The Mascot (1933)

Let's start Halloween week off right... with a clip that used to creep me right out as a child.

The Mascot is a short created by animation genius Ladislaw Starewicz in 1933. It combines live action footage with stop-motion puppets and early special effects.

The story is simple. A poor sick girl wants nothing more from her hard working mother than an orange (hey... it was the 30's). The mother's tears for her sick daughter bring to life a small dog toy that she was sewing. When no one is looking, the dog goes into the bustling city to find an orange for the little girl.

Pretty terrifying, right?

Well, when the dog reaches the city, he hooks up with some other animated toys, including a ballerina and an abusive thug. He eventually finds an orange, but an evil monkey steals it. During the fight to get it back from the evil monkey, the orange falls into Hell where the dog has to outwit the devil and his dead souls to get it back.

Stop laughing. That's really what happens. See for yourself!