If I had magic powers, and my mother kept it a secret from me, I would be pissed too. And they were denied Halloween all their life. Like, I get Marnie. She is needlessly whiny, true, but I get it. Magic. Powers.
Actually, Marnie has powers. She just had difficulty with them because she hadn’t gained any training. Sophie on the other hand, was the youngest and was the most connected to her powers. But yeah, it was a missed opportunity.
Jack Sullivan Yes and no. The mom could’ve trained them in the rare event that the events that unfolded in the film did happen, and Marnie shouldn’t have snuck out of the house with her siblings. And yes, Sophie could’ve been the savior of this film Bobsheaux.
The closest thing to a "power" she has is deja vu. Everyone has deja vu, and HER deja vu doesn't enter the story in any way whatsoever. She has no powers.
@@zooemperor3954 ...... they were draining, as in her powers were weak because mom is against child freedom. Training them and giving them the choice was the better move from the start. If she found out after losing her powers, Marnie wouldn't have resented her for the rest of there lives for doing so. Trust me, kids can hate sheltering parents more then physical abusers.
To be honest, the grandma and Sophie were my favorites while both Marnie and the mom annoyed me. They constantly bicker with Marnie being mouthy and the mom being a Debbie-Downer who didn't even tell her kids about their own heritage. How could it be protecting them? Did it ever occur to her that they could have found out from the wrong people? At least when Ariel had this conflict with Melody it was because there was a threat and Melody had more humility.
I agree with the many other comments before me, Marnie's mother wasn't innocent at all in the majority of this movie; one plot that I've always hated is parents keeping secrets from their children. It's better to just be honest with them and explain why they made their choices instead of risking losing them when they find out for themselves.
like what did she think was going to happen when her daughter found out she had powers but lost them because her mom made that choice for her. And to make it worst the mother still has her powers but chooses not to use them.
Couldn’t agree more. Especially when you keep in mind, both Marnie and Sophie had interest in Magic and yet their mother decides “I don’t want them to have powers because I personally don’t want that in my life anymore”
The girl was a little shit but I kinda understand her motivation. This is her last chance to learn magic while her sister still has time left. Imagine you had one chance to learn a special skill and only a limited amount of time to do so, personally I think I'd focus on getting the skill first and then think about what I'd do with it. I wouldn't wanna waste any time and then regret it when it's to late.
You know what I don't like about this movie? They did the setting wrong. Human world should be by day, while Halloweentown should be nighttime at all times. Real fun on Halloween Starts at night!
@@Bobsheaux But I disagree that it should be dreary. When I think Halloween, I think Trick 'r Treat, and how beautiful this movie looked, it was all lit up with orange, like halloween should be. I never liked dreariness, which is the reason I don't like Tim Burton. But I always wanted to experience Halloween, and it's spooky but fun feel. They could even add some other dramatic lighting, like, every scene with Calabar in his monster form could be drenched in green light!
Little girl discovers she is from a line of witches, has skeptical older brother that while he doesn't believe in any of it still goes along with it, and they follow their grandmother to a spooky yet fun dimension to help stop a great evil. How has this not is a children's Book/Film/TV series already?
@@LA-mz1dd honestly I knew of this movie way before I found out they were mother and daughter. Honestly I was more of a Star Wars fan if anything else. But I still like Debbie
Ironic that the family in the film shares the name of perhaps the most infamous witch persecutor in history, Oliver Cromwell (who went so far as to ban Christmas as heresy)
@@Swordsmen99 Well there's another that says He was born in the spring. The same time that lambs were born and sacrificed. Jesus had been foretold in the old testament.
you mentioned how marnie doesn't have powers and you're right. they're kinda of dormant in marnie and dylan. aggie/grandma said a witch's thirteen year is supposed to mark the end of their training which would mean the older you go without practicing the weaker your powers get. which was the mother's plan. that's why sophie's powers are the strongest since she's so young. dylan being younger than marnie explains why he has a little power near the end. i see him as he's trying to grow up too fast and actions/reasons more like an adult than a kid would. so he's rationalizing how he believes. that's how once upon a time put it. the way a child believes and an adult believes are different. the sequels devleop them more and marnie has powers. although th e sad thing is sophie's barely in the third one and not even in the fourth one.
So the mother never told their kids they have magic powers and prevent them from celebrating Halloween? Wow this lady is a terrible parent! She also never told them about the evil wizard. The grandma would but i guess her daughter make her promise to never speak of Halloweentown. Not a good way to protect your kids if they don't know there's a danger. Not sure they will forgive you that you hide the truth during years 🤨
Okay, Marnie is a shit protagonist, but her mother is equally irredeemable; why does she need to keep her kids in ignorance of Halloweentown? She can still raise them in the human world and allow them to enjoy Halloween, why is she so determined to keep them in the dark?
Yeah, and its parents like this that never think that NOT telling them the truth would make things work. Say Marnie accidentally turned a girl into a frog when she got older and she was a teenager. How well do you think that would go when she finds out their family has magic only NOW when she's almost a young adult? Not very good that's what.
Actually marnie having such a hard time with magic makes sense. She went so long believing she is human and is at risk of losing her magic. It's also implied in future movies and even hinted in this one that she thinks to much like a mortal rather than a witch. Sophie is young and has the most imagination and thus it makes sense magic comes easier to her.
