New Halloween DVDs for Kids and Families - 2010

  Nick Jr. gives preschoolers a real treat with Halloween episodes of their favorite shows. The gang's all there on one disc providing scare-free Halloween stories for little ones. The DVD contains the following six episodes:

• Dora the Explorer: "Boo!"
• Go, Diego, Go!: "Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween!"
• Wonder Pets!: "Save the Bat"/"Save the Donkey"
• Yo Gabba Gabba!: "Halloween"
• Blue's Clues: "What Is Blue Afraid Of?"
• Ni Hao, Kai-lan: "Ni Hao, Halloween"

It just wouldn't be Halloween without joining Charlie Brown and the gang for the classic tale of the Great Pumpkin. Determined to prove the legend is real, Linus spends the night in a pumpkin patch waiting for the appearance of the mysterious Great Pumpkin. Charles Schultz's subtle satire plays out as Linus and Sally sit in the pumpkin patch, and the rest of the gang celebrates Halloween in the usual traditions. This traditional Halloween special is now available on Blu-ray in a combo pack with the DVD included. Not Rated.

WordGirl and her sidekick Captain Huggy battle sneaky super villains in this word candy filled title.  An all new DVD release from Scholastic Media, PBS KIDS and Paramount Home Entertainment, Tobey's Tricks and Treats is a Halloween treat for kids about ages 4-7. Word Girl's surprisingly stellar vocabulary saves the day and helps kids learn as they watch. Even with all of the educational value, Word Girl is still quite popular with kids, and of course, parents love her. The Tricks and Treats DVD featres several fun episodes sprinkled with word treats like eerie, memorize, famished, articulate and more.

The hilarious title episode on this DVD finds Skipper in a zombie-like state that has his penguin pals scared out of their minds. Featuring 8 episodes that are suspenseful and silly, I Was a Penguin Zombie is our family's favorite Penguins title yet.

• "I Was a Penguin Zombie"
• "Driven to the Brink"
• "Huanted Habit"
• "Lemur See, Lemur Do"
• "Eclipsed"
• "Mort Unbound"
• "Misfortune Cookie"
• "It's About Time"

"Driven to the Brink" is a DVD premiere episode which will not air on TV for four weeks after the DVD release date. In this story, Rico's driving is quite amusing to Skipper, until things go weirdly wrong. This DVD is a great title for Halloween time or any time.

Zoinks! Imagine if all of the characters from campfire ghost tales you heard at summer camp started coming to life. This is exactly what happens when Scooby and the gang head to Camp Little Moose for the summer. Fred spent his boyhood summers at the woodsy camp, and he can't wait to be a camp counselor and help young campers learn all about the great outdoors. When the gang arrives at the camp, though, it seems that all of the spooks from the camp's traditional campfire ghost stories are coming to life for real. This new Scooby story has a summer-time theme, but the ghostly fun is great for Halloween. (NR)

The game of cat and mouse gets very intriguing when Tom and Jerry meet up with the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. A string of jewel heists has been plaguing the city, and the thief seems to be getting bolder. When Holmes finds out that the beautiful singer Red is being blackmailed, he smells a rat, and the chase begins. While not specifically a Halloween movie, this funny mystery feels very appropriate for the season. (NR)

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Witches, vampires, monsters and more mix with our favorite Looney Toons bunch in Bugs Bunny's Howl-Oween Special. Remember good old Witch Hazel? She's back, and new footage combines some of the classic Looney Toons tales. At only 35 minutes long, this title has a short running time, but the old Halloween-themed cartoons are a fun treat for families.

Goosebumps books are so popular among kids about the ages of 7-11. These hokey horror tales give kids a thrill, without too much of a fright. They are gross and gory, in a kid sort of way, and the movies based on the books are right up kids' alley if they want a good Halloween fright. Several new Goosebumps DVDs were released for the 2010 season, so if you want to check out more, you can compare prices on several titles. The Go Eat Worms DVD contains the following stories:

• "Go Eat Worms!"
• "Bad Hare Day"
• "Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes"