2018 marked the 20th anniversary of one of Disney's first ever original movies, and a fan favorite, Halloweentown. The original movie went on to spawn three sequels - Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, Halloweentown High, and Return to Halloweentown. Fans love to rewatch these movies every year around Halloween, and Disney still plays them on its channel to this day. What is so special about Halloweentown that makes fans keep coming back for more?
There are so many things to love about the Halloweentown movies. There's the nostalgia, the not-so-high-tech special effects, and the all around family Halloween fun. Debbie Reynolds, of course, shines in her role as Aggie, the magical witch grandmother to Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie. Marnie, played by Kimberly J. Brown (until she was recast in the fourth film with Sarah Paxton) is a massive fan favorite as well. To this day, Brown is asked about her time in the Halloweentown movies, and even revisits the real Halloweentown once in a while with her castmates. Every film set comes with obstacles, but bringing the monster-filled Halloweentown to life was no easy feat.
Updated on November 14th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: There might not be any additional Halloweentown movies on the way from Disney, but the spirit of the movies certainly lives on. That’s because stars of the original movies like Kimberly J. Brown still participate in Halloween festivals in the town where the first movie was filmed. Brown and her Halloweentown II co-star Daniel Kountz also began dating years after working together and are now engaged! They might not have dated as teens working for Disney, but their love story certainly makes a lot of the fans happy.
Benny The Taxi Driver Was A Robot
One of the most iconic characters from Halloweentown is definitely Benny the skeleton taxi driver. He is one of the first monsters that Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie meet in Halloweentown, and he is a recurring character throughout the franchise.
When asked about how working with Benny was, Kimberly J. Brown - who plays Marnie - revealed that he was actually a robot. "The actor dubbed his lines after filming, so we actually worked with a robot," Brown recalls, "I’ll always the ‘errr err’ sound it made." Knowing this detail makes it even funnier looking back on their scenes together. Marnie and her siblings always look pretty confused when they're with Benny - now the audience knows why!
The Budget Was Cut From $30 Million To $4 Million
When director Duwayne Dunham was presented the script for Halloweentown, he had no idea what he was in for. "I read it and I thought, 'Holy smokes, this is big, I mean really big,'" he recalls. Disney agreed, itting that the film would have to be cut down significantly in order to be made.
Dunham began with a budget of $20 to $30 million, and by the time everything was cut, they were down to a $4 million budget. This was no small cut-back, and Dunham had to get creative with ways to stretch the budget. It wasn't easy, but they made it work. "I met with the writers, and we started going through it," Dunham said. It took weeks to finally get the film to match the budget. Halloweentown was filmed in only 24 days, and became one of the Disney Channel's most beloved Halloween movies.
There Was Almost A Different Ending
While the first Halloweentown movie has a happy ending where Marnie and the Cromwells save Halloweentown, originally the ending wasn't so simple. In fact, it was pretty dark.
In the ending fans all know and love, Marnie places the talisman inside the giant pumpkin that resides in the middle of Halloweentown. For the alternate ending, Marnie was to place the talisman in the middle of a magical forest. As Marnie walked through the forest, she grew older and older with each step. Even though the ending was scrapped, they got so far as making a mold of Marnie's head in order to achieve the effect.
Kimberly J. Brown Took A Mold Of Her Own Head From Set
Both the cast and crew took a few mementos from the Halloweentown set. With an elaborate set like that, who could blame them? Kimberly J. Brown, who played Marnie, says she still has a broom from set, and strangely enough, a mold of her own head! She kept the piece that would have been originally used for the alternate ending.
Director Duwayne Dunham its to having a pretty cool piece of memorabilia as well. "We had a stained glass worker there," Dunham recalls,"[I have] a stained glass picture of a black cat with an arched back and kind of an orange moon." The coolest part is that his kids love it to this day, and they put it out each Halloween. "I set that in the window and I put a light behind it," Dunham said, "that’s my beacon to Halloweentown."
Kalabar's Spell Was Improvised
While shooting Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, Daniel Kountz got quite the surprise when it came time to conjure the portal to Halloweentown. Kountz, who plays Kal, Kalabar's son, and the Disney Channel sequel's villain, had to make up his own spell at the last minute. The script reads “Kal says spell and walks through the portal,” Kountz told MTV. He assumed that he would be given a spell to say, but this wasn't the case.
When asked on set if he had prepared a spell, Kountz lied and said yes, then quickly scrambled to make something up. Believe it or not, he got inspiration from a choir song he learned in school. “I just pulled that out of nowhere, and they ended up using it," Kountz recalls, "and I think it actually worked out pretty well."
Real Flames Shot From Marnie's Hair Dryer
In a world of modern technology, audiences have gotten used to most effects being done with CGI technology or motion capture. Back in the 1990s, on a film set with a very small budget, things had to be done differently. Kimberly J. Brown let fans in on this fun fact about the hair salon scene.
"I actually had to stand with a hair dryer and real flames shot out of it, and it was very hot," Brown recalled. Was it a good idea for a child to hold a hair dryer blowing flames? Brown seems to think so, adding, "it was very safe, and very fun."
Halloweentown Is Actually St. Helens, Oregon
Fans wondering where Halloweentown was filmed will be interested to know it wasn't just on a Disney lot. In fact, the real world town of St. Helen's, Oregon is where it all began. The cast and crew absolutely loved it there, because it really felt like stepping into another world.
Kimberly J. Brown re it fondly to this day, saying,"it was the perfect location, with a town square and everything." Director Duwayne Dunham loved the location because of how easy it was to film in. He called it, "basically an abandoned town" that was an "ideal place" for the film. Dunham also fell in love with the color scheme of St. Helens, and its they got lucky, seeing as how the film budget was so small.
They Had To Reuse Extras
The small budget was a huge obstacle throughout filming. From special effects, to the number of takes they could afford, to the amount of people they had on set - everything had to be planned meticulously. Dunham re how they made it seem like more monsters were roaming around Halloweentown than were actually present. "We had just enough [extras], and we would double up and change costumes and make it look like there were more and different people and that sort of thing," Duhman told MTV.
It seems like the Halloweentown extras really earned their pay on this film. Luckily for Dunham, he was working with a great group of people. "Everybody really pitched in and everybody was really on board with what we were doing, so there was never any grumbling."
Robin Thomas Lost His Voice For A Week
While everyone in the cast gave it their all, Robin Thomas, who played Kalabar, actually gave his voice for his role! Granted, he only lost it for about a week, but that's still a big price to pay for an actor. Thomas re the intense conditions in which he had to shoot his epic City Hall ending scene, and how loud he had to yell.
With no body mic, or mic of any kind, Thomas found himself having to pull out all the stops. He re it vividly, saying, "I was having to project my voice down. There were fans. [I was] 150 feet or so from the camera. That was challenging. I blew my pipes out." Thankfully Halloweentown became a cult classic, so Thomas's voice didn't go to waste!
High School Musical Stars Were In Halloweentown High
Two years before High School Musical became a Disney Channel original sensation, two of its stars found a home in Halloweentown as well. Fans may know Olesya Rulin best as Kelsi, the quiet yet lovable pianist from High School Musical. First she was everyone's favorite pink troll in Halloweentown High. Rulin played Marnie's brother Dylan's love interest, until they just decided to be friends in the end.
Another notable High School Musical star who ended up appearing in two Halloweentown films is Lucas Grabeel. In Halloweentown High, he played Ethan the Warlock, and he was also appeared in Return to Halloweentown the same year High School Musical was released. Apparently Disney likes to keep it all in the family!