Seeing that displeased face on the thumbnail, ouch, I loved this movie as a kid. But I can definitely see why many, yourself included, wouldn't care for it much. It hasn't aged the best. Now, I definitely want to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, even though it's no longer All Hallows Eve. Also, I love weird stuff, I just don't advertise it with clothing, lol.
RainbowStreak Well its Disney. I couldn’t even post a GotG2 intro parody using footage of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes without getting flagged (even when I stated I’m not profiting it).
If that last line means what i think it means, than you better buckle up bob! Descendants is even stupider than maleficent, and has even less respect for it's scource material! 4 words- be our guest rap XP
Kris Lundell He’s doing Descendants!?! Oh, Christ! For the love of God, he’s should do Ever After High instead! That does the Descendants premise better.
2:16 Color Guard? I get that’s supposed to be a slight at how she seems to bright and peppy to care about Halloween, but actually training for Color Guard and seeing the Color Guard are two different experiences. And that’s coming from a guy who was in the marching band itself. To be honest though, that’s not really what the Halloween Town series is all about. The recurring theme that’s been posited throughout embodies how millenia of folklore surrounding monsters and how they’re wicked, terrifying existences that exist to torment humankind has all been a matter of bad history and stereotyping. Ultimately, it’s existences like Kalabar or the Knights of the Iron Dagger who exist to engender the divide between both races, or try to rule dominion over all. I don’t believe they did it in some bright and cheery attempt to handhold the children watching, but perhaps serve as a misguided attempt at showing the viewers how prejudice can affect how we view people. But at least I can tell you that the writing gets better in the sequels (Marnie gets less annoying as well).
I swear the kids are a dead ringer for the Horsin Around children, and they are supposed to be a parody of poorly written child characters. They couldn't write it where the older girl didn't have powers and had to accept being special in spite of that? Or give Mom a reason why she didn't share her heritage?
That evil Benny part actually really scared me when I first saw the movie. I didn't notice anything until Sophie said something, but then it made sense. I was freaked out that Benny was possessed by some evil thing and I hadn't realized at all. Scarier in hindsight. Plus I thought that if he dragged the kids into the car he'd eat them or possess them or something worse.
Wow! The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland has changed a LOT since I was little girl. That was near the end of the 90s. I remember near the end of the ride there were these reflecting mirrors where we see one of the ghosts sitting between us. A picture was taken of me and my older sister giving the ghost a kiss! Lol!
The ride you remember is very much what the ride continues to be (save for the addition of the Hatbox Ghost at the end of the attic scene, as well as the bride turning into a black widow). What you're seeing in this video is the Mansion with just a holiday make-over. :)
After watching the video and seeing the comments I kind of feel like I'm one of the few who actually really liked the Halloween town movies as a kid (haven't watched them for years, though). I always found them to be pretty "cozy", sort of like the orange of halloween-- warm and friendly rather than spooky like Night Before Christmas.
Honestly the Grandma and the youngest sister were my favorite characters. Marnie and the mom annoyed the hell out of me by arguing with each other. And the Brother was such a damn nerd like shut the hell up. R.I.P Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher May them Rest In Peace
How's this for a better character arc? What if instead of wanting to be special, Marnie discovers here grandmother's amazing magical talents and wants to be like her, only to discover her true talents. During the course of the movie, Marnie is shown to have trouble harnessing any kind of magic, while Sophie seems to be a whiz at it. However, when they're making the brew, Sophie seems to only have a vague idea about cooking, while Marnie, given her mother mentoring her in the art of cooking, is able to help out without braking a sweat. During the final battle, Marnie tries to use all her training to confront Kalabar, but can't even pull off anything. Luckily, Sophie, with her greater expertise with magic, is able to light the Jack-o-Lantern and wish Kalabar to go away. Afterwards, Sophie is celebrated as a hero to all of Halloweentown, leaving Marnie with nothing. Not even a participation award. After sulking off, believing that she's useless to Halloweentown or Earth, Sophie comforts her, saying that while she may not be worthy of being a witch, she did notice her skills in cooking when making the brew. Essentially, she tells her sister that she's better off as a cook. After seeing that her sister was right while making another brew, she fully gets the message that we're all special, but we just need to discover how we're special.
I feel like this movie could be remade. The changes would be turning the youngest into the protagonist while keeping her personality the same. The oldest could be powerless and be jealous of her younger siblings who have powers. The middle child can still be skeptical and be in denial of his own powers. Perhaps he even believes everything that is happening in front of him is a dream till something actually dangerous happens to the mother and grandmother that convinces him to change his mind. Make halloweentown dark and spooky and have the human world be bright and colourful to contrast it. Also I would give the mother a stronger reason as to why she chooses to not train or tell her children about halloweentoen. The reason I came up with is the monsters in halloweentown have started to flood into the human world and started kidnapping families whose children are super natural. The mother chooses not to train her children because she knows if she does they will get kidnapped and brought to halloweentown to use as sacrifices for the main villains plan which is take control of haloweentown and have humans fear monsters. The main villain will be someone running for mayor and he gets a group of supporters who like his ideas. Basically I would make haloweentown a lot more twisted and dark. The mother and grandmother could get into some sort of danger trying to save the children. The children mange to escape and you can still have the storyline of them having to find the wand and create a spell to save their loved ones.
