Movies - Halloweentown

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	Movies - Halloweentown

Halloweentown is the name of a fictional community in three movies aired as works for television on The Disney Channel (presented as "Disney Channel Original Movies") between 1998 and 2004.

Synopsis

Halloweentown proposes that fantasy beings such as trolls, living skeletons, and humanoids with varying numbers of heads, limbs and sensory organs are real, but separated themselves from Earth's history to escape humans' fear and persecution. These characters created their own community, Halloweentown, a thousand years ago in an alternate space. Travel between Halloweentown and the ordinary, historical world (which Halloweentown residents call "The Mortal World") is only possible with magical aid, and only at regulated times (until the events of the second movie create a less restricted traffic channel and events of the third film widen that gap even further).

Although magic is present in many of the details of daily life of Halloweentown, it appears that only a limited number of persons actually practice or control magic. These people are human in appearance (sometimes mostly human), and called witches if female and warlocks if male. Magic is hereditary in their families.

The three Halloweentown movies concer n episodes in the lives of the Cromwell/Piper family. The family matriarch, Agatha Cromwell, has been a pillar of Halloweentown society for centuries. Her daughter, Gwen Piper, married a mortal and chose to leave Halloween town for a life in the Mortal World. At the time of the movies she is apparently widowed. She has decided to raise her three children (Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie) apart from magic, and thus rejects contact with Halloweentown and the influence of her mother.

Halloweentown (1998)

The film begins with Marnie and her mother arguing over why she and her younger siblings can never go out for Halloween. Gwen patiently explains that "there are things about Halloween that you don't understand", but with no more detail than that, it is little surprise Marnie still has a problem her's mom's order.

Gwen has more or less restored order when her mother Aggie shows up for her annual Halloween visit. The kids are happier to see Aggie than Gwen is, and we soon learn why: Aggie openly encourages the kids to get more involved in all things Halloween, and Gwen is nearly powerless to stop her. Aggie seems especially intent on training Marnie as a witch, since it is Marnie's 13th Halloween. Marnie, of course, has no idea about any of this. Aggie drops a huge hint as she is about to head home: reading the kids a bedtime story, she selects a book called "Halloweentown", and when Sophie sees a drawing of a witch that closely resembles her big sister, Aggie does nothing to stop Marnie from imagining such a thing.

Gwen and Aggie get into an argument about all of this, and Gwen insists Marnie will be raised as a normal person and not a witch. Aggie says she disagrees with this, but actually she is there for another reason: people have started disappearing "back home". Gwen thinks they just moved, but Aggie says it is not that simple. Aggie leaves, turning the chicken leftovers into a live chicken on the way out. Aggie and Gwen are not aware Marnie was watching this the whole time.

Marnie runs back upstairs to tell Dylan what she just saw, and Dylan says she's insane. They then follow Aggie covertly to a previously non-existent bus stop. When the bus indeed arrives, Marnie and Dylan sneak on board. Suddenly, the bus shakes violently and the bus is filled with flashing lights...and before they know it, the bus is landing in Halloweentown.

Aggie also doesn't see Marnie and Dylan getting off the bus. At the same time, Marnie and Dylan don't see Sophie getting off the bus. Dylan notices her, and Marnie asks what she's doing here. Sophie says she was only pretending to sleep; she heard everything Marnie told Dylan, and followed them. They all begin to look for Aggie, who they have lost, when the mayor approaches them. He says his name is Kalabar and whistles for the cab. The cab is driven by Benny, who is a skeleton with a bad sense of humor ("He's a much better driver than a comedian," says Kalabar). Dylan can barely believe what is happening, and Marnie sees it on his face:

Marnie: Dylan, it's rude to stare!

Dylan: Why don't we talk about how illegal it is to drive without eyeballs?

The three siblings find their grandmother's home, and against her better judgment, Aggie decides not to take them home immediately. She says she'll start Marnie's witch training, but has to take care of "the bad thing" first. She shows her grandchildren what she is talking about: in the cauldron, a vision of a hooded demon appears, laughing maniacally. Aggie has a talisman that she says can defeat this demon, but her witches brew is defective ("That's what I get for trying to use instant!"). So she has to take the kids into town and get the ingredients to make her own.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Halloweentown ]

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Movies - Halloweentown

Synopsis

Halloweentown (1998)

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