gotten Wave 3, and I'm admittedly still butthurt over the lack of customer service for the errors on that Wave 2 case I got at the beginning of the year. And yeah, I'm pretty burned over them ghosting me on that giveaway I won on Threads at the beginning of the year, too.

I love the kits, just not terribly fond of the company currently.

I'm still hoping to find some of their kits that have allegedly been showing up at Ross stores, though mine seemingly haven't gotten any.

Dammit.

Power Rangers 

Images of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Re-Ignition Season 3 toys have made their way onto the internet, and with them comes the next combinable Megazord! I loved the Ninja Zords, so I'm definitely excited to get that big-ass monstrosity!

The Weekend 

I had one great weekend, Zone Base readers. As the beginning of Halloweek, we had all sorts of spooky fun!

While doing our weekly shopping Saturday, the Mrs and I got Halloween donuts from Dunkin' Donuts. We normally get our donuts from Donut Worry and had already gotten a Halloween dozen from them earlier in the season, but we wanted to grab some Dunkin' as well.

For dinner Saturday night, we ordered the Halloween pizza from Papa Johns (an annual tradition of ours)!

I headed out Sunday morning to stop by CVS to hopefully score one last bag of candy corn for the season, as it's been gone from all my local stores for the past week. I was unsuccessful, but I did get a bag of Mellowcreme Pumpkins, so it wasn't a total waste. I actually hadn't gotten any of those Pumpkins this year, as the new Mellowcreme Graveyards took most of my attention in that department and might have been my favorite candy of this spooky season.

CVS was just a side mission, however, as the main quest was to Starbucks to get a Black Cat Frappuccino for the Mrs and myself. We love Starbucks, as I've made clear before, so it's obvious we'd get their annual Halloween drink. As the name suggests, it's themed after a black cat this year (complete with chocolate cat ears!), meaning it's a black drink with whipped cream topping. The flavor was chocolate cake, which the Mrs loved, but for someone who normally drinks zero-sugar drinks (I even pace myself on candy, seriously), that was super sweet.

Like, wow. Diabetes in a cup.

As a Halloweek treat, Mom surprised us with lunch at Outback Steakhouse! We'd eaten there the week prior, and both the Mrs and Mom loved their Halloween drink, so another one was in store for them. Me, I had a Coke Zero, but kept the toy spider that came with the Halloween drink (I don't drink either)... something we may have a small army of at the moment.

Afterwards, Mom stayed at our house and watched Halloween specials with us as we carved our pumpkins! Later for dinner, I enjoyed some of the pot roast the Mrs had made in the crock pot, and I'm looking forward to eating the leftovers later!

As for toys, I got a few. Christmas is coming, so my weekly purchases for myself are slowing down naturally, but I still grabbed a few small things.

I got a Transformers Big Headz blind box and pulled Barricade! I like these quite a bit and plan to get more. They come with a collector's card and sticker!

I also picked up a Blokees Galaxy Version blind box from the Light Our Darkest Hour series. I got Bombshell, whom I already have, but I definitely don't mind extra Insecticons! Something tells me that one's getting customized into a Waruder soon, though.

It's me. I'm telling myself that.

I also picked up the Red Dragon Thunderzord from MMPR Re-Ignition, as I really need to get to work completing the Thunder Megazord.

I'm currently enjoying Halloween cartoons as I write this from my laptop in the living room (a rare non-cell-phone Monday post!). I started the morning with a few episodes of The Real Ghostbusters before moving to the Forever Kids station on Pluto TV, which was showing the old Teen Wolf cartoon. Now they're showing Sabrina the Witch, so I'm watching Casper on Kartoon Channel.

It's Halloweek, so spooky shit is in order until it all ends this weekend!

Ok, ok... I'll watch

I've praised Disney's contributions to Halloween so much, you'd think I was on the payroll. Nope, that's those other sites (and YouTubers).

ME? I just like what I like and have always liked how Disney does Halloween.

This spot advertising the 1989 spooky season programming gives each show its own little mini trailer. That's pretty great because you'd probably skip over some of these going by the name alone.