You thought this film was bad? Then you haven’t seen Descendants yet. Not only is it as painful as other Disney Channel original films, it goes out of its way to insult the Disney Animated Canon as well.
Also, Marny recognizes Kal near the end of the film as Kalabar's son because he and Kalabar give out roses. I don't know if that's clever or just insipid.
My class decided to watch a movie. We did a vote on which halloween movie to watch. There were movie options like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coroline, The Addams Family Values and many more. The movie that won was Halloweentown. That was my first time watching the movie and it was boring. The movie followed the typical Disney channel formula of a rebellious teen disobeying her parents. This is a classroom full of COLLEGE students. I voted for The Addams Family Values. I wish these people had a better taste in movies.
No I still see the mother as the bad guy. Regardless of her trying to keep her kids safe, what she really wants is a normal life for her. Which is great since she chose that lifer herself, but her kids didn't. They have powers which were inherited from her and she's making the choice for them to loose them before they even knew they had them, which I always find to be selfish. Like what if it wasn't power what if it was money. Like if she came from a rich household with lots of influence and chose to live a life of struggle because she enjoys the simple life. Say her mom dies and she knew her daughter didn't want money so she left it to her grandchildren. But the mom made the decision to take the money from the grandmother and give it away without even telling them about it. Like 5 million each and she just it gave away. I get that that she would want her kids to work hard for the things they want in life but she didn't even give them an opportunity to do anything to see what they would choose if given a choice.
dylan annoyed me when i watched this film for the first time recently i mean the only thing he does is complain about how weird things are. and arbor day, really? everyone knows that trees are only important at christmas.
I would have loved to hear more about Marnie, Dylan and Sophie's father. How did he get to Halloween Town and meet their mother? How did they fall in love? How did he and the Aggie's daughter return to earth? What caused earth and Halloween Town to be divided? I know in the second film, Halloween Town 2, humans once lived in Halloween Town and Kal, Kalabar's son tried turning one into the other as a way of ruling both worlds. Kal had a lot of daddy issues and Kal seems like a pretty stupid name, it's like naming your kid after yourself, but you think shortening it is somehow creative.
As much as I love this movie it is a childhood favorite, I really enjoyed your review, your criticisms made a lot of sense I never noticed the movies problems when I was growing up you earned a sub good sir
You articulated a lot of the problems I've always had with this movie. I like it for the most part--I'll admit mostly due to nostalgia--and its cheapness and plotholes never bothered me when I was younger, but I always felt like I wanted to punch Marnie in her entitled little teeth. You're so spot on... Sophie would have made the much better main character.
I personally really liked this series as a kid and even today I still really enjoy Debbie Reynolds’ character. To me she was the standard for grandmother characters back then. But I am looking at this through very foggy nostalgia goggles...
I liked the brother, because I pretty much was him when I discovered Steve Allen and James Randi. I respect a guy like him. Also, I wasn't beaten up by anyone because friendship is magic, and protective, even in high school. If you're Catholic, in a private school and are friends with members of CCC and the host for a German exchange student who is a senior.
Also about mouthing off... Sometimes mouthing off is the only way a person can be heard and understood. I don't dislike Marnie at all for that. Sometimes I have to mouth off to be heard when I KNOW I need to be heard! It happens to most people. :/
I personally disagree with you on Haloweentown. I really liked this movie. I thought it was fun and enjoyable. Sure, it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was still fun and enjoyable.
Is it just me or does Marnie remind me of the Horrible Wolf Pups in The Alpha & Omega sequels? Their both unintentionally bratty kids who mouth off & Disobey their parents, & never get pushed in the end.
Okay, I get that Marnie's mom wanted to stop her from gaining her powers and run out of time for her training. But why rob the younger ones from experiencing Halloween like the other kids or maybe find an alternative to celebrating halloween. Like having an unhalloween party where they eat treats,make costumes and tell stories? Also Mom would eventually have to tell her kids about their hertiage so keeping it a secret and waiting until they all turn 13 seems unnecessary. Also where is the Dad in all of this?
She’s draws monsters during school? She must be a problem child according to where I live, I drew a haunted house in December once and it’s still on my school record...
Yeah it'd make sense if the mom was mad at her for clearly not paying attention in class and getting poor grades. That could have been a legitimate reason for her to say "You can't go to the party." Then it wouldn't look to the kids like mom just hates Halloween for no reason.
@@shwahgamer the mom coulda just celebrated cinco de mayo instead, Unless cinco de mayo town exists… something to appease them bastards, She could’ve also tried scaring them from it, telling them hundreds of fake “true” stories to make them terrified of it
Between this and the SantaPaws movies, I am beginning to get the feeling that Bob has a definite preference for cutesy wutesy widdle girl characters in his schlocky Disney movies.
Marny had some likeability in the second film, even though she was kind of a dolt. In the second film, she let in some boy that was transferring to her school into her grandma's bedroom. To her stupidity, the boy who is revealed as Kalabar's bastard son steals Marny's book and then wonders to the bus stop where he says a bunch crap, turning Halloween Town and its citizens all gray.
Funny. Watched this every year. *And now I'm the Witch* Bahahaha! Also a Male Witch is still called a Witch. A Warlock is an Oath Breaker. Which is a bad thing.
