TV REVIEWS : Kids in Pursuit of a Spirit on ‘Halloween’

Based on a popular book by Ray Bradbury, “The Halloween Tree” (airing today at 1:35 p.m. on TBS cable and at 3 p.m. on KCAL-TV Channel 9) ranks among the more original animated holiday specials in recent years. Bradbury wrote the adaptation, which is considerably more poetic than standard children’s TV fare; however, viewers may find themselves regretting that the program falls short of its source.

Four kids in a small, Midwestern town don their Halloween costumes, but Pip, the leader of their group, doesn’t show up for trick-or-treating. When they go to his house to investigate, they see him being taken away in an ambulance, but a spectral image of Pip leads them to the Addams Family-esque mansion of Mr. Moundshroud, with its giant jack-o’-lantern-hung tree.

Moundshroud takes the four friends in pursuit of Pip’s spirit--a magical trip that involves visits to some earlier Halloween celebrations. But the festivities seem to have been steam-cleaned: There’s no mention of the Witch’s Sabbath or witch-burning.

As the voice of Moundshroud, Leonard Nimoy offers generic kidvid villainy where a little Spock-ian detachment might seem more chilling. Producer-director Mario Piluso uses camera moves over pretty watercolor backgrounds to shore up the limits of the animation, but he can’t disguise the fact that the visuals in “Halloween Tree” are a lot less interesting than Bradbury’s original words.