Okay... I'm still skipping over Rusty and Buttons.

Witches Night

Last year I was pretty bummed. Witches Night Out had been bought up by some distributor and disappeared from all my streaming apps. Thankfully, it's now on Tubi, so it's easily watchable again! This is one of my favorite Halloween specials and it's admittedly pretty whacked out. I've posted it here every Halloween... but every season is someone's first. You've got some kids who are disappointed that their costumes didn't scare anyone and they meet a Witch who feels unwanted. Mayhem commences as the grown ups boring Halloween party gets a taste of the spooky shit! One thing that everyone notices is the solid colors the characters are represented in. I think first seeing this on Disney Channel made me make comparisons to Monsters in My Pocket and drew me in. Either way, it's pretty weird... and pretty great.

originally posted 10/28/2025

Phyllis Diller Spends Halloween At Disneyland

Disney does Halloween right. They do Halloween specials right. Somebody behind the scenes of The Mouse Factory did drugs wrong. I don't know if Phillis Diller did drugs, but I do know her name is slang for cocaine. I'm sure there was a mountain offstage on this episode.

Spooks and Magic, the Halloween episode of The Mouse Factory features Phyllis Diller as the guest star going absolutely insane with Disney characters. At one point she's breaking into the Haunted Mansion and harassing the ghosts, the next minute she's having a Halloween costume party with Donald Duck. Said costume party doesn't sound bad until she shows them her batshit family slides then runs them off by singing.

The whole thing ends with her forming a witches coven with King Louie, Goofy, and Witch Hazel. The latter is sent to Donald Duck's (who just left) house as a set up to the classic Disney 'Trick or Treat' short. In the end, Phyllis uses her evil witch powers to steal Snow Whites identity and... it just ends. That means she's still out there.

Originally Posted 10/02/2020

Form Blazing Candle

The wording of this commercial gives me pause. "Pre-Halloween?" I'm assuming that's meant to say they're showing it a few days before? I dunno.

Jack O'Lantern is a pretty fun cartoon that's a bit wild. Jack is a pumpkin-headed guy who arrives on the scene and immediately gets into one hell of a fight with a witch and her crew.

Jack is actually a leprechaun piloting the pumpkin guy... it's weird.

What is cool is the fact that it's a Rankin/Bass production, meaning it was outsourced to Japanese animation studios. Either Topcraft or Mushi Productions animated this little special, and it looks really good.

While I doubt the studio had anything to do with the script, part of me can't help but find what's essentially a Pumpkin Super Robot cartoon hilarious.

Davey's Night

Trick or Treat isn't just fun words to say, they're words to live by. Davey, Sallie, and Goliath must have got one too many of those nasty peanut butter chews- because it's hell on earth this hallows eve! Some kids and a talking dog just want to watch the world BURN! Come to think about it, know who else was advised by a talking dog? DAVID BERKOWITZ! Wait... David... Davey... well shit. It all makes sense now.

Originally Posted 10/06/2022

Man, what did Usher's House ever do?

I don't always have a joke for these. Okay, usually I have something to say... but this is just a really great animation based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", and it's cool as hell.

Happy Halloween.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

I just got back from seeing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and just like the first movie, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

While the movie takes inspiration from Super Mario Galaxy, it pulls from all over the Mario series. There are even appearances from other Nintendo properties, which makes it feel like a full-on celebration. Like the previous movie, it’s a fun love letter to Nintendo fans while still being an enjoyable ride for all ages.

Like I usually do with movie posts, I’ll avoid spoilers. But since he’s been all over the marketing, I think it’s safe to mention Fox McCloud showing up. Seeing Fox and his Arwing from Star Fox in the movie was really fun, and I’m hoping it leads to more Star Fox in general—games, a movie… or, as the Mrs pointed out, toys. I’d absolutely lose my mind if Fox showed up in those little Mario figure displays at the Walmart check out. I check those things every time I’m there.

