Halloweentown

Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie directed by Duwayne Dunham. The first installment in Halloweentown series, it stars Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly J. Brown, Joey Zimmerman, and Judith Hoag. It is the fourth Disney Channel Original Movie. It centers on Marnie, who learns she is a witch on her 13th Halloween and is transported to Halloweentown—a magical place where ghosts, ghouls, witches, and werewolves live apart from the human world, but she soon finds herself battling wicked warlocks, evil curses, and endless surprises. Plot Single mother, Gwen Piper, 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 realize 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.