The season of horror movies is in full bloom, and even though Halloween has just passed us, we can’t help but think about some of the traditional movies that have been around for decades. Halloweentown, which was first seen on October 17th, 1998, was one such movie that became a part of Halloween movie rituals each year.
Directed by Duwayne Dunham, Halloweentown is centered around a soon-to-be 13-year-old, Marnie, who’s about to discover that she’s from a family of witches. Although her mom is reluctant at first, a series of events cause Marnie to prove that she is capable of becoming a good witch. Along with her two younger siblings, she protects both the mortal world and Halloweentown from evil beings.
The movie ended up becoming a hit during the spooky season, which led to three other sequels over the years. Halloweentown’s popularity can be owed to its main actress, Marnie, along with an interesting plot and effects for that time. The audience grew up with her, and it was only fit for them to be enraged when they saw her being replaced by someone else.
Halloweentown: A Summary of the Movies
The first part, Halloweentown, begins with Marnie and her siblings wanting to go trick or treating, but their mom, Gwen, is reluctant. Their grandma, Aggie, arrives on a broomstick secretly and asks Gwen to allow the kids to enjoy Halloween. Later, they secretly have a conversation regarding Marnie, and that if she didn’t use her powers as a witch by her 13th birthday, she would lose them forever.
The children then secretly follow Aggie and end up in a bus in Halloweentown, A land that’s filled with monsters, creatures, and everything mythical. They meet up with their grandmother while their mom realizes they’re gone and comes looking for them. While in Halloweentown, they eventually end up fighting Kalabar, who is mad that Gwen didn’t marry him. After defeating him successfully, they come back to the human world and train Marnie.
In the next part, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge, Marnie meets a new boy, Kal, who turns out to be the villain behind, causing the whole town to become monochromatic and weird. He steals Aggie’s spellbook and ends up turning humans in the mortal world into monsters. Marnie somehow manages to come back, even after the portal closes, and has a showdown with Kal, which she wins.
Halloweentown High, Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe, showcased Marnie’s high school life and her attempt to bring both different worlds closer. She asks the Halloweentown council to let some students from this world crossover to her high school in the mortal world. The council agrees, but they doubt it’ll be successful as Knights of the Iron Dagger could show up and cause harm.
Things go well for a while, with Aggie and Marnie taking care of the monsters of Halloweentown, who are now in their human forms. They soon find out that the school’s principal, who liked Aggie, belonged to the Knights of the Iron Dagger. He later gives up his evil aims, and the Halloweentown monsters are accepted by the human students for who they are.
Marnie is Recast, and Sara Paxton Plays the Role:
Return to Halloweentown, which premiered in 2006, was the first movie without the original Marnie, Kimberly J. Brown. With Marnie being granted a full scholarship to a university in Halloweentown, she gives up her plans of studying in the mortal world. She soon finds out the university teaches anything but practical magic, which causes her to be bored.
Marnie and Dylan meet the sinister sisters and their father, Silas Sinister, who is secretively a member of the Dominion, an evil group. This group seems to be after Marnie’s powers which can open a secret “Gift” that was left behind by Splendora Cromwell.
Marnie goes back in time to find out about the Box, which turns out to be her grandmother, Aggie’s. It contains a magical amulet that can control anyone. The day is saved when Marnie hides the amulet, and Periwinkle, one of their teachers, turns out to be a part of the Anti-Dominion group and arrests the sinister family.
Why Was Marnie Recast?
The earlier Movies were quite successful, with Marnie becoming a hit with the tweens and children of the early 2000s. It came as a shock to many of us when Marnie was back on television once again but with a different face. The much-loved role of Marnie Piper was seen to be played by Sara Paxton instead of Kimberly J. Brown.
Disney Channel executives revealed that the reason behind the recast was differences in their opinions and that their terms didn’t match. Although the reason could also be the fact that Kimberly was busy with another project at that time, she admits in a recent YouTube Video that she wasn’t involved in any projects and was looking forward to playing Marnie’s role but was never contacted by the Channel.
Sara Paxton was all the buzz on Disney channel in 2006 due to her movies like Sleepover and Aquamarine, and this could have been the basis on which Disney decided to cast a more popular actress to play the role. Paxton admits she receives hate each Halloween for the recast, but she and Kimberly have no hard feelings.
#HappyHalloween everyone!! 🎃 pic.twitter.com/vLNaXqkzty
— Kimberly J. Brown (@OfficialKJB) October 31, 2022
Kimberly is now even engaged to the actor that played Kal in Halloweentown II: Revenge of Kalabar. Nonetheless, Halloweentown will continue to be one of the staple nostalgic movies to watch on Halloween.
Also Read: 33 Movies Like Halloweentown That You Should Know About
