Dare to be square! In a world where "The only good pumpkins are round pumpkins!" SPOOKLEY THE SQUARE PUMPKIN is often teased by the other pumpkins because of his odd shape. Soon, Spookley is befriended by Edgar, Allan and Poe, three hilarious spiders, who convince Spookley that square or not, he has a right to be the "Pick of the Patch" on Halloween. "A square pumpkin the Pick of the Patch?" Not if mean round pumpkins Big Tom and Little Tom can help it. These two bullies tease and taunt Spookley because of his square roots. Encouraged to continue to become the "Pick of the Patch" by kindly Jack the Scarecrow and his bat sidekicks, Boris and Bella, Spookley isn't sure he has what it takes until a mighty storm threatens to destroy the entire patch. As the storm rolls the round pumpkins uncontrollably across the patch towards the raging river, Spookley realizes "it's fine to be round while the weather is fair, but there are times it's better to be a square!"
Spookley is about what you'd expect from a direct-to-video kids movie made on a relatively low budget.
It's fine. That's about the line I draw. The songs are fine. The story is fine. The animation isn't quite fine. Overall, it's fine.
The movie, in general, is about not judging people based on their appearances or other shallow reasons. That's a fine moral, and I don't really have any problems with kids' movies having a clearly defined (and stated) moral.
There are some issues, however. First, they play off two characters for laughs due to the fact they are a little 'slow'. It's strange to have this movie about acceptance have two characters playing with qualities that are often played off for laughs in a damaging way to people who really may be different.
Other than that, the biggest issue is how simple it all is. Granted, that's not a bad thing for a movie for toddlers, but there are a lot of kids' shows on Disney Jr. or Nick Jr. that feel a little more complex in about a quarter of the runtime this one had.
Again, it's fine. If you're struggling to find something Halloween-related to watch with your young kids but don't want them downright terrified for hours, this is probably a fine bet.