Witch's Night Out

There was a time when Halloween specials were unknown on American television, even though Halloween episodes of television shows were common even in the Fifties and Sixties. Even after the success of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Halloween specials would be relatively rare. This began to change in the mid to late Seventies when several Halloween specials debuted. Among this specials was the Canadian special Witch's Night Out.

Witch's Night Out begins with a witch (Gilda Radner) who finds herself feeling lonely on Halloween. Meanwhile, Goodly (John Leach) decides to hold a Halloween party for both children and adults. As it turns out, the abandoned house Goodly selects turns out to be that of the with. Also on that Halloween, two children, Small (Tony Molesworth) and Tender (Naomi Leach) are disappointed that their costumes (a werewolf and a ghost) scared no one and wish to become an actual werewolf and a ghost. Of course, all of this leads to a number of complications.

Witch's Night Out was a sequel to the 1974 Canadian special The Gift of Winter, and was directed, written, and produced by the creator of The Gift of Winter, John Leach. It used the same characters, although they were voiced by different actors. In addition to The Gift of Winter and Witch's Night Out, John Leach had earlier provided animated Spanish inserts for Sesame Street and worked on the Canadian children's show Readalong. 

A few well-known actors provided voices for Witch's Night Out. Gilda Radner had voiced the characters Nicely and Malicious in The Gift of Winter, and was also its narrator. For Witch's Night Out, she was the voice of the witch. Cathrine O' Hara voiced Malicious, while Fiona Reid voiced Nicely. While Dan Akroyd had originated the voice of Goodly in The Gift of Winter, animator John Leach took over the role of Goodly in Witch's Night Out.

Witch's Night Out debuted on both CBC in Canada and NBC in the United States on October 27, 1978. It would air again on NBC in 1979 and 1980. It entered syndication in 1982 and continued to air in syndication for years to come. It was in 1987 that it began airing on the Disney Channel, multiple times each October. It continued to air on the Disney Channel well into the Nineties.

Witch's Night Out would see a revival in the Teens. John Leach and animation director Jimmy Cross of the animation studio Uncle Porkchop Productions remastered Witch's Night Out. It was released on DVD though Mill Creek Entertainment along with other Halloween specials. It aired on This TV and in 2016 was available for streaming on Hulu. It is currently available on several streaming services, including Fawesome, Hoopla, Prime Video, and Tubi.

While Witch's Night Out never became a yearly broadcast network tradition the way that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and some Christmas specials have, it remains a fondly remembered special from the years it spent in syndication and on the Disney Channel. Given how common it is on streaming services, it seems likely it will be around for many Halloweens to come.