The movie isn’t a direct adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy, but it's used more of a framing device, similar to how the first movie worked. It’s probably too early for me to decide which one I like more, but right now it feels like a natural continuation. It blends really well with the first movie, and I like that a lot.

Honestly, I’m still riding a high from watching it. As a big Mario fan, this thing is packed with so many Easter eggs and references it’s kind of mind-blowing. I’m still thinking about the Pro Wrestling poster hanging on Mario’s bedroom wall.

I’ve seen some people online already trashing it, but they feel like the same type who went after the first movie—people who just hate popular things to try and seem interesting instead of developing an actual personality.

Me? I loved it.

I made a complete dork of myself. I brought a small Mario figure with me and wore a Mario Kart shirt. The theater had Super Mario candy and themed ICEEs, plus Yoshi popcorn buckets that were already sold out. I grabbed a pack of Feastables Yoshi Eggs—white chocolate with peanut butter—which felt very appropriate with it being Easter. They were actually pretty good.

I don’t really know who MrBeast is, but I like a lot of his products. It honestly feels like he just appeared one day out of nowhere. Who the hell even is he?

The Mrs grabbed one of the ICEEs—Mario Cherry and Princess Peach (peach flavor... wouldn't it be great if it was mango or something?). She went with Mario. I tried a few sips and yeah… it’s just cherry. Still fun, though. I had a Pepsi Zero Sugar... I might be addicted.

On the way out, we noticed the theater had a custom Mario balloon sculpture in the lobby. No idea how we missed it on the way in, but it was a nice extra touch.

Overall, it was just a really fun experience on top of a great movie, all centered around something I’ve loved forever. Pretty awesome.

What should I be?

The opening music to Garfield's Halloween Adventure is burned into my memory they way a channel logo is on your TV. At any random moment, there it is... that flute followed by the screams of Blinky the Clown. I don't know how many times I've seen this special, but it doesn't matter. I'll watch it even more times. It's wonderful. This is another of my annual Halloween posts. It's tradition! The perfect Halloween night as experienced by our favorite lasagna addicted cat. It's all there. Deciding on a costume, carving a pumpkin, trick or treating, and even something scary! Perfection.

Witches Night

Last year I was pretty bummed. Witches Night Out had been bought up by some distributor and disappeared from all my streaming apps. Thankfully, it's now on Tubi, so it's easily watchable again! This is one of my favorite Halloween specials and it's admittedly pretty whacked out. I've posted it here every Halloween... but every season is someone's first. You've got some kids who are disappointed that their costumes didn't scare anyone and they meet a Witch who feels unwanted. Mayhem commences as the grown ups boring Halloween party gets a taste of the spooky shit! One thing that everyone notices is the solid colors the characters are represented in. I think first seeing this on Disney Channel made me make comparisons to Monsters in My Pocket and drew me in. Either way, it's pretty weird... and pretty great.

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

There's nothing more Halloween than this old Disney cartoon about a bunch of skeletons dancing around a graveyard at night. All the classic spooky shit is on full display. Black cats, big spiders, a howling dog, an owl, and of course the skeletons. The ghouls dance around, playing each other as instruments (don't be weird), and having a grave old time. You saw what you saw. All hell breaks loose and the grim reaper gets served before sun rise. Which of course means it's time for the skeletons to rush back to their graves.

originally posted 10/20/20

Daniel Mouse Went Down To Georgia

The Devil and Daniel Mouse was a Halloween special produced by Nelvana and first aired on CBS on October 5th 1978. It's an adaption of the short story 'The Devil and Daniel Webster'. I made a point to be informative at first because it's slightly obscure now. This is the information super highway, right? Daniel and Jan mouse are folk musicians struggling to get by when one night at the peak of their struggles Jan makes a deal with the devil while Daniel is away. She signs her soul away for fame and success and becomes a huge star leaving Daniel behind.

I know, this has never worked out in the past, but to her credit, she doesn't realize it's the devil she's talking too. Somehow. All is going well before she realizes who her new agent is actually when he comes to claim her end of the bargain. She runs away and finds Daniel and begs him to help. Daniel represents her in court and you've probably figured out the rest. It's a retelling of an old story that's been redone a million times. This particular version though is pretty cool. Despite the cute animal characters, the devil and assorted imagery are still pretty scary.

