Téa Leoni suggests that trick-or-treaters ask for UNICEF donations along with candy

Téa Leoni
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Téa Leoni is a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Ambassador. Her grandmother, Helenka Pantaleoni, founded the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Leoni was a member of the 2007 Blue Ribbon panel for CNN Heroes.

I grew up under the impression that I was the best trick-or-treater in the whole wide world, because my grandmother invented it!

The whole thing was her idea! My grandmother and her friend UNICEF started it way back when she was born in the early 1500s. I thought UNICEF must be a pretty cool lady if she was hanging out with my grandmother.

Occasionally I'll ask people if they know about UNICEF, and sometimes they don't. But if I then mention the little orange Trick-or-Treat boxes on Halloween, suddenly everyone knows UNICEF.

We grew up carrying those Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes on Halloween night, and now our kids do. These days, the candy bags may be fancier than pillowcases, and the costumes may come from the store, but the orange boxes remain the same.

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Robin as 'Glenda the Good Witch when she was a Majorette in high school

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Robin Meade | BIO
Anchor, Headline News'
"Morning Express with Robin Meade"

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

Was this true where you grew up?: Halloween costumes were mostly of the plastic/vinyl kind, where you just slipped into these plastic sheaths that had some cartoon characters body printed on the outside of it... along with the ol' plastic face-front only masks that you couldn't see or breathe out of very well. (Don't forget the rubber band that always broke about halfway through your school costume parade). You had to wear clothes underneath this little plastic jobby, because it was never meant to be worn alone, (it's the equivalent in thickness of the paper vest the doc gives you now so you don't feel "naked" during your exam) and because it was usually like 17 degrees in Ohio by Halloween.

I didn't grow for a few years in elementary school. So I had to wear the same vinyl/plastic Snow White costume a couple of years in a row. The injustice! Talk about the elementary equivalent of a buzz kill. But the neighborhood candy and ensuing sugar high made up for it, I'm sure.

Favorite scary movie?

The Shining. Those little dead kids who'd be standing in the hallway would freak me out.

Best Halloween memory?

My best Halloween memories are actually from junior high and high school. My tiny hometown of New London has a parade after-dark each Halloween. It's tradition that the school band members march in costume. I was a Majorette. I went as a clown one year, Elwood from the Blues Brothers the next year, and then Glenda the good witch. Good clean fun

Worst Halloween memory?

When it was so cold in Ohio you had to wear a coat over your costume. What fun is a costume if no one sees it?

Favorite Halloween candy?

Root beer bottle pops candy, Pop rocks, smarties.

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Candy Crowley | BIO
CNN Senior Political Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

Hobo. Mostly because my mother picked out some of my clothes I could destroy to look like a bum...we got a tree stick and put a bag at the end of it ..my dad stomped on one of his hats for me and put charcoal on my face. It all seemed illegal. Livin' the dream at the age of 5

Favorite scary movie?

"Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte." I only saw it once and had nightmares for years. I believe it involved a severed head bumping down the stairs.

Best Halloween memory?

When my parents let me trick or treat without them. As I recall I was about 21.

Worst Halloween memory?

When my brother's banded together, stole my candy and ate it. Fortunately, one of them got ill and the plot was revealed.

What was your favorite Halloween candy?

Candy Corn . Though Twizzlers are a close second.

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Erica Hill | BIO
AC360° Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

My Laura Ingalls costume definitely got the most play! I LOVED "Little House on the Prairie" as a kid, and wore my dress and bonnet even when it wasn't Halloween. I had some fabulous early 80's clogs to round out the ensemble. I did like the costumes my husband and I wore last year – Richie and Margot Tenenbaum. Classic.

Favorite scary movie?

No scary movies for this girl! I am the biggest wuss you'll ever meet. When I was younger, I did like "Poltergeist" and remember watching "Tales from the Crypt" with our babysitter, but you'd never catch me watching them now.

Best Halloween memory?

My best Halloween memory was last year, my son's first Halloween. He was a "L'il Stinker" (skunk) and far too cute for his own good. He was almost walking on his own, so we took him around to the neighbors, stopped in for a glass of wine, and made more than one person smile.

Worst Halloween memory?

Wearing turtlenecks under my costume or a jacket over it – ugh! I'm sure plenty of you had a similar experience. It would be GORGEOUS in the days leading up to Halloween and then – BAM! – in comes the cold and it's buh-bye snappy costume, hello dork factor. This was especially challenging the year a bunch of us were flappers... or maybe we were saloon girls. I think it was open to interpretation.

What was your favorite Halloween candy?

Chocolate! Especially if it was a full-sized candy bar, though those were tough to come by. I still love Snickers, Butterfingers, and Twizzlers.

