Halloweentown series
Encyclopedia
The Halloweentown film series
aired as works for television
on The Disney Channel
(presented as "Disney Channel Original Movies") between 1998 and 2006.
beings such as vampire
s, werewolves
, ghost
s, troll
s, ogre
s, pumpkin
-headed people, skeletons
, goblin
s, humanoid
s with varying numbers of heads, humanoids with varying number of limbs, and humans with varying number of sensory organ
s are real, but separated themselves from Earth
's history
to escape humans' fear and persecution. These characters created their own community, Halloweentown, a thousand years ago in an alternate universe.
Travel between Halloweentown and the ordinary, historical world (which Halloweentown residents call "The Mortal World") is only possible with magical
aid, and only at regulated times (on Halloween
), until the portal seals at midnight. The events of the second film create a less restricted travel channel, and events of the third film breach the gap even more.
It is stated that many of the traditions of Halloween in the Mortal World are parallels based on regular traditions in Halloweentown. An example of this is how mortals wear costumes that mimic the creatures of Halloweentown, and are often depicted as being more frightening than they are naturally. In Halloweentown, the residents dress up every day, and some are much friendlier than humans generally depict them.
Although magic is present in many of the details of daily life of Halloweentown, it appears that only a limited number of persons actually practice or control magic. These people are mainly human, and are called witches
(female) and warlock
s (male). These beings appear human, but possess some sort of biological extra-sensory ability which allows them to harness magic unlike their "mortal
" counterparts. Magic is also hereditary in their families.
The Halloweentown movies concern episodes in the lives of the Cromwell-Piper family. The family matriarch, Agatha Cromwell, has been a pillar of Halloweentown society for centuries. Her daughter, Gwen Piper, married a mortal and chose to leave Halloweentown for a life in the Mortal World. At the time of the movies, she is apparently widowed. She has decided to raise her three children (Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie) apart from magic, and thus rejects contact with Halloweentown and the influence of her mother.
's cousin. It is unknown if Cromwell was her maiden name, or if she is widowed, as she is referred to by others as 'Mrs. Cromwell' in Halloweentown High
. She is a witch and resides in Halloweentown until Gwen offers to let her move to the human world and live with them at the end of the first movie. She agrees, but is having a very hard time not using her magic. In the first two movies, she carries a bottomless carpetbag that magically strolls along next to her as she walks. The carpet bag is very faithful to her as well as being slightly cowardly, as in the first movie it is scared to jump of a flying bus, but does so when she pretends to leave without it.
In the third movie, Halloweentown High
, she tries to fit in by taking various teaching jobs at Marnie and Dylan's High School
and falls for the principal. She has a new bag that follows her around, this one resembling an alligator without a head that loves to eat.
In Return to Halloweentown
, it is revealed that during the Dark
Time
s, Splendora Agatha Cromwell was the Princess of Halloweentown, who possessed the Gift
, an ancient power, it was a necklace
that had great power to give the wearer complete control over any person - but it could only be worn by a Cromwell witch or warlock. An evil battalion of dark warlocks and witches known as the Dominion, sought the Gift and wanted Splendora to use it to dominate Halloweentown. Wanting to live like a regular witch, Splendora placed the Gift in a chest and hid it under the ruins of Witch University
, it is said that only her heir could unleash the Gift that's stored inside and use the power within it.
This character has been played by Debbie Reynolds
and Sara Paxton
as a younger version of Aggie in the Return to Halloweentown
.
In Halloweentown (film)
, she keeps Halloweentown a secret from her children and would prefer to raise them as mortal, not allowing anything that has to do with magic or Halloween be mentioned in the house. Dylan agrees with her, but Marnie and Sophie do not like that. Gwen would often fight with her mother on the subject of whether or not she should allow her children to follow their family's tradition, especially Marnie, who is about to lose her powers forever after her 13th Halloween. At the end of the first film, she offers to let Aggie come live with them and agrees to have Marnie do her witch training. Although Gwen accepts her child's urge to connect more with the magical heritage, she continues to encourage Marnie to not let all that magic go to her head. Though Gwen eventually begins to accept magic more and more through each film.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
, Gwen meets a handsome single father named Alex, but doesn't know that he is actually a golem created to lure her into a trap. He takes her to a Halloween party, where the warlock Kal turns her and everyone at the party into monsters. By combining their magic, her family manage to reverse the spell.
