Disney’s DTV Monster Hits set pop songs to old Disney cartoons for a 1987 NBC Halloween special, hosted by the Magic Mirror. It’s not on Disney+, and even its air date is mixed up.
In 1987, Disney took its cartoon library, chopped it into Halloween music videos and put an hour of it on NBC.
It was called Disney’s DTV Monster Hits. D23, Disney’s official fan club, calls it an hour-long special of “popular songs, with a Halloween twist, set to Disney animation.”
You can’t stream it on Disney+. And D23 and a 1987 TV listing don’t even agree on when it aired.
What was DTV?
Disney’s answer to MTV.
DTV was a run of music videos on The Disney Channel where clips of Disney cartoons backed up popular songs, D23 says. It premiered May 5, 1984, about a year after The Disney Channel itself launched as a pay channel on April 18, 1983, with 18 hours of programming a day, according to D23.
The videos mostly ran as filler between shows, Disney historian Jim Korkis wrote for MousePlanet in 2020. But Disney also turned them into three specials for NBC, he wrote, and “Monster Hits” was the Halloween one.
Who hosted DTV Monster Hits?
The Magic Mirror. Yes, the one from “Snow White.”
The special was “hosted by the slave in the Magic Mirror,” played by Jeffrey Jones, D23 says. Korkis wrote that Jones voiced the Mirror as the narrator, with Gary Owens as the announcer.
Andrew Solt directed it, according to D23.
Was Witch Hazel in DTV Monster Hits?
She was, with some new lines.
June Foray, who voiced Witch Hazel in Donald Duck’s 1952 cartoon “Trick or Treat,” recorded new lines for the character for the special, Korkis wrote.
Foray was one of Disney’s busiest voices. She was Lucifer the cat in “Cinderella,” Magica De Spell on “DuckTales,” which also premiered in 1987, and Grandmother Fa in “Mulan,” Korkis wrote in a 2017 tribute. She’s even on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, as the wife yelling at the town’s mayor, Carlos.
Witch Hazel also opens and closes Disney’s other big Halloween TV special from the era, Disney’s Halloween Treat, from 1982.
When did DTV Monster Hits air?
Probably Friday, Oct. 30, 1987. But it depends on who you ask.
D23’s official entry says it aired on NBC on Nov. 27, 1987.
The Christian Science Monitor’s TV column from Oct. 29, 1987, lists “Disney’s DTV Monster Hits” under Friday, on NBC from 8 to 9 p.m. That Friday was Oct. 30. The Monitor even pitched it as “an alternative to kids’ trick-or-treating.”
Korkis also puts it on Oct. 30, 1987. And a fan-uploaded NBC promo for the special is dated Oct. 28, 1987.
So the newspaper listing, the historian and the promo all line up on Halloween weekend. D23’s Nov. 27 date might be a rerun, or a mistake. We couldn’t confirm which.
What other Halloween TV specials did Disney make back then?
A handful, and Oct. 30 kept coming up.
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“Halloween Hall O’ Fame”: Sunday, Oct. 30, 1977, with Jonathan Winters as a grumpy studio night watchman and a talking jack-o’-lantern, according to D23 and Korkis.
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“A Disney Halloween”: Oct. 24, 1981, on CBS. The Magic Mirror hosted that one, too, according to Walt’s Vault, a collector who posted a recording of the broadcast.
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“Disney’s Halloween Treat”: Saturday, Oct. 30, 1982, on CBS.
So if the Monitor has it right, “DTV Monster Hits” makes three Disney Halloween specials on an Oct. 30 in 10 years. The Magic Mirror hosted two of the four here, “A Disney Halloween” and “Monster Hits.”
Can you watch DTV Monster Hits on Disney+?
No. It’s not on Disney+, and JustWatch doesn’t list it anywhere in the U.S.
We couldn’t find an official home video release of the special, either. D23 says DTV music videos came out on several video collections in 1984 and 1985, before this special existed.
Fans have kept it alive on YouTube. Here’s a fan upload of the full 1987 broadcast:
What songs are in DTV Monster Hits?
The full list floating around online comes from wikis and fan sites, so we’re not printing it here.
What D23 confirms is the setup: well-known pop songs, given a Halloween twist and set to classic Disney animation. The Monitor’s 1987 listing put it simply as “scenes from classic Disney cartoons set to familiar tunes.”
What other DTV specials did Disney make?
Valentine’s Day ones, mostly.
“Disney’s DTV Valentine,” an hour of romantic songs set to Disney animation, aired on NBC on Feb. 14, 1986, D23 says. NBC ran it again that Sept. 7 under a new name, “Disney’s DTV Romancin’,” according to D23.
A follow-up, “DTV ‘Doggone’ Valentine,” is dated Feb. 13, 1987, by TheTVDB. Add “Monster Hits,” and that’s the three NBC specials Korkis mentioned.
The Halloween one is the one fans keep posting on YouTube.
What are some fun facts about DTV Monster Hits?
It came out the same week as Halloween, probably. If the Monitor’s listing is right, NBC aired it the night before Halloween.
The host was a Snow White villain’s sidekick. The Magic Mirror only answers to the Queen in the 1937 movie. Here, he got his own show.
The announcer had a famous voice. Gary Owens was the booming announcer on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” and he did the honors here too, according to Korkis.
It’s an hour of 1987 TV that Disney made out of spare parts. The internet, apparently, is not letting it go.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
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D23 Disney A to Z: Disney’s DTV Monster Hits, DTV, Disney’s DTV Valentine, Disney’s DTV Romancin’ and The Disney Channel entries
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Jim Korkis, MousePlanet, Oct. 7, 2020: Disney’s Forgotten Halloween Television Treats
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The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 29, 1987: TV listings column (Disney’s DTV Monster Hits, NBC, Friday 8-9 p.m.)
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JustWatch: U.S. search, checked Oct. 11, 2026
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VHS Potpourri on YouTube: DTV Monster Hits, the complete 1987 Halloween special (fan upload); Vintage TV Memories on YouTube: 1987 NBC promo (fan upload)
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Jim Korkis, MousePlanet, Aug. 2, 2017: Remembering June Foray
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D23 Disney A to Z: Halloween Hall O’ Fame (television) entry
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Walt’s Vault on YouTube and the Internet Archive: 1981 A Disney Halloween and 1982 Disney’s Halloween Treat broadcast recordings
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TheTVDB: DTV ‘Doggone’ Valentine (1987)
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