I remember this movie quite fondly and I’m sure I’m not the only one who considers it a classic i remember watching this every year on Disney channel also Next year you should review the haunted mansion movie with Eddie Murphy
I don't think anyone sees the mom as the bad guy... a lot of us have moms and had bratty momments with them. *nods* usually in retaliation for what we think is her being unreasonable at the time. even though I thought the mom was unreasonable when I first saw this, I kinda saw her point. the only thing is her choice would rob them of a family legacy forever. now that I'm older I wonder if the mom was protecting her kids from Kalabar. he's obviously dangerously possesive...
Right...turn kids off of Halloween, except for the people who like this movie and look forward to it every year. Honestly, hon, you take this too seriously.
Bob maybe you remember this Disney Channel show. Adventures in Wonderland? If you do, I'd love if you could review it. Or if you want to check it out, it's on TH-cam. Basically it's Alice in wonderland set in the 90s. Surprisingly it's pretty good. Yet it's so obscure that I think you'll be safe from Disney's copyright wrath. Happy Halloween!
If I had magic powers, and my mother kept it a secret from me, I would be pissed too. And they were denied Halloween all their life. Like, I get Marnie. She is needlessly whiny, true, but I get it. Magic. Powers.
Actually, Marnie has powers. She just had difficulty with them because she hadn’t gained any training. Sophie on the other hand, was the youngest and was the most connected to her powers. But yeah, it was a missed opportunity.
So the mom’s stupidity could have killed them
Jack Sullivan Yes and no. The mom could’ve trained them in the rare event that the events that unfolded in the film did happen, and Marnie shouldn’t have snuck out of the house with her siblings. And yes, Sophie could’ve been the savior of this film Bobsheaux.
The closest thing to a "power" she has is deja vu. Everyone has deja vu, and HER deja vu doesn't enter the story in any way whatsoever. She has no powers.
I think she has powers in the squeals
@@zooemperor3954 ...... they were draining, as in her powers were weak because mom is against child freedom. Training them and giving them the choice was the better move from the start. If she found out after losing her powers, Marnie wouldn't have resented her for the rest of there lives for doing so. Trust me, kids can hate sheltering parents more then physical abusers.
To be honest, the grandma and Sophie were my favorites while both Marnie and the mom annoyed me. They constantly bicker with Marnie being mouthy and the mom being a Debbie-Downer who didn't even tell her kids about their own heritage. How could it be protecting them? Did it ever occur to her that they could have found out from the wrong people? At least when Ariel had this conflict with Melody it was because there was a threat and Melody had more humility.
Well you can’t blame Marine, I mean her mom wants a normal live yet they can’t celebrate Halloween? So yeah Marine is justified in my opinion
I agree with the many other comments before me, Marnie's mother wasn't innocent at all in the majority of this movie; one plot that I've always hated is parents keeping secrets from their children. It's better to just be honest with them and explain why they made their choices instead of risking losing them when they find out for themselves.
like what did she think was going to happen when her daughter found out she had powers but lost them because her mom made that choice for her. And to make it worst the mother still has her powers but chooses not to use them.
Couldn’t agree more. Especially when you keep in mind, both Marnie and Sophie had interest in Magic and yet their mother decides “I don’t want them to have powers because I personally don’t want that in my life anymore”
The girl was a little shit but I kinda understand her motivation. This is her last chance to learn magic while her sister still has time left. Imagine you had one chance to learn a special skill and only a limited amount of time to do so, personally I think I'd focus on getting the skill first and then think about what I'd do with it. I wouldn't wanna waste any time and then regret it when it's to late.
You know what I don't like about this movie? They did the setting wrong. Human world should be by day, while Halloweentown should be nighttime at all times. Real fun on Halloween Starts at night!
I KNOW, RIGHT???
@@Bobsheaux But I disagree that it should be dreary. When I think Halloween, I think Trick 'r Treat, and how beautiful this movie looked, it was all lit up with orange, like halloween should be. I never liked dreariness, which is the reason I don't like Tim Burton. But I always wanted to experience Halloween, and it's spooky but fun feel.
They could even add some other dramatic lighting, like, every scene with Calabar in his monster form could be drenched in green light!
Exactly, and yet DC screwed that one up
@@normadgarmez7026
Come again?
@@dylansharp8471 DC, as in Disney Channel
Little girl discovers she is from a line of witches, has skeptical older brother that while he doesn't believe in any of it still goes along with it, and they follow their grandmother to a spooky yet fun dimension to help stop a great evil.
How has this not is a children's Book/Film/TV series already?
@Gold Coin The concept is interesting, the execution is the problem.
@@CoolG97 yeah because it was produced by The Disney Channel in 1998.
@Brandon Roberts I don't hate it either, (I just prefer the second film) it's just now I see it didn't live up to it's potential.
There were 3 sequels to this movie
@@koichidignitythief7429 And only one of them is worth watching.
Alex Meyers said it best, Halloweentown doesn't make any sense.
I loved his video on it. ^^
I didn't care much for this movie, but Debbie Reynolds was such a gem. :) Still miss her and Carrie Fisher. :(
Me too, Tho I like the movie because of her!
@@LA-mz1dd honestly I knew of this movie way before I found out they were mother and daughter.
Honestly I was more of a Star Wars fan if anything else.
