We enter into the world of one of my guilty pleasures and that is Halloweentown. This 1998 film is the first in a four film series from Disney and although it is on the cutesy side of Halloween it's very entertaining and I've never once watched it with a child so adults can also enjoy it. The legendary Debbie Reynolds plays Aggie Cromwell the matriarch of her family who, on Halloween, goes to her daughters house (also a witch but she has turned her back on her heritage) in hopes of beginning her 13 year old grandaughters training to become a full fledged witch. Here's the catch: if her granddaughter Marnie Piper (Kimberly J. Brown also featured in Bringing Down the House, Rose Red, and Tumbleweeds) doesn't begin her training before the end of her thirteenth Halloween she will loose her magic forever.
In order to do that Aggie must take Marnie to Halloweentown to train her. Halloweentown is exactly as it sounds it's a town where it is Halloween 365 days a year. Not the trick or treat part of Halloween either but the witches, goblins, vampires, trolls, and wolf man parts just to name a few. If there's one thing Disney does well aside from animated films it's Halloween in it's theme parks. I've experienced it several times myself and perhaps the only thing I've seen better than Halloween in Disney World is Christmas in Disney World. The pumpkin statue Debbie Reynolds is standing next too in the picture above is now placed in Disney Springs (what used to be called Downtown Disney which is a major shopping district) during the entire fall season. It serves as the towns centerpiece in the film and in person it's even bigger than it looks. The decorations, props, costumes, and make up is first rate in the parks and the same can be said here, for the Halloweentown film series, as well.
Also starring is Judith Hoag (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 and The Craigslist Killer) as Gwen, Marni's mother who eventually changes her mind when her entire family is threatened by the villainous Kalabar who wants complete control of Halloweentown and after that the mortal world. I cannot recommend this series of films enough (the first three at least, you can skip the fourth one it's pretty terrible) as they definitely put me in a Halloween mood no matter what time of year I watch them. Watching them in the fall when I am surrounded by pumpkins, corn stalks, and falling leaves is magical. Three and a half drops of ghost sweat out of five for this family classic. Check back later as we are well into the two a day posts now. Less than a week to go now!!
Saw this a few years ago and it was good fun.
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