“Being normal is vastly overrated.”
The Disney Channel has always managed to produce lighthearted family films that are entertaining enough but rarely extend beyond the confines of children’s entertainment. There have been a few exceptions to this trend, however, such as the High School Musical films, which spawned careers for many of its young stars, became a catalyst for future musicals on both the big screen and on television, and influenced a push to expand theater programs at public and private schools, and the film that I’m covering today, Halloweentown.
Granted, Halloweentown‘s influence might not be as expansive as that of High School Musical, but the film was so popular that it spawned three sequels, garnered a rabid cult following of tweens, teens, and adults, and introduced a screen legend to an entirely new generation of children.
Kimberly J. Brown stars in the film as Marnie Piper, the daughter of an overprotective mother named Gwen (Judith Hoag, perhaps best remembered for her role as April O’Neil in 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) who refuses to let Marnie and her younger siblings celebrate Halloween. Marnie’s brother and sister, Dylan (Joey Zimmerman) and Sophie (Emily Roeske) are polar opposites, with Dylan being grounded in science and logic and Sophie being an eternal dreamer like her older sister.
There’s obvious friction between Marnie and her mother, and things only get worse between them when grandma comes to town on Halloween. Grandma Aggie is played by legendary actor and singer Debbie Reynolds, and she plants the seed of witchcraft into all three of her grandchildren’s minds while visiting. Little do the kids know that their mother and grandmother are witches and that they are a part of the powerful Cromwell bloodline.
Fed up with her mom, curious about her lineage, and overhearing that her grandmother needs help, Marnie, along with Dylan and, secretly, Sophie, follows her grandmother to a bus station that appears out of nowhere. All three hop aboard the bus unseen and are transported to Halloweentown, a secret town in another dimension where ghouls, goblins, ghosts, and more monstrous creatures live in peace. When they arrive and reveal themselves to their grandmother, they find out that she is battling a dark power that seems to be slowly overtaking Halloweentown. Good-natured citizens have started becoming angry and ill-tempered and then they magically disappear. Who or what is behind this dastardly scheme? How will the Cromwell’s defeat the evil mastermind behind it all? Will Marnie and her mother ever see things eye to eye? You’ll have to check out Halloweentown to find out!
The film is fun to watch and features a few genuinely scary moments, especially once the villain reveals itself to Aggie and ramps up its activity in the town. The entire cast does a wonderful job, especially Brown, who carries the film with her enthusiastic performance. Other actors featured in the film include Robin Thomas as Kalabar (spelled Calabar in the first film’s credits but changes with later films), the mayor of Halloweentown, Phillip Van Dyke as Luke, a young thug with plans of his own in the film, and Rino Romano as Benny, a taxi-driving skeleton. The film also features Kenneth Choi (Sons Of Anarchy, The Wolf of Wall Street) in a minor role as a flying broom salesman.
The film has become a Halloween staple for many families and young adults that grew up on the film and its sequels (including my daughter). It introduced Debbie Reynolds to a new generation as I stated before, and her death one day after that of her legendary daughter, Carrie Fisher, on December 28, 2016, impacted not only older generations that knew her from her performances in Singin’ In The Rain, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis, and Charlotte’s Web, but younger audiences that first knew her as Grandma Cromwell.
Judith Hoag was already well known to many viewers of the film as April O’Neil from the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (1990) and has continued to appear in numerous films and television shows. Joey Zimmerman has also appeared in numerous roles since being in Halloweentown, most notably (at least to me), as a young Steven Hyde on That 70’s Show. Apparently Emily Roeske is no longer acting according to Halloweentown‘s Fandom site.
The breakout star of the film was Kimberly J. Brown. Spending time at home in the country during the summer, if I was around the house I had to watch soap operas with my mom. That’s where I was first introduced to Brown’s work on Guiding Light as Marah Lewis, the young daughter of Josh and Reva, in the 1990’s. Brown has featured in a number of other shows and films over her career, most notably Rose Red (2002). Brown’s performance as Marnie developed a cult following, and when Disney Channel released 2006’s Return To Halloweentown with Sara Paxton cast in the role as Marnie, the film received a ton of criticism for not casting Brown in the role despite having much of the original cast return for the film. Brown continues to act, has written a children’s book, is active on social media, and has a website that features her acting achievements, photos, a store, and more. She also runs a popular Etsy shop that features items related to Halloweentown.
I really enjoy the Halloweentown films even though I’m north of forty years of age. I grew up as an adult along with these films while watching them with my daughter. She really loves these films and I’m sure that if and when she ever has children, she’ll introduce the movies to her as well. Ultimately, this film and its sequels are almost guaranteed to remain Disney Halloween staples just like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. You can quote me on that. Thanks for reading my post. More Disney-flavored Halloween fun is coming tomorrow!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 