The Halloween Tree gets a painted-background appreciation on Channel Awesome
Doug Walker revisits Hanna-Barbera's Ray Bradbury adaptation, with Leonard Nimoy voicing its mysterious guide.
Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
The Halloween Tree - Nostalgia Critic
Things we can learn from the video
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- 1:13Walker introduces the Bradbury adaptation and praises its animation and atmosphere.
- 2:30The painted backgrounds earn appreciation, while Bradbury's narration strikes Walker as dry.
- 5:59Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Moundshroud supplies the children's mysterious guide through history.
- 7:47The review follows the film through Egyptian rituals, Samhain, witches and Parisian gargoyles.
- 15:35Walker examines the emotional bargain in which the children offer a year of life to save Pip.
Eleven uploads, plenty of scares. Channel Awesome filled its week with animated autumn atmosphere and Are You Afraid of the Dark? retrospectives, while Doug Walker also made room for a documentary detour.
The biggest new audience gathered around "The Halloween Tree - Nostalgia Critic," which reached roughly 157,000 views. A Blair Witch Project parody featuring Tamara Chambers opens the review, but Walker soon finds something worth pausing the jokes for: the animated film's richly painted backgrounds. "The backgrounds in this are freaking gorgeous," he says.
The 1993 special adapts Ray Bradbury's novel, with Bradbury himself narrating and Leonard Nimoy playing Mr. Moundshroud, the guide taking children through the history behind their costumes. Walker singles out Nimoy's performance while finding Bradbury's narration dry. Beneath the review, viewers recall the story's unusually serious bargain about friendship and the value of a year of life; others request Scary Godmother's sequel.
Midnight Mania supplied much of the week's continuing rhythm, revisiting enchanted lockers, darker fairy tales and a movie theater showing a dangerous version of Nosferatu. Its newer "The Tale of the Dark Dragon - Midnight Mania," about a popularity potion turning insecurities monstrous, currently draws the most daily views of any upload on the channel. "Three. Hours. Long.," Walker's review of Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, is another active draw.
Subscribers held steady, and daily views are running below their usual level. Even so, Channel Awesome added about 1.7 million views over the week, a substantial audience among nearby film-commentary channels. RedLetterMedia had a particularly busy week, while Channel Awesome's own schedule kept returning to the Midnight Society's strange little world.
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What viewers say
The ending of this movie is burned into my mind from seeing it as a kid. The friend group all sacrificing years of their lives to say their friend, that felt so much darker than most kid's movies were willing to go. It's not even that intense, but it was definitely a much colder, more honest ending than most kid's movies were brave enough to give.
@twofacetoo75See it on YouTubeStill waiting for him to cover "Scary Godmother 2: The Revenge of Jimmy".
@supermariof0521See it on YouTubeThis movie is the definition of an underrated Halloween classic.
@AllyStrikesBackSee it on YouTube
2 more comments
16:19 "Last reference, I swear, it was staring at me the entire review." Honestly, I almost have to admire the restraint in holding out on that one for so long.
@TeamSoraPresentsSee it on YouTube14:44 that's surprisingly serious and mature for a quirky halloween special
@ianr.navahuber2195See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- Channel Awesome
- Subscribers
- 1,430,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,719,110
- Videos published this week
- 11
- Video published
- October 14, 2026
- Video views so far
- 157,364
- Views on its first day
- 109,999
The numbers
Here is how Channel Awesome's viewing and subscriber totals moved over the week.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which novel was written by The Halloween Tree author Ray Bradbury?
Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451, the dystopian novel about a society that burns books.