AC360 artist's interpretation of Joe Johns' favorite Halloween costume based on his blog

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Joe Johns | BIO
CNN Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

My favorite costume as a kid (elementary school) had to be Dracula. I loved the cape and the fangs and 'hypnotizing' girls I had a crush on. I was very vampire when I was a kid. If I had grown up much later than I did I would have been very attracted to the Gothic scene!

Favorite scary movie?

Favorite movie was the old black and white Dracula with Béla Lugosi. There are pics of me in high school because I actually played Dracula in my high school play (I was the only one who who could do a poor imitation of a Romanian accent. But those are too sensitive to be released!

AC360 artist's interpretation of Tom Foreman's favorite Halloween costume based on his blog

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

I had a store bought Frankenstein costume when I was in kindergarten: green satin pants, some kind of long sleeved green top with a picture of Frankenstein on it, and a mask that would allow you to see out of only one eye hole at a time, unless you were congenitally gifted with eyes that were three inches apart. I tried to run across a dark street on the Air Force base where we lived in South Dakota, to keep up with my older brother and sister, and I fell, ripping the knee. I cried because it hurt, because I ruined my costume, and because I was pretty sure at that point people would realize I was not really Frankenstein. Mind you, I was already working against type by being three feet tall at the time.

Favorite scary movie?

The Sound of Music. Enough said.

Best Halloween memory?

TP’ing a house in this tiny farm town we lived in, and getting chased by the owner; the father of one of our friends. My brother ran into a clothesline and nearly took his head off. Now that was funny.

Worst Halloween memory?

Hard to say, because they’ve all been pretty good. Although I have to admit, there were some cold/rainy/snowy ones along the way that were a bit of drag because my cool costume would be buried under a big jacket. Ring the doorbell, shout “Trick or Treat,” unzip and flash the candy folks with your costume. Bummer.

What was your favorite Halloween candy?

Back in the day it was really somewhat unusual for people to give out whole candy bars. You got a lot of candy corn, chocolate drops, gum, apples, Sweet Tarts. If you received a whole candy bar of any sort, that was a big deal. I was digging on the Snickers for sure.

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Randi Kaye | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

One year I went as a tube of Colgate toothpaste. I wrapped myself in a huge piece of foam rubber.. painted it with the Colgate logo... and painted my face red for the top. It was really tough to walk in. I regretted it from the moment I started out. I waddled around as long as I could before I had to pack it in. But I got enough candy, trust me.

Favorite scary movie?

My favorite scary movie is Psycho. Norman Bates still scares me! I always watch it when it's on TV... I can't help it. I still have nightmares about that guy. In fact, there have been a few shady motels we've had to stay on while reporting on the road for 360 that we like to call the "Bates Motel" just like the movie. Luckily, good ol' Norman has never shown up.

Best Halloween memory?

Eating candy with my dad. I'd spill all my candy on the kitchen table and we'd go at it. Well, I'd go at it. He'd watch and laugh.

Worst Halloween memory?

There was one scary house on my street. We all though it was haunted. There were even rumors the old man who lived there kept his dead wife in the basement. This is the kind of stuff that little kids believed. I remember once, on a dare, knocking on his door on Halloween to get candy. The old man didn't give me any candy.. he gave me some loose change. Scary.. and no candy to boot!

What was your favorite Halloween candy?

Snickers!! Is there any other candy??

Editor's Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few 'Trick or Treat' questions.... here's what they had to say:

Gary Tuchman | BIO
AC360 Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

In second grade, I made my own costume for a school party... I was a ghost and put two eye holes in the sheet myself. But I didn't measure the eye holes properly, so I kept bumping into walls at school.

Favorite scary movie?

Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." He is the master.

Best Halloween memory?

My best Halloween memory was every year I 'trick or treated' with my children. (They had to give me 50 percent of their candy.)

Worst Halloween memory?

When my children stole back their 50 percent of the candy.

Favorite Halloween candy?

Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Charleston Chew

Watch Atika's report on the petition to posthumously pardon 'witches' executed in the U.K.

I have to say, I thought it would be a lot harder to find a modern-day practicing witch in London.

But all it took was a google search, a phone call and a 5 minute walk from the office to find Christina Oakley Harrington. She is a practicing Wiccan – a believer in pagan rituals and modern witchcraft.

Her bookstore, Treadwell’s, is a warm and homey place tucked into a small street in London’s Covent Carden. There are little vials and packets of herbs, multi-colored candles, the odd 19th century mixing bowl and an engraved Celtic sword.

And tons of books. And more books. Spellbooks, Grimoires (a magician’s manual for invoking demons, should the need arise), tomes on Jewish Mysticism, the Occult, Alchemy… you name it.

My cameraman thumbs through a book of voodoo and finds a step-by-step guide to silencing that annoying guy on the bus who thinks the whole world wants to hear his phone conversation. Pins in a wax doll’s ears will do it, apparently.

It turns out Christina is a really nice witch. She happily agrees to an interview and tolerates my faltering questions about what a Wiccan does exactly.