In Halloweentown High
, she helps Marnie joggle nine teenage kids of different mythical heritage. When they discover that someone is trying to steal their magic by failing Marnie's project, Gwen teleports herself to Halloweentown to find proof for the Halloweentown Council. In the end Gwen rescues Cassie from her prison and returns to the mortal world in time to help stop the plot.
In Return to Halloweentown
, her children flew off for college and witch training, and she became a real estate agent and used magic to make the houses look better. When Dylan gets turned into a dog, Marnie calls for her help. She, Marnie, and Dylan combine their magic and "destroy" the Gift together.
She was portrayed by Judith Hoag
.
of Halloween
. She is a pretty and headstrong individual, especially when it comes to magic. Like her grandmother and her sister she has a sixth sense or precognition power as well as being an expert broomstick flyer. She is the character who uses magic as much as she can but also cares about it and tries very much to save Halloweentown and her magic.
In Halloweentown
, the 13-year-old Marnie discovers for the first time about her witch heritage and becomes excited to start her training to be a witch.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
, she and her family combine their magic and create a portal that can be opened at anytime around the year to stop a warlock from taking over the worlds.
In Halloweentown High
, she bets on her family magic to persuade the Halloweentown Council to reunite the worlds of Halloweentown and the Mortal World.
In Return to Halloweentown
, she attends Witch University in Halloweentown and discovers a great secret about her family. She becomes Queen
of Halloweentown for one night but uses the chance to apparently destroy The Gift with the help of Gwen, Dylan and her genie friend Anessa, but only passes it on to Dylan, the one person she trusts not to abuse its power.
This is the only role that had to be recast, with Kimberly J. Brown
playing the role in parts I-III, and Sara Paxton
in Part IV.
nerd as he likes to study more than anything. He strongly dislikes Halloween and everything that goes with magic. Dylan is sarcastic and frequently teases his sisters, especially Marnie. He is the only warlock in the family, but doesn't like to use magic but will use it sparingly to help his family and study. In the film Halloweentown he demonstrates meteromancy.
In Halloweentown
, he is about 12 years old and remains skeptical to the existence of magic and the supernatural. He discovers he has powers, when he was mad at Kalabar, and his hands start glowing, therefore, at the end of the film and helps defeat the first movie's antagonist
, Kalabar.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
, he tries to reach out to girls, but only ends up getting ditched and only uses his powers twice to help fix the worlds, first using them with his family and Luke to create a new permanent portal between the worlds and then (reluctantly) with the prodding of Luke to break the spell on Benny.
In Halloweentown High
, he doesn't use his powers at all and falls for a girl before finding out she was a pink troll. Though he doesn't use magic at all in this movie, he states that he has tried to apologize to Natalie using magic to speed-up the speaking process.
In Return to Halloweentown
, he attends Witch University with his sister, and confesses that he used his powers to study rapidly in high school, which is the reason to why he skipped a grade and is able to attend college
with his sister. He also falls for the evil Sinister sisters but they use him to get the Gift - his family heirloom, so they can try to take over Halloweentown. Later he becomes the wielder of the Gift but decides to hide it in a book. He ends up using a magic a few times in this movie: he speed-reads in order to get the information on Splendora, admits to using it in high school and uses it to help "destroy" the Gift as it takes three Cromwells to do and only he, Gwen and Marnie were around. This is the most amount of times he uses his powers in the movies.
This character is played by Joey Zimmerman
.
In Halloweentown
, she is about 7 years old and can control her powers better than her sister can, as her grandma states it only takes the will and imagination to make magic work.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
, she can sense Kal's presence, which her grandmother, mother, sister and brother can't, but has a hard time controlling her flying abilities because Aggie hadn't taught her how to fly yet.
In Halloweentown High
, she appears briefly and doesn't do magic at all.