But I still like Debbie
Ironic that the family in the film shares the name of perhaps the most infamous witch persecutor in history, Oliver Cromwell (who went so far as to ban Christmas as heresy)
@James A Clouder That`s deliberate.
@@Swordsmen99 Well there's another that says He was born in the spring. The same time that lambs were born and sacrificed. Jesus had been foretold in the old testament.
Not to mention was also the villain in Wolfwalkers (a much better movie than this).
you mentioned how marnie doesn't have powers and you're right. they're kinda of dormant in marnie and dylan. aggie/grandma said a witch's thirteen year is supposed to mark the end of their training which would mean the older you go without practicing the weaker your powers get. which was the mother's plan. that's why sophie's powers are the strongest since she's so young. dylan being younger than marnie explains why he has a little power near the end. i see him as he's trying to grow up too fast and actions/reasons more like an adult than a kid would. so he's rationalizing how he believes. that's how once upon a time put it. the way a child believes and an adult believes are different. the sequels devleop them more and marnie has powers. although th e sad thing is sophie's barely in the third one and not even in the fourth one.
*grow
So the mother never told their kids they have magic powers and prevent them from celebrating Halloween? Wow this lady is a terrible parent! She also never told them about the evil wizard. The grandma would but i guess her daughter make her promise to never speak of Halloweentown. Not a good way to protect your kids if they don't know there's a danger. Not sure they will forgive you that you hide the truth during years 🤨
"STOP OFFERING SMALL CHILDREN TREATS FROM YOUR PERSON"
"I have the power of wind machines!" just cracked me up so much.
Well tbf...this came out during Xenon and Lizzie McGuire...so the whole "teen girl power" trope was big during this era
Yeah. I think it hadn’t gotten figured out yet- this came in ‘98 but Lizzie, Raven & Kim Possible proved it successful.
Okay, Marnie is a shit protagonist, but her mother is equally irredeemable; why does she need to keep her kids in ignorance of Halloweentown? She can still raise them in the human world and allow them to enjoy Halloween, why is she so determined to keep them in the dark?
Yeah, and its parents like this that never think that NOT telling them the truth would make things work. Say Marnie accidentally turned a girl into a frog when she got older and she was a teenager. How well do you think that would go when she finds out their family has magic only NOW when she's almost a young adult? Not very good that's what.
The mom should of been upfront with her kids on why she decided to move away from HT, the dangers, while sharing her own experiences.
I love the Halloweentown movies for nostalgia purposes but you brought up good points.
Same!
It’s my guilty pleaser to watch the first One every halloween
R.I.P Debbie Reynolds
Sophie= the creative one with brilliant memory
Gracekim1 Not to mention her name means "Wisdom" ;) .
Jennea Coleman-Cubero cool
Not to mention, the actual hero of the movie. Seeing how she wants to use her power to help not only her grandmother, but others as well.
Actually marnie having such a hard time with magic makes sense. She went so long believing she is human and is at risk of losing her magic. It's also implied in future movies and even hinted in this one that she thinks to much like a mortal rather than a witch. Sophie is young and has the most imagination and thus it makes sense magic comes easier to her.
Seeing that displeased face on the thumbnail, ouch, I loved this movie as a kid. But I can definitely see why many, yourself included, wouldn't care for it much. It hasn't aged the best.
Now, I definitely want to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, even though it's no longer All Hallows Eve.
Also, I love weird stuff, I just don't advertise it with clothing, lol.
Me too, my parents would have killed me if I dressed in gothic style.
Bob... That "You ain't seen nothing yet" clue is clearly meant to be a reference to Descendants.
Good luck. I think you're gonna need it!
Ben Bell not that movie.
Pls no
Ben Bell That isn’t it
It took a while, but he eventually got around to it. I was so happy to see that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the franchise.
You and Disney don't have the best copyright track record, huh...
Add waner brothers to that list.
RainbowStreak Well its Disney. I couldn’t even post a GotG2 intro parody using footage of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes without getting flagged (even when I stated I’m not profiting it).
Happened again
This is a company that wants to protect the brand of it's product, where they both succeed but eventually fail.
If that last line means what i think it means, than you better buckle up bob! Descendants is even stupider than maleficent, and has even less respect for it's scource material! 4 words- be our guest rap XP
Kris Lundell He’s doing Descendants!?! Oh, Christ! For the love of God, he’s should do Ever After High instead! That does the Descendants premise better.
In before Disney has a hissy fit
2:16 Color Guard? I get that’s supposed to be a slight at how she seems to bright and peppy to care about Halloween, but actually training for Color Guard and seeing the Color Guard are two different experiences. And that’s coming from a guy who was in the marching band itself.
To be honest though, that’s not really what the Halloween Town series is all about. The recurring theme that’s been posited throughout embodies how millenia of folklore surrounding monsters and how they’re wicked, terrifying existences that exist to torment humankind has all been a matter of bad history and stereotyping. Ultimately, it’s existences like Kalabar or the Knights of the Iron Dagger who exist to engender the divide between both races, or try to rule dominion over all.
I don’t believe they did it in some bright and cheery attempt to handhold the children watching, but perhaps serve as a misguided attempt at showing the viewers how prejudice can affect how we view people. But at least I can tell you that the writing gets better in the sequels (Marnie gets less annoying as well).
