Halloweentown

Halloweentown is a 1998 American film directed by Duwayne Dunham. It is a Disney Channel Original Movie and was released on October 17, 1998.
The film is the first instalment in the Halloweentown film series.
== Plot ==
Widowed mother, Gwen Piper, always refuses to let her kids Marnie, Dylan and Sophie go out on Halloween. Gwen's mother Aggie 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. Aggie and Gwen are secretly witches, but Gwen is determined to live a normal life as a mortal instead.
Aggie reads the children a bedtime story called "Halloweentown", about a mystical place where witches, vampires and monsters live in peace away from mortals. 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 get into an argument as Marnie eavesdrops. Gwen is angry that her mother encourages the children to enjoy Halloween, and insists Marnie will be raised as a mortal, like her father was, and not a witch. Aggie wants to train Marnie before she turns 13, as at this point without training, she would lose her powers. Aggie then asks Gwen for help; citizens of Halloweentown have been disappearing, and while Gwen suggests the missing have simply moved, Aggie believes that foul play is involved.
When Aggie leaves to return home, Marnie and Dylan covertly follow her. They see Aggie getting onto a magical bus, and sneak onto it and arrive in Halloweentown. Marnie and Dylan realise that Sophie had snuck onto the bus with them. The three begin looking for Aggie, and are approached by Kalabar, the mayor of Halloweentown, who gets them a cab driven by Benny, a skeleton who tells corny jokes. The children find their grandmother's mansion, and Aggie decides not to take them back to their home immediately. She says she will start Marnie's witch training, but has to take care of "the bad thing" first. In her cauldron, a vision of a hooded figure appears, laughing maniacally. She says she must activate Merlin's talisman with a spell and potion to defeat the evil creature.
Failing to light the talisman with "instant" potion, Aggie takes the children to town for ingredients. The family encounter Luke, a goblin who was made a handsome human by a "shadow creature". He makes a clumsy pass at Marnie, which she turns down. Gwen arrives in Halloweentown to retrieve the children, to Marnie's objections. Gwen cannot find another bus back to the mortal world and sees the mayor for help. She is shocked to see that the mayor is Kalabar, an ex-boyfriend of hers. However, Kalabar leaves to handle another problem but says he'll help when he returns. Gwen and her children see Aggie walking somewhere with Luke. Sensing Aggie might be in trouble, they follow Luke and her to an abandoned movie theatre.
Aggie meets the hooded demon in the theatre, where the missing Halloweentown citizens have been frozen in time. Aggie declines to give the talisman to the demon. Gwen and the children enter the theatre 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 potion that will activate the talisman. They then realise they must place the talisman in the large jack-o'-lantern in the centre of the town to defeat the demon.
When they arrive to install it, the demon appears and reveals himself to be Kalabar, who is bitter that Gwen married a human instead of him. He tries to persuade the townspeople to join him in taking over the mortal world. With Luke's help, Marnie climbs onto the jack-o'-lantern and tries to place the talisman inside, but Kalabar casts a spell to freeze her. As she is about to pass out, Marnie drops the talisman inside the jack-o'-lantern, which causes it to illuminate. This unfreezes her and everyone trapped inside the theatre, and weakens Kalabar. The children are reunited with their mother and grandmother. Kalabar obtains the talisman and says he will use it to become the ruler of both the mortal and magical world. Dylan is revealed to have magic powers and joins Gwen, Aggie, and his sisters in defeating Kalabar. Luke is restored to his goblin appearance, though receives a kiss from Marnie on the cheek.
Aggie decides to stay in the mortal world to spend more time with her grandchildren and Aggie and Gwen decide to train Marnie as a witch, and they get on the bus and blast off into the mortal world.
== Cast and Characters ==
* Kimberly J. Brown as Marnie Piper
* Debbie Reynolds as Agatha "Aggie" Cromwell
* Judith Hoag as Gwendolyn "Gwen" Piper
* Joey Zimmerman as Dylan Piper
* Emily Roeske as Sophie Piper
* Phillip Van Dyke as Luke
* Robin Thomas as Kalabar
* Rino Romano as Benny
* Judith M. Ford as Harriet
* Kenneth Choi as Hip Salescreature
* Hank Cartwright and Tim Tolces as Two-Headed Man
* Johnny Ulsendigger as Ghost
* Sherilyn Lawson as Vampire Dentist Patient
* J.W. Crawford as Dentist-Creature
* Michael Patrick Egan as Wolfie
== Sequels ==
* Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge (2001)
* Halloweentown High (2004)
* Return to Halloweentown (2006)
Category:Halloweentown
Category:Disney Channel Original Movies
Category:Films
Category:Live-action Films
Category:1998 Films
Category:Halloween Films
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