Answer: Folkloric nature worship and the occasional mixing of herbs and casting of spells – for good causes only, of course. And she doesn’t seem the least bit offended when I ask if she can twitch her nose like Samantha on Bewitched.

Since she’s also an academic expert in medieval witchcraft, we talk about a new petition submitted to the British Ministry of Justice demanding a pardon for the hundreds killed for practicing witchcraft between the 16th and 18th centuries. An estimated 40,000 witches were executed across Europe.

What makes the petition puzzling is that it’s being submitted by Angel’s Fancy Dress Shop in downtown London. Angel’s claims to be the largest costumer in the world and has an Oscar statuette for extra credit. It sells about 9000 witch costumes a year.

But this Halloween, Angel’s has decided to rehabilitate the image of the witch at Pardonthewitches.com. They are urging customers to sign the petition and demand a royal pardon for accused witches.

Outside the Angel’s Fancy Dress shop there are about 100 people lining up to get inside and buy costumes, which I find astonishing in itself. But nobody seems to have a clue about medieval witches. Nobody cares, either. They just want to get a funny, frightening and/or sexy outfit to go out and party with this Halloween weekend.

Fair enough.

We called the Ministry of Justice. But they didn’t seem impressed. “We don’t comment on individual cases,” was the stiff reply from the press office.

“Frankly, I don’t think a petition brought to the government by a fancy dress shop on Halloween stands any chance of being accepted,” Christina tells me.

Hmm. Publicity stunt, maybe? Not even a little magical spell casting is likely to get this petition approved.

The upside is I have now made the acquaintance of a really lovely witch and learned a little about pagan religions. And I’ve got a handy Voodoo guide for dealing with the next editor who assigns me a story like this on Halloween.

Gabe Ramirez
CNN Los Angeles photojournalist

The big question at my house in every early October is, “So what do you guys want to be for Halloween?” When my mom asked us this question way back in the late 70s-early 80s, my answer was always a variation of one of many Star Wars characters, Storm Trooper, Darth, Ben Kenobi, Jawa. It’s funny; my 8-year old son (Ben, sans Kenobi) has also been Darth, a Storm Trooper, a Jedi. My little sister was always some kind of medieval character, princess, fairy, troll… well maybe not a troll. One year she was a dragon. My mom made this really cool paper Mache dragonhead and sewed together a dragon body. Does anybody do that anymore?

But my 4-year old daughter Sophie didn’t need to wait until early October to decide what she was going to be. One Saturday in June, as decisive as a McCain strategist, she announced, “I think Belle again, or… maybe Jasmine. I like Ariel and Sleeping Beauty too. I’ll be one of those.” I thought, Hmm, which of those costumes does she already have? Answer: all of the above. Her enablers? My wife and my mom who love to see her dressed up.

My wife and kids really enjoy going to Disneyland, and because we live in Los Angeles, less than an hour north of the Magic Kingdom, we go – often. I too enjoy the park, especially because my kids always have a great time. But Sophie is a Disney addict. If we are in the car and a radio ad mentions Disney, she instantly straightens up and asks, “What did they say? What about Disneyland?” They must put something in the Pirate Punch at the Pirates of the Caribbean because, she like so many others her age, can’t get enough of the Disney princesses. In 2007, Newsweek estimated the Disney princess franchise to be worth $4 billion. I am sure the countries current economic situation has put a dent in that, but if my daughter and her schoolmates are an indicator, Disney will continue its roll.

My wife thinks our daughter’s princess phase is adorable, and I have to admit I agree. My heart melts at the sight of her as Belle dancing to the Little Mermaid soundtrack alone in her room. But I worry about the girlyness (and priceyness) of it all. I want her to be like my wife, a strong, educated woman with an insane work ethic, and not hung up on things like artificial beauty and image. Obviously she will outgrow this phase. I should probably hang on to this time for as long as possible, because when it ends, I am sure I will miss it.

Going into last week, she was as sure as an undecided Ohio voter. Way back on October 7th, while I was in Nashville covering the second Presidential Debate, my son called me and announced he had cast an early ballot, for… the ninja. This was a surprising departure from the Star Wars theme, which had been polling well. By last Saturday, Sophie was leaning Jasmine (my pick). But Ariel (my wife’s pick) and Sleeping Beauty were still in the toss up column. Being the incumbent, Belle was out. I mean this is the year of change, right?

Then last Sunday afternoon, a few hours before our neighborhood Halloween parade, Sophie pulled off an October surprise. She came up with a remarkable tri-partisan plan. She would be Jasmine for the neighborhood parade, Sleeping Beauty (wig and all) for her pre-Kindergarten parade and Ariel on Halloween night. I guess I don’t have to worry about her turning into a shallow princess after-all because it looks like I have a budding, consensus building, politician on my hands.