I swear the kids are a dead ringer for the Horsin Around children, and they are supposed to be a parody of poorly written child characters. They couldn't write it where the older girl didn't have powers and had to accept being special in spite of that? Or give Mom a reason why she didn't share her heritage?
@GA`s honeybear Considering her ex-boyfriend turned out to be a misanthropic(And implied pedophilic) warlock tyrant,can you blame her?
Also she fell in love with a human and gave her heritage up for him
@@AspieMediaBobby No. I just wish she were better written. It seemed like she was written to be unlikeable and unreasonable.
Holy crap! You're right
Review Return to Halloweentown! Now that movie deserves to be ripped!
@Raye Johnson what? No one likes that film lol.
@Raye Johnson no, everyone loves the first 3 films and despises the 4th. Hell the 3rd film gets a mixed reception from fans.
@Raye Johnson majority rule mate. The majority of folks who like this series think the 4th film is bad and if the majority says it's bad then bad.
@Raye Johnson or folks just didn't feel like hitting the dislike button.
What about Halloween Town High?
That evil Benny part actually really scared me when I first saw the movie. I didn't notice anything until Sophie said something, but then it made sense. I was freaked out that Benny was possessed by some evil thing and I hadn't realized at all. Scarier in hindsight. Plus I thought that if he dragged the kids into the car he'd eat them or possess them or something worse.
Wow! The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland has changed a LOT since I was little girl. That was near the end of the 90s. I remember near the end of the ride there were these reflecting mirrors where we see one of the ghosts sitting between us. A picture was taken of me and my older sister giving the ghost a kiss! Lol!
The ride you remember is very much what the ride continues to be (save for the addition of the Hatbox Ghost at the end of the attic scene, as well as the bride turning into a black widow). What you're seeing in this video is the Mansion with just a holiday make-over. :)
I love this movie but I have to be honest, when Dylan asked where is here and then he played the island of misfit toys I was cracking up
After watching the video and seeing the comments I kind of feel like I'm one of the few who actually really liked the Halloween town movies as a kid (haven't watched them for years, though). I always found them to be pretty "cozy", sort of like the orange of halloween-- warm and friendly rather than spooky like Night Before Christmas.
18:36 Better Ingredients, better pizza, Papa Johns
Honestly the Grandma and the youngest sister were my favorite characters. Marnie and the mom annoyed the hell out of me by arguing with each other. And the Brother was such a damn nerd like shut the hell up.
R.I.P Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher
May them Rest In Peace
How's this for a better character arc? What if instead of wanting to be special, Marnie discovers here grandmother's amazing magical talents and wants to be like her, only to discover her true talents.
During the course of the movie, Marnie is shown to have trouble harnessing any kind of magic, while Sophie seems to be a whiz at it. However, when they're making the brew, Sophie seems to only have a vague idea about cooking, while Marnie, given her mother mentoring her in the art of cooking, is able to help out without braking a sweat. During the final battle, Marnie tries to use all her training to confront Kalabar, but can't even pull off anything. Luckily, Sophie, with her greater expertise with magic, is able to light the Jack-o-Lantern and wish Kalabar to go away. Afterwards, Sophie is celebrated as a hero to all of Halloweentown, leaving Marnie with nothing. Not even a participation award. After sulking off, believing that she's useless to Halloweentown or Earth, Sophie comforts her, saying that while she may not be worthy of being a witch, she did notice her skills in cooking when making the brew. Essentially, she tells her sister that she's better off as a cook. After seeing that her sister was right while making another brew, she fully gets the message that we're all special, but we just need to discover how we're special.
I feel like this movie could be remade. The changes would be turning the youngest into the protagonist while keeping her personality the same. The oldest could be powerless and be jealous of her younger siblings who have powers. The middle child can still be skeptical and be in denial of his own powers. Perhaps he even believes everything that is happening in front of him is a dream till something actually dangerous happens to the mother and grandmother that convinces him to change his mind. Make halloweentown dark and spooky and have the human world be bright and colourful to contrast it. Also I would give the mother a stronger reason as to why she chooses to not train or tell her children about halloweentoen. The reason I came up with is the monsters in halloweentown have started to flood into the human world and started kidnapping families whose children are super natural. The mother chooses not to train her children because she knows if she does they will get kidnapped and brought to halloweentown to use as sacrifices for the main villains plan which is take control of haloweentown and have humans fear monsters. The main villain will be someone running for mayor and he gets a group of supporters who like his ideas. Basically I would make haloweentown a lot more twisted and dark. The mother and grandmother could get into some sort of danger trying to save the children. The children mange to escape and you can still have the storyline of them having to find the wand and create a spell to save their loved ones.
To be fair. You could argue the don't judge the book message still applies since callabar wasn't exactly evil at first and tried being friendly.
I'm with you there. I thought Dylan was the most annoying character of the movie. He was constantly whining the whole time.
I feel like the mom should care that her childhood home could be in danger. She may have, as Marnie said, "moved on" but it's still her home
You thought this film was bad? Then you haven’t seen Descendants yet.
Not only is it as painful as other Disney Channel original films, it goes out of its way to insult the Disney Animated Canon as well.
So are you going to review the sequels
5:15
Okay, I think it's about that time. Let me check. Yeah it's about that time.
*Grabs Bible.*
[Insert Exorcist Theme Here.]
To be fair, I was into spooky stuff as a kid and I didn't dress goth.