In Return to Halloweentown
, she does not appear, but it is revealed that she has started her witches training under her grandmother.
This character is played by Emily Roeske
.
and former boyfriend of Gwen. He is the main antagonist
of the first film. Prior to the film, Kalabar is the Mayor
of Halloweentown. He is a racist
(he hates humans) and dislikes the fact that Gwen left him for a human
, yet the Cromwell magic remains as powerful as ever. At first, he was in the form of a black creature who's afraid of sunlight, but reveals his true identity when he tries to convince the citizens of Halloweentown to join him in order to retake what's rightfully theirs, i.e. the mortal world. He dies at the end of Halloweentown
when the Cromwell family members join together to vanquish him. His son Kal is the primary villain in Part II. He appears in Halloweentown II during several flashbacks to the previous film. In the first film his name is actually spelled as "Calabar", not "Kalabar". His name is also spelled "Calabar" in the Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge closing credits
Kalabar is played by Robin Thomas
.
in Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
. He tricked Marnie into showing him Aggie's secret room and stole Aggie's spellbooks to prevent her and her family from stopping his plan to dominate both worlds. He also seems to have an infatuation with Marnie Cromwell. When Marnie takes back the spellbooks, he vanishes. Luke says after he disappears that he'll be back, but he hasn't been seen or mentioned since then. His name is spelled "Cal" in the Halloweentown II closing credits.
Kal is played by Daniel Kountz
.
Alex (2) is a golem
made of frog
s. Because Kal created him, he had no choice but to take his orders to attract Gwen and make her wear a Halloween mask
, which is used later to turn her into a monster when Kal casts the Creature Spell on the mortal world. Thanks to Dylan and Sophie, Gwen manages to find out what he really is and he is then turned back into a bunch of frogs.
He is played by Peter Wingfield
.
who is the former head of the Halloweentown High Council and wants the portal closed for good. He also desires the Cromwell magic, and tries every scheme possible to get it. He nearly succeeds but is stopped when Marnie proves that humans really have changed and Gwen returns with Cassie whom she rescued from where Edgar trapped her. The Cromwell witches retake their powers and the Council, deciding to give humans another chance, traps Edgar in Aggie's Witch's Glass resigning him from the Halloweentown High Council.
He does not appear in the fourth movie, but his son Ethan reveals to Marnie that his father had lost his magic after the events of the third movie and also that he used to belong to a coven known as the Dominion, formed by seven evil witches and warlocks.
He is played by Michael Flynn.
Silas Sinister (4) is a warlock
who is the head of the Sinister Inc., father of the Sinister Sisters, and leader of the Dominion. He and his group targeted a box that contained the key to dominate Halloweentown. He and the other Dominion members are stripped of their magic powers and arrested by Professor Periwinkle (who was working for an Anti-Dominion movement) for their acts of treason.
Silas Sinister is portrayed by Keone Young
.
Scarlett, Sapphire, and Sage Sinister (4) are all evil witches
attending Witch University and the daughters of Silas Sinister. While Sapphire and Sage act as the twin
-followers, Scarlett acts as the ring-leader. They secretly defy the "No Magic" rule by using their powers whenever there is no teacher watching. They work with a few professors and their father to make Marnie open a box with the Cromwell family's ultimate magic in it. In the end, their plan backfires and they lose their family magic as punishment for their father's actions.
Scarlett is played by Kristy Wu
while Sapphire and Sage are played by twin sisters Katie Cockrell and Kellie Cockrell.
Chancellor Goodwin (4) is the elegant and well-spoken chancellor of Witch University. She is the one who gave Marnie a full scholarship, mainly because her interest in her is not just educational, but also because she holds the key to opening a locked box containing the key to dominate Halloweentown. She along with the rest of the Dominon were stripped of their powers by Professor Periwinkle and arrested for treason upon being placed in a Witch's Glass.
She is played by Leslie Wing
.
Dr. Ichabod Grogg (4) is a stuffy and cranky old professor at Witch University. He is another member of The Dominion, with the Chancellor and Mr. Sinister.
