Carnival & Booth GamesNo. 3235 · The 2026 edition
A Pumpkin Full of Nonsense
Get ready for a giggly Halloween with a game that turns your jack-o'-lantern into a laugh machine!
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at en.wikipedia.org.
This silly activity fills a carved pumpkin with absurd prompts, jokes, or dares. Players take turns pulling slips of paper from the pumpkin and acting out the nonsense, ensuring everyone gets a good chuckle. Perfect for parties or family fun, it's a lighthearted twist on traditional pumpkin decorating.
About this
A Wikipedia entry on the 1985 animated Halloween television special The Adventures of the Scrabble People in A Pumpkin Full of Nonsense, produced at Jaime Diaz Studios in Buenos Aires and financed by the Scrabble board game's then-owner Selchow and Righter. It summarizes the plot, cast, production history, broadcast run and critical reception, and points to the IMDb listing. The page is a single-title article rather than a ranked list, covering a 30-minute special about literacy and spelling.
The list
-
01
Brianne Sidall
voiced Tad and Terry
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02
Kevin Slattery
voiced Sir Scrabble
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03
Bob Singer
voiced Rot
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04
George Atkins
voiced Muller
-
05
Melissa Freeman
voiced Lexa
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06
Kathy Hart Freeman
voiced Rotunda
Where to watch: Released on VHS and Betamax by Children's Video Library, a Vestron Video label (1986)
Facts from the original
- The special is also known as The Adventures of the Scrabble People in A Pumpkin Full of Nonsense.
- It was made at Jaime Diaz Studios in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- It was produced and directed by Alvaro Arce, and co-directed by Jaime Diaz.
- George Atkins wrote the special; theme music was composed by Miguel Pizarro, with lyrics by Alvaro Arce and Ada Lobos.
- It runs 30 minutes.
- Production companies were Arce Productions and Jaime Diaz Studios.
- Selchow and Righter, a U.S. board game manufacturer and then owner of Scrabble, financed and developed the special.
- It was based on, and featured, Selchow and Righter's Scrabble People characters, a property introduced in 1984 and created by the designers of Coleco's Cabbage Patch Kids.
- The special first aired in syndication on October 31, 1985.
- It was re-run in eleven markets in late August 1986 through Orbis Communications, during which it aired on WCBS in New York City.
- It was released on VHS and Betamax on July 16, 1986 by Children's Video Library, a Vestron Video label.
- Vestron spokesperson C.J. Kettler said the acquisition enhanced the catalog because Scrabble People products, including the video, educate children while entertaining them.
- Eden Ross Lipson of The New York Times called it an 'elaborately produced effort' and said it was 'cartooning for a cause -- literacy,' adding that if it falls short as art and entertainment it is not for want of trying.
- The special received the Seal of Approval from Good Housekeeping magazine.
- Its plot involves the defeat of the Muddler and the renaming of the town Nonsense to Makesense.
- It has an IMDb listing under title tt1232761.
From the original
The special follows Sir Scrabble, a resident of a magical town called Nonsense, who tags along with two children, Tad and Terry, as they head to a Halloween party. In a pumpkin patch they fall into an enormous pumpkin and land inside the town, where the signs have missing or scrambled letters. An enemy named the Muddler -- styled 'Baron of Bad Guys, Count of Confusion, Earl of Errors and King of Chaos' -- has banned education and vowels, oppressing the young residents known as the Scrabble People. Sir Scrabble starts teaching the alphabet, so the Muddler imprisons him, pleasing Rotunda, the villain's daughter. The townspeople's literacy and spelling skills, plus a teacher named Lexa, the only literate local, free him; together with the human visitors they defeat the Muddler and rename Nonsense 'Makesense' before heading to the party. Selchow and Righter financed and developed the special based on its Scrabble People property, and it first aired in syndication on October 31, 1985, with a rerun in August 1986 and a home video release through Vestron Video's Children's Video Library label.