It wasn’t until like last year that I realised who played the gramma
Debbie Reynolds was something.
Also, Marny recognizes Kal near the end of the film as Kalabar's son because he and Kalabar give out roses. I don't know if that's clever or just insipid.
To be fair, I also liked monsters, vampires, werewolves, witches as a 13 year old but I would never dress gothic because my mom would kill me.
This was my childhood guilty pleasure....but i agree on your points. Sophie had so much potential....
My class decided to watch a movie. We did a vote on which halloween movie to watch. There were movie options like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coroline, The Addams Family Values and many more. The movie that won was Halloweentown. That was my first time watching the movie and it was boring. The movie followed the typical Disney channel formula of a rebellious teen disobeying her parents.
This is a classroom full of COLLEGE students. I voted for The Addams Family Values. I wish these people had a better taste in movies.
Nostalgia is a drug
No I still see the mother as the bad guy. Regardless of her trying to keep her kids safe, what she really wants is a normal life for her. Which is great since she chose that lifer herself, but her kids didn't. They have powers which were inherited from her and she's making the choice for them to loose them before they even knew they had them, which I always find to be selfish. Like what if it wasn't power what if it was money. Like if she came from a rich household with lots of influence and chose to live a life of struggle because she enjoys the simple life. Say her mom dies and she knew her daughter didn't want money so she left it to her grandchildren. But the mom made the decision to take the money from the grandmother and give it away without even telling them about it. Like 5 million each and she just it gave away. I get that that she would want her kids to work hard for the things they want in life but she didn't even give them an opportunity to do anything to see what they would choose if given a choice.
dylan annoyed me when i watched this film for the first time recently i mean the only thing he does is complain about how weird things are. and arbor day, really? everyone knows that trees are only important at christmas.
The aurora borealis bit has me wrecked🤣 at This time of year in this time of day 🤣🤣🤣
It sucks that you didnt mention that the mom is the actress that played April O'Neil in the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
....Oh my God, she IS! I didn't see that until now. X(
I would have loved to hear more about Marnie, Dylan and Sophie's father. How did he get to Halloween Town and meet their mother? How did they fall in love? How did he and the Aggie's daughter return to earth? What caused earth and Halloween Town to be divided? I know in the second film, Halloween Town 2, humans once lived in Halloween Town and Kal, Kalabar's son tried turning one into the other as a way of ruling both worlds. Kal had a lot of daddy issues and Kal seems like a pretty stupid name, it's like naming your kid after yourself, but you think shortening it is somehow creative.
Kinda like, oh I don't know, Maleficent and Mal -_-
@@elsie8757 exactly. I guess the Halloween Town beat Descendants to the gimmick.
Meh, growing up I had a friend who was literally named after his father, who was named after his father. It happens
As much as I love this movie it is a childhood favorite, I really enjoyed your review, your criticisms made a lot of sense I never noticed the movies problems when I was growing up you earned a sub good sir
17:11-17:15 Hahahaha! If you have the opportunity to use a Monty Python reference, use it! It will always be worth it.
2:38, also I bet that kid gets punched like once a week.
That chicken scene would make evil necromancers weep in sympathy. :D
You articulated a lot of the problems I've always had with this movie. I like it for the most part--I'll admit mostly due to nostalgia--and its cheapness and plotholes never bothered me when I was younger, but I always felt like I wanted to punch Marnie in her entitled little teeth. You're so spot on... Sophie would have made the much better main character.
This movie made me miss Debbie Renelds.... Also.. HAI! April O'Niel from the 1990 TMNT movie.
I personally really liked this series as a kid and even today I still really enjoy Debbie Reynolds’ character. To me she was the standard for grandmother characters back then. But I am looking at this through very foggy nostalgia goggles...
Bob glad your back but where have you been?
I liked the brother, because I pretty much was him when I discovered Steve Allen and James Randi. I respect a guy like him. Also, I wasn't beaten up by anyone because friendship is magic, and protective, even in high school. If you're Catholic, in a private school and are friends with members of CCC and the host for a German exchange student who is a senior.
Also about mouthing off... Sometimes mouthing off is the only way a person can be heard and understood. I don't dislike Marnie at all for that. Sometimes I have to mouth off to be heard when I KNOW I need to be heard! It happens to most people. :/
I personally disagree with you on Haloweentown. I really liked this movie. I thought it was fun and enjoyable. Sure, it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was still fun and enjoyable.
I went to Mickey's Halloween Party on the 31st with my girlfriend, it was amazing, we actually ended our night at the Haunted Mansion.
Awww!
i like Dylan after watching this review. he's Milhousing pretty aggressively
Man, this was my childhood. Far superior than the other Halloween DCOMs.
I'll admit this movie is a nostalgic guilty pleasure.
Is it just me or does Marnie remind me of the Horrible Wolf Pups in The Alpha & Omega sequels? Their both unintentionally bratty kids who mouth off & Disobey their parents, & never get pushed in the end.
*their
Okay, I get that Marnie's mom wanted to stop her from gaining her powers and run out of time for her training. But why rob the younger ones from experiencing Halloween like the other kids or maybe find an alternative to celebrating halloween. Like having an unhalloween party where they eat treats,make costumes and tell stories? Also Mom would eventually have to tell her kids about their hertiage so keeping it a secret and waiting until they all turn 13 seems unnecessary. Also where is the Dad in all of this?