He is played by Scott Stevenson.
and Marnie's resident advisor in Witch University. She is the first genie to attend Witch University. When Marnie accepted the "Gift" Aneesa was controlled for a brief time and helped Marnie destroy the gift forever with her magic lamp. At the end of the movie, with Aneesa's lamp gone, she says she needs a new place to stay and Marnie offers to have her as a roommate.
She is played by Summer Bishil
.
taxicab
driver, who likes to joke
a lot, although they are not as funny as he thinks.
In Halloweentown
, he gets possessed by Kalabar's evil
magic sometime after Aggie and Gwen are paralyzed, and goes after the Cromwell/Piper kids. However, when Kalabar's magic is reversed, he is returned to normal.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
, Benny falls victim under the Grey Spell and becomes a boring version of his usual self (and also gets a flesh-and-blood body). But returns to normal when Dylan casts the reversal spell to undo his transformation.
He does not appear in Halloweentown High
.
In Return to Halloweentown
, he drives Marnie and Dylan to Witch University. Benny's full name is revealed when Marnie travels back in time to visit Splendora Cromwell.
This character has been voiced by different actors throughout the series. Benny was voiced by Rino Romano
in the first movie and by Richard Side
in the second movie while the person portraying him in the fourth movie was uncredited.
that attends Witch University with Marnie and the Sinister sisters. Because his name is hard to remember, the Sinister sisters call him "Snot
Boy". However, Marnie addresses him by a nickname, "Grifflinn". Aneesa is the only one that can remember and pronounce his name. Though Aneesa can say his name she mostly calls him "Griff". Like most goblins, he tends to drool a lot when near or thinking about food, or food-like substances.
Griff is played by Christopher Miller.
. She is apparently Ethan's friend and Grandma Aggie's neighbor in Halloweentown. Unlike the other foreign exchange students, she is fascinated with human behavior and likes to study them. In the middle of the movie, Cassie gets trapped into a witch's glass, but is rescued by Gwen in the end.
She is played by Eliana Reyes.
He is played by Finn Wittrock
.
, but in the 4th movie says he renounced his powers after his father lost his. He is now a mortal like the Sinister Sisters who also lost their powers because their father worked for the Dominion, but he and Marnie appear to continue their relationship. Ethan's father also worked for the Dominion once upon a time.
He is played by Lucas Grabeel
.
.
Gort is played by Blu Mankuma
.
, but is changed to human form by Kalabar. In the end, he loses his human form by helping Marnie defeat Kalabar. He helps create the permanent portal between the worlds and helps Marnie learn how to reverse the Grey Spell but is never seen or mentioned again after the second movie. In the first two movies, he has a crush on Marnie.
Luke is played by Phillip Van Dyke
.
and likes to hang out with Dylan. Because she is more comfortable in her troll form, she thinks humans look awful and disgusting including Dylan. But because he was nice to her, she considers Dylan as a friend. They nearly kiss, however because they both couldn't see the other physically attractive, they couldn't go through with it and decided to stick with being friends.
She is played by Olesya Rulin
.
s of the Iron Dagger. He originally helped Edgar Dalloway get the Cromwell's magic, but abandoned that job after he fell for Aggie Cromwell.
Principal Flanagan is played by Clifton Davis
.
She is played by Millicent Martin
.
She is played by Xandra Radley.
from Halloweentown, who moved to the mortal world as a transferred student from Canada in order to learn how to live among mortals. According to Gwen, his kind only likes to eat honey-flavored "Grasshopper Flakes."
He is played by Bob Lanoue.
She is played by Judith M. Ford.
while his mother was a forest giant
making him a cross-breed of both species. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from Canada in order to learn how to live among mortals. Because Chester is fond of stamps, he joins a club, thanks to Marnie's advice.
He has an armadillo
named Buster as his pet.
Chester is played by Clayton Taylor in his human disguise and by Jesse Harward in his ogre form.
from Halloweentown. She went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals. She is a werecat which mean she does turns into a cat.
from Halloweentown. She went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals. Thanks to Marnie, she joins the gardening club.
from Halloweentown. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals, and thanks to Marnie's advice, he joins the football team and becomes friends with the teammates. Even after he shows his real identity in front of everyone, they accept him for who he is.
