Random Spooky Things You Can Watch On Disney (18 items)

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  (#11) The Black Cauldron

  • John Hurt, John Huston, Nigel Hawthorne, John Byner, Phil Fondacaro, Freddie Jones, Brandon Call, Arthur Malet, Wayne Allwine, Peter Renaday, Susan Sheridan, Billie Hayes, Eda Reiss Merin, James Almanzar, Phil Nibbelink, Adele Malis-Morey, Gregory Levinson, Grant Bardsley, Jack Laing, Lindsay Rich, Steve Hale

  The Black Cauldron might not be considered a classic, but it doesn't deserve its reputation as the low point of the post-Walt Disney era, either. Based on Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain fantasy series, the movie follows the evil Horned King who hopes to use the titular black cauldron to raise an army of the undead and rule the world. Opposing him is an everyman pig-keeper named Taran, as well as Princess Eilonwy, a bard named Fflewddur Fflam, and a wild creature named Gurgi. 

  Disney hoped The Black Cauldron would be a Sleeping Beauty for a new generation. An ambitious production, it had a budget of $44 million and was the first Disney film to use computer animation. And thanks to its darker themes was the first Disney animated feature to receive a PG rating. Unfortunately, the uneasy transition into the post-Walt Disney era meant that production would be pushed back several years. New Disney heads Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner also clashed with the animation team on the final cut. As a result, The Black Cauldron would earn only $21 million in domestic gross and didn't get a home video release until 1998. 

  The Black Cauldron still has plenty to enjoy, including exciting action sequences, scary visuals, and likable characters It's a must-watch for fans of spooky fantasy, Disney completionists, and anyone interested in the history of animation. 
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  (#15) Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire

  • Laura Vandervoort, Caroline Rhea, Robert Carradine, Charles Shaughnessy, Myles Jeffrey, Matt O'Leary, Jake Epstein

  The title pretty much tells you all you need to know. When siblings Adam and Chelsea are grounded, they hope to distract their newly divorced mother, Lynette, and attend a rock concert by setting her up on a date with Dmitry, a man who seems perfect - until they realize he's a vampire. With the help of their horror aficionado little brother Tyler, Adam and Chelsea must stop Dmitry before he can turn Lynette into his vampire queen. 

  It's not a masterpiece nor very scary, but Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire is still a solid Disney Channel Original Movie. It even manages to tackle a difficult subject not often seen in kid-friendly fare: the difficulty of dating after a divorce. 
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  (#4) The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

  • Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, J. Pat O'Malley, Oliver Wallace, Eric Blore, Claud Allister, Leslie Denison, John McLeish, Colin Campbell, Edmond Stevens, Campbell Grant

  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is two animated films in one. The first segment is based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's book The Wind in the Willows, and while it isn't scary, it is still worth a view. The second segment is an adaptation of Washington Irving's story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, in which the lanky schoolteacher Ichabod Crane is menaced by the ghostly Headless Horseman. 

  Legendary American crooner Bing Crosby narrated the tale, provided the voices for both Crane and his romantic rival Brom Bones, and sang the songs “Ichabod,” “Katrina,” and “The Headless Horseman.” An accompanying album featuring those songs and Crosby's narration was released the same year on Decca Records. 

  Both segments hold up, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow still brings the scares decades after its original release. 
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  (#2) Hocus Pocus

  • Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, Thora Birch, Penny Marshall, Kathy Najimy, Doug Jones, Garry Marshall, Vinessa Shaw, Sean Murray, Charles Rocket, Jason Marsden, Kathleen Freeman, Norbert Weisser, Stephanie Faracy, Michael McGrady, Larry Bagby, VenetianPrincess, Don Yesso, Omri Katz, Daniel Olsen, Joseph Malone, Peggy Holmes, Leigh Hamilton, Teda Bracci, Taylor Stanley, Karyn Malchus, D.A. Pauley, Jordan Redmond, Devon Reeves, Steve Voboril, Tobias Jelinek, Frank Del Boccio, Ezra Sutton, Jeff Neubauer

  For many people, Halloween season doesn't being until they watch Hocus Pocus. The story follows teenager Max and his little sister, Dani, who move to Salem, MA, and accidentally free three witch sisters. The Sanderson sisters gleefully wreak havoc on the town of Salem, sucking the souls of children in order to stay alive. It's up to Max and Dani to stop them by stealing their book of magic spells. 

  Hocus Pocus isn't really a horror movie, but it's a comedy set during Halloween. The main reason fans keep returning to it is because stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy bring a lightness to the Sanderson sisters that makes them fun. Meanwhile, Omri Katz and Thora Birch turn in solid performances as a brother and sister who are forced to work together to save their town.

  When you add a script full of memorable one-liners, it's easy to see why Hocus Pocus is a creepy Disney favorite.
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  (#16) Phantom of the Megaplex

  • Mickey Rooney, Taylor Handley, Caitlin Wachs, Jacob Smith, Corinne Bohrer, Julia Chantrey

  This horror comedy from is loosely based on Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, updating the story for a 21st-century preteen audience.

  Pete is a 17-year-old who works at his local 26-screen movie theater, which is rumored to be haunted. According to local legend, a phantom was trapped inside the previous theater that was demolished to make way for the megaplex. When the megaplex schedules a movie premier with a famous director, the Phantom plays a series of pranks to disrupt the proceedings. 

  Phantom of the Megaplex is especially worth a watch because it co-stars comedy legend Mickey Rooney, who plays Movie Mason, an elderly moviegoer who owned the original theater and is initially blamed for the pranks. 
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  (#14) The Legend of Mor'du

  • Julie Walters, Steve Purcell, Callum O'Neill

  Fans of the 2012 fantasy film Brave will definitely want to check out The Legend of Mor'du, a Pixar-animated short that fills in the backstory of the movie's antagonist, Mor'du.

  Before he became a demon bear who menaces Merida and her family, Mor'du was a power hungry prince who tried to seize power from his brothers, which caused him to change into his demonic form. And unlike Brave, which used 3D computer-generated animation, The Legend of Mor'du uses a textured animation style that appears hand-painted. Director Brian Larsen based this style on that of the influential early Disney animator Mary Blair, who worked on films like Cinderella and Peter Pan. 

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