The dad died
i remeber this being aired on disney channel every october. and i even remember enjoying it.
but yeah. this really doesn't hold up
Interesting. I haven't seen the movie, but you make a good point about Sophie.
8:42 Hey it's a Disney Channel original from 1998, don't expect them to have the budget to make the town dreary.
She’s draws monsters during school?
She must be a problem child according to where I live, I drew a haunted house in December once and it’s still on my school record...
Yeah it'd make sense if the mom was mad at her for clearly not paying attention in class and getting poor grades. That could have been a legitimate reason for her to say "You can't go to the party." Then it wouldn't look to the kids like mom just hates Halloween for no reason.
@@shwahgamer the mom coulda just celebrated cinco de mayo instead,
Unless cinco de mayo town exists… something to appease them bastards,
She could’ve also tried scaring them from it, telling them hundreds of fake “true” stories to make them terrified of it
That’s Skelton used to terrify me as a kid it slightly does nowadays
Oliver Cromwell’s buries and dead hee has buried and oh wait. Wrong Cromwell
This movie is what happens when Disney tries to make a "Nightmare Before Christmas" sequel without Tim Burton. XD
Bob, if you learned you had awesome powers, and unless you train in the matter of two days, you will lose them, wouldn't you want to train?
I remember when nostalgia critic said this was a kind of movie you’d expect to see on MST3K... and seeing the review here, I’d think so..
I love the Halloweentown films. I was only 2 when the first one came out.
25:34-25:48 Hahahahahaha! That reference, with that bit of dialogue, in this Disney Channel movie, is most apropos.
And roughly 22 years after this train wreck, Disney gave us a GOOD story of a human girl, witches, and a world full of monsters
Which one?
@@eamonclark4952 The Owl House.
@@eamonclark4952 The Owl House
@@eamonclark4952 The Owl House. Sorry, didn't know you commented
This movie is as lame as The Seeker
Both movies seem to involve taking down the ruthless villian through believing, rather than by confrontation
Between this and the SantaPaws movies, I am beginning to get the feeling that Bob has a definite preference for cutesy wutesy widdle girl characters in his schlocky Disney movies.
Have a happy Halloween Bobsheaux!
15:15 When you cant go to school because the bus cant come
Cool, though was hoping you'd review Phantom of the Megaplex.
Marny had some likeability in the second film, even though she was kind of a dolt. In the second film, she let in some boy that was transferring to her school into her grandma's bedroom. To her stupidity, the boy who is revealed as Kalabar's bastard son steals Marny's book and then wonders to the bus stop where he says a bunch crap, turning Halloween Town and its citizens all gray.
Funny. Watched this every year.
*And now I'm the Witch*
Bahahaha!
Also a Male Witch is still called a Witch. A Warlock is an Oath Breaker. Which is a bad thing.
Oath Breaker? I never knew that! So Warlocks are bad guys, what about Sorcerers? Wizards, Druids?
I remember this. I thought it was okay, I didn’t know Princess Leia’s mom was in this 😀
I remember this movie quite fondly and I’m sure I’m not the only one who considers it a classic i remember watching this every year on Disney channel also Next year you should review the haunted mansion movie with Eddie Murphy
Redbandit I live where this was filmed
Pulse01 really? That’s really cool, so I’ll bet this movie holds a special place in your heart huh.
I did watch Halloween town every year for years.... more than hocus-pocus actually
Thing 1 & Thing 2 The Media Maniacs you are aware that I’m talking about the movie right? Not the ride
I don't think anyone sees the mom as the bad guy... a lot of us have moms and had bratty momments with them. *nods* usually in retaliation for what we think is her being unreasonable at the time. even though I thought the mom was unreasonable when I first saw this, I kinda saw her point. the only thing is her choice would rob them of a family legacy forever. now that I'm older I wonder if the mom was protecting her kids from Kalabar. he's obviously dangerously possesive...
This movie brings back good memories.
Right...turn kids off of Halloween, except for the people who like this movie and look forward to it every year. Honestly, hon, you take this too seriously.
Anyone else notice how quiet this movie's sound design is?
Bob maybe you remember this Disney Channel show. Adventures in Wonderland? If you do, I'd love if you could review it. Or if you want to check it out, it's on TH-cam. Basically it's Alice in wonderland set in the 90s. Surprisingly it's pretty good. Yet it's so obscure that I think you'll be safe from Disney's copyright wrath. Happy Halloween!
Travelbound He does know about it. He had a clip of the intro in his "Huggabunch" review.
OMG I use to watch that all the time as a kid!
Bob, you are probably the closest thing I have to a friend right now... just wanted to say that.
Allen the Red Mage ❤️❤️
@@devillass6025 no really, all of my friends have moved away, I work 8 hours a day and go to college for six, and my roommates are total jerkbags
Allen the Red Mage I wasn't disbelieving of what you said, I was simply giving you love.
@@devillass6025 oh, well... er... thank you kindly 😳
Allen the Red Mage No problem!
17:06
I WAS FROZEN TODAY!!!!!!
I live in the town this was filmed in
Holy shit me too
DeltaDragonoid225 oof
@@declanhinshaw4791 Yeah, it's weird, I recognize the city hall, the general area, and if I look hard enough, the theater seats.
DeltaDragonoid225 how old are You?