According to him and Cassie, most werewolves are vegetarians.
Pete is played by Todd Michael Schwartzman
.
from Halloweentown. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals.
The mother-daughter relationship between Aggie and Gwen is tense. They live in different worlds. There is a generation gap between the choices of the two. The parent tries to persuade her child to do things the way the parent prefers. Aggie and Gwen struggle over whether Gwen's children will know their magical heritage. Gwen is totally against the whole thing but Marnie overhears she's a witch and follows Aggie to Halloweentown.
The mother-daughter relationship between Gwen and Marnie mirrors in many ways the one between Aggie and Gwen. The same underlying cause (their attitudes toward the magical heritage of the family) causes another generation gap. Marnie wants the magical life her grandmother offers, and resents her mother's rejection of that choice. This relationship is somewhat echoed in Gwen's relationship with younger daughter Sophie.
The grandmother-granddaughter relationship between Aggie and Marnie has two aspects. Aggie provides what Marnie misses in her relationship with Gwen. Aggie is also a magical teacher to Marnie, who becomes Aggie's apprentice.
The teacher-apprentice relationship between Aggie and Marnie also exhibits some common comic
themes. Aggie often plays an addled grandmother - her magic seems to more about pride than potency. In the first two movies, the apprentice takes over when the teacher is defeated, and both outshines and rescues the teacher. Yet Aggie's formidable reputation is based on skills she actually has, and Aggie comes through after her rescues to lend essential strength in the climactic confrontations.
The first and third movies rely heavily on the theme of xenophilia, of a stranger coming to town, and running afoul of unfamiliar local customs. In Halloweentown, Marnie, Sophie, and Dylan are tourists in the unfamiliar town of Halloweentown but they have heard of it earlier that night when Aggie showed them the Halloweentown book. In Halloweentown High, Marnie plays the local expert who rescues both Aggie and the Halloweentown students from comic situations.
Prejudice
is also a strong theme in the series. In the second movie, for example, each society is turned into its own misconception of the other.
In Halloweentown High, Marnie makes a foolish wager (to be fair, this is accidental; Marnie says she would "bet all the Cromwell magic" that she can get the two worlds to co-exist peacefully, not thinking for one second that the Witch Council would actually take her up on this; indeed, her defense is that "I thought it was just a figure of speech!"). When this theme appears in literature, the wager may be unwinnable, resulting in tragedy
. Because this movie is a comedy
, the family finds an unexpected way to win the wager, causing a happy ending.
Film series
A film series is a collection of related films in succession. Their relationship is not fixed, but generally share a common diegetic world. Sometimes the work is conceived as a multiple-film work, for example the Three Colours series, but in most cases the success of the original film inspires...
aired as works for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
on The Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
(presented as "Disney Channel Original Movies") between 1998 and 2006.
- HalloweentownHalloweentown (film)Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, released in 1998 - Halloweentown II: Kalabar's RevengeHalloweentown II: Kalabar's RevengeHalloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, the sequel released in 2001 - Halloweentown HighHalloweentown HighHalloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, the third movie in the series released in 2004 - Return to HalloweentownReturn to HalloweentownReturn to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, the fourth movie in the series released in 2006
Background
Halloweentown proposes that fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
beings such as vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
, ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s, troll
Troll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
s, ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
s, pumpkin
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
-headed people, skeletons
Skeleton (undead)
A Skeleton is a type of physically manifested undead often found in fantasy, gothic and horror fiction, and mythical art. Most are human skeletons, but they can also be from any creature or race found on Earth or in the fantasy world.- Myth and folklore :...
, goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s, humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
s with varying numbers of heads, humanoids with varying number of limbs, and humans with varying number of sensory organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...
s are real, but separated themselves from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
to escape humans' fear and persecution. These characters created their own community, Halloweentown, a thousand years ago in an alternate universe.
