This just aired in what usually is the last half-hour of the 90-minute-show, "Saturday Night Live" but since that night was a Halloween-sketches compilation show with one of those sketches featuring the title character of this animated special played by Tom Hanks in that sketch and voiced by him here as well, "SNL" ran for an hour and five minutes instead. The cartoon was amusing if not hilarious and so was pretty entertaining for what it was. It certainly was a decent time-waster, that's for sure!
13 Reviews
Hanks or no Hanks, this was kinda fun
Horst_In_Translation30 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special" is a very recent Halloween special from this year and it aired just 2 days ago in fact the day I am writing this. The director here is Emmy winner Don Roy King and this shows already how closely it is connected to the successful long-running Saturday Night Live. I don't know too much about SNL, so no further elaboration in that area. It got some attention especially because the title character is voiced by Tom Hanks and we also see him in costume of his animated character very early and very late during these slightly over 20 minutes. The other well-known name in the cast here is Peter Dinklage who narrates the whole thing. Oh yes I forgot to say it is an animated movie and it unites aspects of several long-running shows into this thingey here. The title character acts and reacts a bit like Bender from Futurama, the moral at the end reminded me of South Park and a lot of the slapstick comedy had a touch of Simpsons to it. And these are only the ones I know. I am sure you will find more parallels, also in terms of the animation style for example. Anyway, I struggled a bit with the main character early on from a comedy perspective, but in the second half I liked him more. The boy and his little sister in the center of it all were nice from start to finish. I am surprised many of the other reviewers hated it so much because at least as a one-time project I think it worked and was a fun watch. The focus on Halloween and several plot points makes it basically impossible to turn this into a recurring series, but that's perfectly fine. I am not sure if it could work as such. But I would not say no to another 20-minute-sequel for Halloween 2018, 2019 or 2020. This was never a scary watch, so it is also a good watch for the little ones. If they are old enough to trick'n treating, they are old enough to watch this television special. I give it a thumbs-up.
SNL skit expanded
SnoopyStyle29 October 2017
Who is Halloween Santa? It has to be David S. Pumpkins (Tom Hanks). The narrator (Peter Dinklage) recounts his meeting with Pumpkins as teenager Kevin. His little sister Dotty picks the dumpy pumpkin which comes with David S. Pumpkins who tells them that he's theirs for Halloween. The Ditmeyer brothers are bullies. Kevin likes Paige. The neighborhood boogeyman Raincoat Man has taken everybody's candy.
It's a silly SNL skit that Tom Hanks does with Bobby Moynihan and Mikey Day. It's fun for a stupid two minute break but it struggles to be more than that. It has rudimentary animations with the trio doing the wrap around. It's not quite kiddie level but also not subversive enough to be adult. It's a light mixture of both. While it's watchable, it's not rewatchable.
It's a silly SNL skit that Tom Hanks does with Bobby Moynihan and Mikey Day. It's fun for a stupid two minute break but it struggles to be more than that. It has rudimentary animations with the trio doing the wrap around. It's not quite kiddie level but also not subversive enough to be adult. It's a light mixture of both. While it's watchable, it's not rewatchable.
Total Garbage
13Funbags28 October 2017
Saturday Night Live has been awful for several years now so it's no surprise that this special is not funny. If you are familiar with the Tom Hanks sketch, you know that it was a thin premise that should have been quickly forgotten. Sadly it wasn't and now you will see this every Halloween and ask why.
I don't care what main media outlets say, this special is hilarious
kjsem7816 October 2019
I can't understand how the major outlet reviews for this special were negative; this one is hilarious. I love David S. Pumpkins' dry humor, and his one-liners made me laugh out loud. One criticism was the "crude" animation. Yes, it has an old-school look, but personally I loved it because it reminded me of the Halloween specials I adored when I was younger (e.g., The Peanuts and Garfield).
I think there are two reasons why the reviews were negative. First, it originally aired during an SNL timeslot, and people were probably expecting a more adult-oriented special. (This is understandable but doesn't make it any less funny.) Second, I believe good dry humor is something that has become somewhat of a lost art. I think people want their humor to be more "in-your-face" which is an unfortunate result of today's society.
Not only did I love this special as an adult, when I told my seven-year-old son that he should watch it, he ended up watching it four times in two days. So the joy of David S. Pumpkins spans generations, man!
