Scipt Writer: Paul Bernbaum, Jon Cooksey, Ali Matheson
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, Kimberly J. Brown, Joey Zimmerman, Emily Roeske
Synopsis: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloweentown_(film)
The film begins with 13-year-old Marnie Piper (Kimberly J. Brown) and her mother, Gwen (Judith Hoag), arguing over why she and her younger siblings 12-year-old Dylan (Joey Zimmerman) and 7-year-old Sophie (Emily Roeske) can never go out for Halloween, and why Marnie cannot go to a costume party. Her mom offers no clear explanation. Gwen's mother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), who is an expert witch, shows up for her annual Halloween
visit. The children are happier to see Aggie than Gwen is, as Aggie
openly encourages the children to get more involved in Halloween.
Unknown to Marnie, Aggie is intent on training Marnie as a witch.
Before heading home, Aggie reads the children a bedtime story called
"Halloweentown", a mystical place where witches, vampires and monsters
of all sorts live in peace. Sophie points out a drawing of a witch in
the book that resembles Marnie; Aggie does nothing to stop Marnie from
imagining such a thing. Gwen and Aggie then get into an argument. Gwen
insists Marnie will be raised as a normal person and not a witch. Aggie
says she disagrees, but actually she is there for another reason: people
have suddenly started mysteriously disappearing in her hometown. Gwen
thinks they just moved, but Aggie says it is not that simple. Aggie
desperately asks for Gwen's help, but Gwen declines. Marnie overhears
the argument.
When Aggie leaves to return home, Marnie and Dylan follow her. They
see Aggie getting onto a magical bus, and sneak onto it through the back
door. When they arrive in Halloweentown, Aggie does not see Marnie and
Dylan getting off the bus, and the children lose sight of her. At the
same time, Marnie and Dylan realize Sophie snuck onto the bus. They
begin looking for Aggie, and are approached by Kalabar (Robin Thomas), the Mayor of Halloweentown. He whistles for a cab which is driven by Benny (voice of Rino Romano), a skeleton
with a bad sense of humor. The children find their grandmother's home,
and against her better judgment, Aggie decides not to take them home
immediately. She says she will 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 her cauldron, a vision of a hooded demon
appears, laughing maniacally. She says she must activate Merlin's talisman with a spell and potion to defeat the demon.
In town, the family is introduced to Luke (Phillip Van Dyke), a goblin
who was made handsome by a shadow demon. He makes a clumsy pass at
Marnie, which she turns down on the spot. Gwen arrives in Halloweentown
with plans to bring her children home, much to Marnie's objections. Gwen
cannot find another bus back to the mortal world and decides to see if
the mayor can do anything to help. She is shocked to see that the mayor
is Kalabar, an ex-boyfriend of hers. Kalabar briefly leaves to handle
another problem, Gwen and her children see Aggie walking somewhere with
Luke. Sensing Aggie might be in trouble, they follow Aggie and Luke to
an abandoned movie theater.
Aggie meets the hooded demon in the theater, where Halloweentown
citizens have been frozen in time. Aggie declines to give the talisman
to the demon. Gwen and the children enter the theater as Luke rushes out
in fear. The demon freezes Gwen and Aggie. The children escape, and
obtain the necessary ingredients–the hair of a werewolf, the sweat of a
ghost, and a vampire's fang–to make the talisman regain its power. They
then realize they must install the talisman in the large jack-
o'-lantern in the center of the town.
When they arrive to install it, the demon suddenly appears and
reveals himself to be Kalabar. He starts talking to the townspeople and
tries to persuade them to join him and take over the mortal world. With
the help of Luke, Marnie slips past Kalabar long enough to climb up onto
the jack-o'-lantern and try to place the talisman inside. Kalabar,
noticing her, freezes her. As she is about to pass out, Marnie drops the
talisman inside the jack-o'-lantern, which causes it to illuminate.
This unfreezes herself and everyone trapped inside the theater, as well
as severely weakens Kalabar. Gwen, Aggie, and the children confront
Kalabar and use their combined powers to defeat him. The film ends with
the family getting on the bus and blasting off to the mortal world.
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