Taking place in the 70's, they change from hippy folk music to hard rock really driving home the thematic change. There's such a change in tone from the folksy innocent Daniel and the newly glam Jan that I can't help to see it as commentary from the production crew. I do suppose it was a pretty stark change from flower power to gritty and glam. Either way it's a pretty unique little cartoon that may not be specifically pumpkin spicy as a Halloween special, but works tonally.

originally posted 9/9/21 

Scared Pinkless

The Pink Panther and his gang are alongside the classic cartoons that I grew up with and still love watching to this day. Timeless and endlessly entertaining, there's always one for the occasion and today is a good time to look at Pink Plasma. In Pink Plasma the panther finding himself in a spooky castle full of monsters and other classic haunted house tropes. This one feels like a Halloween greeting card to me. No jokes this time, let's just watch a great cartoon.

Ichabod's Bogus Journey

Sleepy Hollow has problems. For one, the damn Headless Horseman is constantly terrorizing the town. The other? That whole milk crate thing. Where the hell do they keep getting those anyway? There's a serious problem with a Headless Horseman and these damn fool kids all have broken hips! The local school teacher, Ichabod Crane, is into the paranormal. So he forms a team with Rip Van Winkle and some dog to go confront that damn headless fool. He's a shitty teacher, so the whole milk crate thing doesn't even get a speech in homeroom. Things don't go how you'd expect them to as they face all sorts of monsters in a spooky showdown with a wicked witch. For the record I didn't make any of that up, that's what happens, and yes this is one weird cartoon. Also people keep hurting themselves climbing milk crates. Happy fall y'all.

originally posted 8/27/21

Haunted House (1929)

Man, Disney is #@%#^&$* awesome. One of the biggest companies in the world and they do Halloween better than anyone ever gives them credit. Disney's Halloween Treat is still a favorite of the wife and I (we literally have every single version of it... there's a lot of versions) and we're all over everything Disney and Halloween. We hope to make it out to the Not So Scary Halloween party next year because that just looks super amazing. This old Micky Mouse cartoon has the mouse exploring a most radical haunted house with skeletons that play songs on each other's butts.

originally posted 8/24/18

The Fever Dream Of Sleepy Hollow

Ichabod Crane is a weird guy. He likes to eat food and whoop dat ass. Unfortunately he's not thicker than a toothpick once stuck in a Snicker, so the only ass whom he whoops dat is of his students. Well, the ones who don't have any food for him anyway.

I'm sure you're well versed in the story of Sleepy Hollow, so you know exactly what happens to Ichabod. However, you may not have seen this bizarre animated version from 1972 that doesn't wait until the end to bring forth the scares.

originally posted 8/3/21

Transformers Cyberworld starts July 12th!

This looks fun!

Halfway 2 Halloween~Haunted House (1929)

Man, Disney is #@%#^&$* awesome. One of the biggest companies in the world and they do Halloween better than anyone ever gives them credit. Disney's Halloween Treat is still a favorite of the wife and I (we literally have every single version of it... there's a lot of versions) and we're all over everything Disney and Halloween. We hope to make it out to the Not So Scary Halloween party next year because that just looks super amazing. This old Micky Mouse cartoon has the mouse exploring a most radical haunted house with skeletons that play songs on each others butts.

Grim grinning ghosts indeed.

Originally Posted: 08/24/2018

Orange Beard the Pirate and Odie the Stupid

We love Garfield in my household. From regularly watching his channel on Pluto TV to the army of plushies in our bedroom. So of course his holiday specials are required viewing. Garfield's Halloween Adventure/Garfield in Disguise is one of my favorite Halloween specials that's so good it gets regular viewings all year long! It's Halloween and Garfield wants some candy. Along with Odie (where's Lyman?), he goes trick or treating and gets the scare of his life! It's the ideal Halloween night!