Trick or Treat is a 1952 Disney short featuring Donald Duck. After pulling a mean-spirited prank on Huey, Dewey, and Louie during Halloween, Donald attracts the attention of a witch who witnessed the act and opts to help the triplets get vengeance and candy.
The short gained a new life in the early 2000’s when it was aired as part of House of Mouse, and later used as the first headlining short from the direct-to-video compilation movie Mickey's House of Villains.
Tropes:
- Animate Inanimate Object:
- Hazel's broom is actually alive as it acts on its own frequently.
- Hazel also brings several things to life during the title song, including some jack-o-lanterns, a paintbrush that paints Donald's house green, and turning posts into ghosts.
- Bucket Booby-Trap: Donald sets up a bucket of water over his porch to prank his nephews with. He later uses it on Hazel.
- Bullying a Dragon: When Hazel introduces herself to Donald, Donald responds by pulling her nose and dumping water on her. Considering she is an actual witch, that act proved to be a big mistake on his part. Even after Hazel makes her power clear, Donald still chooses to anger her further.
- Cartoon Bug-Sprayer: Hazel fills one with her magical brew and sprays it to cast spells.
- Companion Cube: Hazel has a broom which she named Beelzebub.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had Donald not been a colossal jerk to his nephews and simply given them some treats, he'd have been spared Witch Hazel's magical revenge.
- Defiant to the End: Even after Hazel forces Donald to break down his pantry door, the dazed duck continues to say he won't submit before being knocked out by Hazel's broom.
- Eye of Newt: Witch Hazel prepares her potion with incantations based on Macbeth, albeit more family-friendly ("Eye of needle, tongue of shoe"). Partway through, she leans over to the nephews and says "This is the real stuff, you know. Right out of Shakespeare."
- Involuntary Dance: When Donald refuses to concede, Hazel casts a spell on his feet to knock the key out of him. The result is having him do a jig due to how much it looks like Donald is dancing.
- Jerkass Ball: Donald grabs firm hold of it in this short. Usually his nephews prank him for no reason, but this time, he chooses to be nasty and gives them firecrackers as opposed to treats on Halloween, followed by dumping a bucket of water on their heads. There's no particular reason for this, either, as he has plenty of candy and sweets—he just acts nasty.
- Jump Scare: A minor one ends the cartoon. After Witch Hazel flies off into the night, the enchanted jack-o-lantern from earlier pops up to give one last "BOO!" to the audience. Then it smiles friendly.
- Kick the Dog: Donald's opening moment in this short is him giving Huey, Dewey, and Louie firecrackers to blow up their bags of candy for no reason other than his own amusement.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Subverted. When Hazel begins to threaten Donald, he is quick to submit as he rushes to his pantry. However, he overhears Hazel call him a pushover, prompting him to lock all the food back up and swallow the key. He refuses to go down without a fight after that.
- Horrifying the Horror: The cartoon opens up to Hazel scaring others. Then she runs into the triplets, who have a pumpkin that briefly frightens her.
- Pungeon Master: Most of the ingredients in Hazel's cauldron are puns based on body parts: specifically, eye of needle, tongue of shoe, hand of clock ("that points at two"), neck of bottle, and tail of coat.
- Punny Name: Witch Hazel is named after witch hazel plants
—which, humorously enough, have nothing to do with magic; the "witch" is from the Middle English "wiche," which means "bendable." - Rhyming Wizardry: Hazel cooks up her revenge potion with a take on "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble." Later, she recites various rhymes while hexing Donald, suggesting that the potion needs verse to activate.
- Swallow the Key: Donald locks up the candy in the closet and swallows the key. Witch Hazel responds by casting a spell on Don's feet to kick out the key. The key is eventually kicked out, only for Donald to then throw it under the closet door.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Huey, Dewey, and Louie are surprisingly nonchalant about meeting a real-life witch. They're happy to accept her magical help against Donald and treat their time with her as a fun game.
- Use Your Head: After Donald throws the key under the closet door, Witch Hazel casts a more powerful spell that makes Donald ram the door with his head. After a running start ("'bout a mile or two!"), the door is finally knocked down.
- Your Costume Needs Work: When Witch Hazel appears at Donald's door, Donald thinks she's another trick-or-treater and pulls pranks on her as well.
