Blood Moon/Trivia

General[]

• Morals:
  • Just because you live somewhere else doesn't mean you can prevent others from having a good time.
  • Halloween isn't about the candy, it's about being with those who enjoy it.
  • When it comes to trick-or-treating, it's best to include your loved ones.
  • Lying to your children can make them upset.
• This is the series first holiday special.
  • It also served as the series' first 22-minute episode.
• Unlike all other episodes, this episode begins with a cold open before the theme song, which is common in live-action shows, as well as in fellow animated shows Gravity Falls, Kim Possible, The Proud Family (original 2001 series), and DuckTales (2017 reboot).
  • All double-length episodes continue to follow this tradition, with the exception of "Long Goodbye".
• In the intro, it shows the Green Family as monsters:
  • Cricket: Zombie
  • Tilly: Flame ghost
  • Bill: Frankenstein's monster
  • Gramma Alice: Skeleton
• Phoenix and Dirtbag were the only animals who were not affected by the Blood Moon.
• This episode revolves around much of the main cast: Cricket, Tilly, Bill, Gramma, Gloria, and Remy.
• A hidden Easter egg can be seen on the mountain of candy Cricket and Tilly lie on, towards the bottom left.
• Costumes in the episode:
  • Cricket: Zombie (Dressed as a cowboy in flashback)
  • Tilly: Scientist (Dressed as a devil in flashback)
  • Bill: Lumberjack, Jill, Zill
  • Gramma Alice: Reaper
  • Remy: Hot dog (Dressed as a pumpkin, astronaut, and frog in flashbacks)
  • Gloria: Cat
  • Vasquez: Hot dog (He always goes as one)
• It's revealed back where the Greens came from in the country, houses were spaced so far apart that they'd have to drive to go trick-or-treating.
• Ironically, despite this being a double-length episode, the entire episode is set on the Greens' street address and the three main buildings on it, generally inside their house before escaping to the Elkins building next door.
  • According to Chris Houghton, the producers were nearly out of money when the episode was in production and didn't have enough to show scenes outside of Elkins street.^[1] This is one of the few episodes of the show to be a bottle episode, the first being the pilot.
• Despite Cricket's hatred of shoes, he was seen wearing them in Bill's flashback.
  • This is the third time Cricket wears shoes since "Photo Op" and "Barry Cuda".
• This is the first 2-part special where Officer Keys, Rashida and Russell do not appear.
• Bill says the blood moon will fade in "a few hours", and Cricket panics as trick-or-treating will be over by then. In the US, trick-or-treating normally lasts from 5:00-9:00 PM.
• There are a few hints toward the fact that Bill let the animals out:
  • After the kids dismiss Bill and exit their bedroom, Bill looks discouraged and appears to be thinking of something.
  • Bill is noticeably absent during the scene where Cricket and Tilly meet up with Remy and the blood moon rises, because he was on the porch during the former and when the moon turns red, he went to the backyard to unlock the garage. When he calls for the kids to come inside, he sounds as if he planned it.
  • Bill somehow knows about the blood moon and when it will be over. This is because he knew about it when he was worried of the kids going trick-or-treating without him.
  • When Bill suggests trick-or-treating indoors, he mentions, "We'll be together as a family."
• This is currently the only double-length special where Nancy does not appear.
• In Bill's flashback, Tilly is dressed as a devil; this is ironic, as Tilly is the kinder sibling compared to Cricket.
• The Greens' post-2019 appearances were teased in a few scenes throughout the episode, though their pre-2019 appearances were used as well. The post-2019 look will debut in the next episode, "Big Deal"/"Forbidden Feline".
• The scene of Cricket and Tilly running forward in the Elkins hallway is used for the DisneyNOW intro in October, but edited to have Cricket holding a jack o' lantern with candy.
• An illustrated storybook adaptation of this episode was released July 6, 2021.^[2]
  • The book adaptation removes Gloria's subplot.
• Starting this episode, Cricket's voice starts to get a little bit high pitched.
• A sneak peek of the theme song to The Ghost and Molly McGee aired during a rerun of this episode during Disney Channel's Halfway to Halloween marathon.
• This is Remy, Gloria, & Vazquez's final appearances in 2018.

Continuity[]

• This episode takes place before "Coffee Quest" because Gloria was complaining about Cricket's antics to Gramma, and she started to soften up to him in that episode.
  • Coincidentally, this episode comes before "Coffee Quest" in production order and on Disney+.
• This episode comes before "Coffee Quest" and "Phoenix Rises" in production order and on Disney+, but it was aired after (which would explain why Nancy is absent in this and the next episode
• The events of "Squashed!" take place a year after this episode.
  • In said episode, the Greens do not go trick-or-treating, instead they throw a party; this most likely deals with Cricket keeping his promise to never go trick-or-treating without Bill, and he thus does not go trick-or-treating alone because of the party they held and stays with Bill to help with the preparations.

References[]