Memories of “Halloweentown”

Written by Rebecca Oldham. Media by Rebekah Dothager.

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There are certain things that we all remember about the holidays. We can remember the smells of the themed drinks, the change in weather, the decorations, and, of course, the movies. For those of us 90’s kids, there is a certain marathon that we can’t wait for when it comes to Halloween. It’s the Halloweentown series.

It started in 1998 with the original movie and continued until the fourth movie in 2006, Return to Halloweentown. For those who haven’t seen any of the movies, they follow three siblings known as the Cromwell grandkids. The main character, Marnie Piper, is fascinated with Halloween and proudly declares that it is her favorite holiday. However, her mother never allows her or her younger siblings celebrate Halloween.  But when Marnie’s grandmother Aggie comes to town on the night of Marnie’s  thirteenth Halloween, things get a bit strange. The kids all eventually find out that they are from a separate world known as Halloweentown and that they are all witches.

These movies taught us several life lessons. They made us laugh and let us enjoy a different reality, if only for a little while. Every time we see these movies, it’s like we are watching them for the very first time.

#4 Return to Halloweentown (2006) 

In this movie, Marnie heads back to Halloweentown to start her first year of college. This eventually leads her to an unexpected adventure where she finds out the history of her family and her grandmother Aggie. This movie really lacks some of the feel that the other movies had, mostly because of the actress change of main character, Marnie Piper. The character had been portrayed by Kimberly J. Brown for the first three movies, but in the fourth movie she was replaced by Sara Paxton. They acted as if no one would know, but on screen you could tell that it wasn’t the same. Although the change of actresses was unpleasant, the movie still taught us how to accept that while we may not be able to change our past, we can fix the future.

#3 Halloweentown High (2004)

This movie followed an almost all grown up Marnie. Being a senior in high school and feeling as if she is stuck living a double life, Marnie decides to secretly devise a senior project to integrate Halloweentown teenagers into the real world.  She hopes this will bring about peace between the people of Halloweentown and humans. Unknown to Marnie, the Dark Knights still hide, ready to strike down the creatures of the separate world. This movie taught us that it was okay to accept who we are and to believe in our dreams, because if we do, one day, they may come true.

#2 Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001)

In this movie, Marnie seems to have changed a lot. She has been trained by both her mother and her grandmother as a witch, and even though she has what she wants, she seems to be missing something. Her mother and grandmother fight about how to train her and Marnie has her eye on a handsome boy who has just moved into town. This movie comes with its ups and downs as Aggie fights with Marnie’s mother and Marnie puts her trust in the wrong person. The second installment of the series taught us that we can always count on family to get us through the next day, and when we feel backed into a corner, there is always a way out.

#1 Halloweentown (1998)

The original movie is the best movie in the series. It opened us up to the spectacular world of Halloweentown with its wonderful creatures, magic, and laughter as the Cromwell children raced to save the day. This movie taught us to follow our heart even if we didn’t know where it was telling us to go. When it comes to our dreams, beliefs, and who we are, we can’t let anyone stand in our way.

Let us know what your favorite Halloweentown movie is!