I think there are two reasons why the reviews were negative. First, it originally aired during an SNL timeslot, and people were probably expecting a more adult-oriented special. (This is understandable but doesn't make it any less funny.) Second, I believe good dry humor is something that has become somewhat of a lost art. I think people want their humor to be more "in-your-face" which is an unfortunate result of today's society.
Not only did I love this special as an adult, when I told my seven-year-old son that he should watch it, he ended up watching it four times in two days. So the joy of David S. Pumpkins spans generations, man!
Really,
uhtiman19 October 2018
It is meant for families, kids, adults? It's very confusing as to who this is for. Based on the people involved it should have been funny or good but it is neither. Tom Hanks, whom I thinks is awesome, could place this on his resume right between Turner and Hootch and The Man with One Red Shoe if he were listing his works by quality.
A Halloween Favorite in our house!
kdash0520 October 2021
Really bad
pmailman28 October 2017
What a gross disappointment. All of the saccharine of a Charlie Brown holiday special and none of the charm. Trite script and animation, no laughs.
This might have been appropriate in an 8:00pm time slot for 7 year olds...but in Saturday Night Live's Time slot? No. Lorne Michaels should be embarrassed.
This might have been appropriate in an 8:00pm time slot for 7 year olds...but in Saturday Night Live's Time slot? No. Lorne Michaels should be embarrassed.
Somebody dropped the pumpkin
joefindlay28 October 2017
An animated special based on an SNL sketch that, theoretically, should never have been as funny as it ended up being, seems like a bad idea to produce in the first place. BUT, if they were going to move forward with it, I think that more effort should have been made to appeal to the SNL viewers who liked it in the first place.
Aside from the odd line that you would have heard in the original sketch (eg. the skeletons being "part of it"), the first 2 acts gave you little to tell you that this is connected to SNL. Only two of the voice actors were SNL cast members (Bobby Moynihan included, even though he recently left the show) and the story was crafted to be more like one of the traditional Halloween specials for kids.
This was a true shame as I was looking forward to seeing how this would be handled. It is clearly a missed opportunity as they were able to take something so simple and build on it for the show.
Aside from the odd line that you would have heard in the original sketch (eg. the skeletons being "part of it"), the first 2 acts gave you little to tell you that this is connected to SNL. Only two of the voice actors were SNL cast members (Bobby Moynihan included, even though he recently left the show) and the story was crafted to be more like one of the traditional Halloween specials for kids.
This was a true shame as I was looking forward to seeing how this would be handled. It is clearly a missed opportunity as they were able to take something so simple and build on it for the show.
Family classic
candiceames1 October 2020
Well at least for my weird little family. My kids, 8 and 3 when this came out, think this is the most hilarious thing ever. We have an October tradition of watching the original sketch then the cartoon on repeat. Even did a David S. Pumpkins costume a few years ago.
It's part of it!
Two for effort of animation, Zero for depth
hltboosterthon13 September 2020
After watching the live SNL skit, the whole premise was "Who IS David S. Pumpkin?" and then you are left with that by the end of the animation. After doing research on the show, it was clear it wasn't made for adults, but kids.
The kids are constantly asking questions, "why? where? how?" It's full of innuendos.. for kids? Disturbing.
Don't watch. Absolute waste of time.
The kids are constantly asking questions, "why? where? how?" It's full of innuendos.. for kids? Disturbing.
Don't watch. Absolute waste of time.
Loved it!
sonofthemummy30 October 2017
Silly, but if you like Halloween or SNL, not a waste of time by any means. It's quirky and inane, like the Addams Family. Not as classy or deep, but witty in a sort of hit and run Oscar Wilde kind of way. Halloween used to be simple and more fun than bloody or violent. It isn't the classic that The Great Pumpkin is, but it is sort of like the next best thing. There is nothing like Rocky Horror, but Hedwig is pretty cool if you want more of that kind of thing. Same with David S. Pumpkins. It is family friendly, for the most part, unless you are a Klansman.
An unexpected Halloween treat
mr_mouseman30 October 2018
I was not expecting this special. I was impressed, had a Dr. Seuss vibe to it with some fun humor. Not too childish and not too adult. Somewhere happily in the middle. I want to see more of this David Pumpkins guy. Hopefully next year he will return.
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