So, Halloween is now just a few days away. I've made my usual loops through the California

and Florida resorts to check on the decorations. The decorations, in my opinion, are better at

DCA than at Disneyland, and the mood of Halloween is best experienced at Mickey's Not

So Scary at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.

But Halloween, or more specifically, trick-or-treating, has a long history inside the Disney Company.

So today, as a midweek extra, I'm going to post up our annual omnibus of Halloween-related stories to get everyone here in the mood for the

holiday. I'm going to drop us down into that episode right now.

At this point in the year, we're moving very quickly up to Halloween, which is now the second

most popular holiday in America, trick-or-treaters, festive parades, candy, scary movies, and costumes.

But a little more than a century ago, none of these traditions existed in America.

In terms of a historical timeline, these are all recent developments.

In its own way, Disney had a hand in shaping this holiday through its cartoons and TV shows.

Also, Halloween had a hand in shaping Disney. Without Halloween, it's unlikely that

Disneyland would have been built in Anaheim. Halloween was the key to make that connection.

And so today, we'll take a look at the history of Halloween as it relates to the Disney company.

To all of the connections between that holiday and the studio during the lifetime of Walt and Roy. So if you've

got your fun-sized candy bars all set out, if your pumpkins have been carved with care, and if

you're ready to explore how the worlds of Disney and Halloween collide,

then settle in as we serve up a strange witch's brew of animation, amusement parks, and, of course, Halloween. Let's start with Halloween itself.

Halloween has long roots in Europe, to Celtic religious celebrations and later

to the Catholic tradition of All Souls Day. But these traditions weren't immediately taken up

in America as early Puritan settlers wanted to distance themselves from both pagan traditions

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