The Spooky Tale of Captain Underpants: The Horrifyingly Haunted Hack-a-Ween (commonly referred to as Hack-a-Ween or Captain Underpants: Hack-a-Ween) is a 2019 American animated Halloween special of the Netflix series The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants , which is based on the children's book franchise Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. The special was released on October 8, 2019, and serves as a seasonal spin-off episode within the continuity of the show. [1]
George Beard and Harold Hutchins love Halloween. Their principal, Mr. Krupp, however, does not. He and a student, Melvin Sneedly campaign Hall-no-Ween, a movement to make it illegal. They hold a town council meeting and convince all the parents to make it illegal. However, George and Harold won’t give up that easily. They create Hack-a-Ween, a “legally safe alternative” involving “disguises” and “sneak-or-snacking” instead of costumes and trick-or-treating. They then talk to the owner of their favourite Halloween store, Hallo-Warehouse, and get him to create a haunted house to convince the adults to join them. However, Melvin, wanting to stop it, turns 3 inflatables into real creatures. Though George and Harold make amends with Melvin, it’s too late. So they turn their principal into the superhero Captain Underpants to fight the inflatables. After winning, the three children go sneak-or-snacking together. [2]
Hack-a-Ween premiered on Netflix on October 8, 2019, and later received a tie-in book adaptation published by Scholastic on July 7, 2020. [3]
A review at Common Sens Media stated: "The kids have little respect for adults, who rarely attempt to exert any control over them anyway. This chaotic story is an OK pick for kids, but adults may tire of its relentless pace." [4] A review in Decider also indicated that adult audience could find the film of little interest and saw the special as overall mediocre although fun and lighthearted. [5]