Travel between Halloweentown and the ordinary, historical world (which Halloweentown residents call "The Mortal World") is only possible with magical
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
aid, and only at regulated times (on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
), until the portal seals at midnight. The events of the second film create a less restricted travel channel, and events of the third film breach the gap even more.
It is stated that many of the traditions of Halloween in the Mortal World are parallels based on regular traditions in Halloweentown. An example of this is how mortals wear costumes that mimic the creatures of Halloweentown, and are often depicted as being more frightening than they are naturally. In Halloweentown, the residents dress up every day, and some are much friendlier than humans generally depict them.
Although magic is present in many of the details of daily life of Halloweentown, it appears that only a limited number of persons actually practice or control magic. These people are mainly human, and are called witches
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
(female) and warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
s (male). These beings appear human, but possess some sort of biological extra-sensory ability which allows them to harness magic unlike their "mortal
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
" counterparts. Magic is also hereditary in their families.
The Halloweentown movies concern episodes in the lives of the Cromwell-Piper family. The family matriarch, Agatha Cromwell, has been a pillar of Halloweentown society for centuries. Her daughter, Gwen Piper, married a mortal and chose to leave Halloweentown for a life in the Mortal World. At the time of the movies, she is apparently widowed. She has decided to raise her three children (Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie) apart from magic, and thus rejects contact with Halloweentown and the influence of her mother.
Aggie Cromwell
Splendora Agatha Cromwell (1-4) is the mother of Gwen and grandmother of Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie. She is the daughter of Marvin, MerlinMerlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
's cousin. It is unknown if Cromwell was her maiden name, or if she is widowed, as she is referred to by others as 'Mrs. Cromwell' in Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
. She is a witch and resides in Halloweentown until Gwen offers to let her move to the human world and live with them at the end of the first movie. She agrees, but is having a very hard time not using her magic. In the first two movies, she carries a bottomless carpetbag that magically strolls along next to her as she walks. The carpet bag is very faithful to her as well as being slightly cowardly, as in the first movie it is scared to jump of a flying bus, but does so when she pretends to leave without it.
In the third movie, Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, she tries to fit in by taking various teaching jobs at Marnie and Dylan's High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and falls for the principal. She has a new bag that follows her around, this one resembling an alligator without a head that loves to eat.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, it is revealed that during the Dark
Darkness
Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color...
Time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
s, Splendora Agatha Cromwell was the Princess of Halloweentown, who possessed the Gift
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
, an ancient power, it was a necklace
Necklace
A necklace is an article of jewellery which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from a metal jewellery chain. Others are woven or manufactured from cloth using string or twine....
that had great power to give the wearer complete control over any person - but it could only be worn by a Cromwell witch or warlock. An evil battalion of dark warlocks and witches known as the Dominion, sought the Gift and wanted Splendora to use it to dominate Halloweentown. Wanting to live like a regular witch, Splendora placed the Gift in a chest and hid it under the ruins of Witch University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, it is said that only her heir could unleash the Gift that's stored inside and use the power within it.
This character has been played by Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
and Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton is an American actress, model and singer. She grew up in California and began acting at an early age, appearing in many minor roles in both films and television shows, before coming to wider renown in 2004, after playing the title role in the series Darcy's Wild Life and Sarah Borden...
as a younger version of Aggie in the Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
.
Gwen Piper
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Piper (1-4) is the daughter of Splendora Agatha "Aggie" Cromwell. She is the mother of Marnie, Dylan, Sophie Piper. She was born as a witch in Halloweentown. When she was young, she dated Kalabar, and she also went on a date with bogeyman. She gave up her magical heritage for William Piper (a mortal) and married him. Even after her husband was deceased, she continues to live in the mortal world, believing that it is better to be "normal". Since Halloweentown Gwen uses her magic more freely and it continues to grow with each film.In Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, she keeps Halloweentown a secret from her children and would prefer to raise them as mortal, not allowing anything that has to do with magic or Halloween be mentioned in the house. Dylan agrees with her, but Marnie and Sophie do not like that. Gwen would often fight with her mother on the subject of whether or not she should allow her children to follow their family's tradition, especially Marnie, who is about to lose her powers forever after her 13th Halloween. At the end of the first film, she offers to let Aggie come live with them and agrees to have Marnie do her witch training. Although Gwen accepts her child's urge to connect more with the magical heritage, she continues to encourage Marnie to not let all that magic go to her head. Though Gwen eventually begins to accept magic more and more through each film.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, Gwen meets a handsome single father named Alex, but doesn't know that he is actually a golem created to lure her into a trap. He takes her to a Halloween party, where the warlock Kal turns her and everyone at the party into monsters. By combining their magic, her family manage to reverse the spell.
In Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, she helps Marnie joggle nine teenage kids of different mythical heritage. When they discover that someone is trying to steal their magic by failing Marnie's project, Gwen teleports herself to Halloweentown to find proof for the Halloweentown Council. In the end Gwen rescues Cassie from her prison and returns to the mortal world in time to help stop the plot.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, her children flew off for college and witch training, and she became a real estate agent and used magic to make the houses look better. When Dylan gets turned into a dog, Marnie calls for her help. She, Marnie, and Dylan combine their magic and "destroy" the Gift together.
She was portrayed by Judith Hoag
Judith Hoag
Judith Hoag is an American actress.She is perhaps best known for portraying April O'Neil in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, as well as in the 1998 feature film Armageddon...
.
Marnie Piper
Marnie Piper (1-4) is the eldest daughter of Gwen and William Piper, granddaughter of Aggie, and older sister of Dylan and Sophie. She is the main protagonist of the series, a young witch who has always loved the holidayHoliday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
of Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
. She is a pretty and headstrong individual, especially when it comes to magic. Like her grandmother and her sister she has a sixth sense or precognition power as well as being an expert broomstick flyer. She is the character who uses magic as much as she can but also cares about it and tries very much to save Halloweentown and her magic.
In Halloweentown
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, the 13-year-old Marnie discovers for the first time about her witch heritage and becomes excited to start her training to be a witch.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, she and her family combine their magic and create a portal that can be opened at anytime around the year to stop a warlock from taking over the worlds.
In Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, she bets on her family magic to persuade the Halloweentown Council to reunite the worlds of Halloweentown and the Mortal World.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, she attends Witch University in Halloweentown and discovers a great secret about her family. She becomes Queen
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
of Halloweentown for one night but uses the chance to apparently destroy The Gift with the help of Gwen, Dylan and her genie friend Anessa, but only passes it on to Dylan, the one person she trusts not to abuse its power.
This is the only role that had to be recast, with Kimberly J. Brown
Kimberly J. Brown
Kimberly J. Brown is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Marah Lewis #3 on The Guiding Light and Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown film series .-Career:...
playing the role in parts I-III, and Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton is an American actress, model and singer. She grew up in California and began acting at an early age, appearing in many minor roles in both films and television shows, before coming to wider renown in 2004, after playing the title role in the series Darcy's Wild Life and Sarah Borden...
in Part IV.
Dylan Piper
Dylan Piper (1-4) is the middle child and only son of Gwen and William Piper, grandson of Aggie, younger brother of Marnie, and older brother of Sophie. Dylan is somewhat of a bookBook
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
nerd as he likes to study more than anything. He strongly dislikes Halloween and everything that goes with magic. Dylan is sarcastic and frequently teases his sisters, especially Marnie. He is the only warlock in the family, but doesn't like to use magic but will use it sparingly to help his family and study. In the film Halloweentown he demonstrates meteromancy.
In Halloweentown
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, he is about 12 years old and remains skeptical to the existence of magic and the supernatural. He discovers he has powers, when he was mad at Kalabar, and his hands start glowing, therefore, at the end of the film and helps defeat the first movie's antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, Kalabar.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, he tries to reach out to girls, but only ends up getting ditched and only uses his powers twice to help fix the worlds, first using them with his family and Luke to create a new permanent portal between the worlds and then (reluctantly) with the prodding of Luke to break the spell on Benny.
In Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, he doesn't use his powers at all and falls for a girl before finding out she was a pink troll. Though he doesn't use magic at all in this movie, he states that he has tried to apologize to Natalie using magic to speed-up the speaking process.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, he attends Witch University with his sister, and confesses that he used his powers to study rapidly in high school, which is the reason to why he skipped a grade and is able to attend college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
with his sister. He also falls for the evil Sinister sisters but they use him to get the Gift - his family heirloom, so they can try to take over Halloweentown. Later he becomes the wielder of the Gift but decides to hide it in a book. He ends up using a magic a few times in this movie: he speed-reads in order to get the information on Splendora, admits to using it in high school and uses it to help "destroy" the Gift as it takes three Cromwells to do and only he, Gwen and Marnie were around. This is the most amount of times he uses his powers in the movies.
This character is played by Joey Zimmerman
Joey Zimmerman
Joseph Paul Zimmerman is an American actor and musician. He is sometimes credited as Joey Zimmerman, Joseph Zimmerman, J. Paul Zimmerman and J.P. Zimmerman....
.
Sophie Piper
Sophie Piper (1-3) is the youngest daughter of Gwen and William Piper, granddaughter of Aggie, and younger sister of Marnie and Dylan. Like Marnie, she is also a witch. She can cast simple spells that she learns from her sister and grandmother. Unlike her older sister Marnie, the more advanced witch, Sophie appears to have a stronger hold on her precognitive powers. She is able to sense the presence of "bad things" to which she would always reply "Somebody's coming". She also has proven to have a knack for remembering spells, something Marnie continues to have trouble with. She also is very resilient and quick at problem solving. Sophie, like her sister and grandmother, has shown efficiency in conjuring. Along with her precognitive abilities, it appears that Sophie is a telekinetic.In Halloweentown
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, she is about 7 years old and can control her powers better than her sister can, as her grandma states it only takes the will and imagination to make magic work.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, she can sense Kal's presence, which her grandmother, mother, sister and brother can't, but has a hard time controlling her flying abilities because Aggie hadn't taught her how to fly yet.
In Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
, she appears briefly and doesn't do magic at all.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, she does not appear, but it is revealed that she has started her witches training under her grandmother.
This character is played by Emily Roeske
Emily Roeske
Emily Marie Roeske is best known for her role as Sophie Piper in the first three Disney Channel Original Movies, Halloweentown, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, and a small role in Halloweentown High. Also, she was karate girl in 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain and Alicia in Fell's Redeemer...
.
William Piper
William Piper was a mortal that Gwen fell in love with. She subsequently moved to the mortal world and stopped using magic, which upset and possibly angered Aggie, and it is implied that by the time of the movies he has died. The character is only seen in Halloweentown in a family photo during his last Birthday.Kalabar
Kalabar (1-2) is a warlockWarlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
and former boyfriend of Gwen. He is the main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the first film. Prior to the film, Kalabar is the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Halloweentown. He is a racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
(he hates humans) and dislikes the fact that Gwen left him for a human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, yet the Cromwell magic remains as powerful as ever. At first, he was in the form of a black creature who's afraid of sunlight, but reveals his true identity when he tries to convince the citizens of Halloweentown to join him in order to retake what's rightfully theirs, i.e. the mortal world. He dies at the end of Halloweentown
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
when the Cromwell family members join together to vanquish him. His son Kal is the primary villain in Part II. He appears in Halloweentown II during several flashbacks to the previous film. In the first film his name is actually spelled as "Calabar", not "Kalabar". His name is also spelled "Calabar" in the Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge closing credits
Kalabar is played by Robin Thomas
Robin Thomas
Robin Thomas is an American film and television actor.He was born Robin Thomas Grossman in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His best-known television roles are as Mark Singleton in the soap opera Another World , and as Geoffrey Wells on the 1980s series Who's the Boss?...
.
Kal
Kal (2) is Kalabar's secret son (his full name is hinted to be Kalabar, Jr.) and the second primary villainVillain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
in Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
. He tricked Marnie into showing him Aggie's secret room and stole Aggie's spellbooks to prevent her and her family from stopping his plan to dominate both worlds. He also seems to have an infatuation with Marnie Cromwell. When Marnie takes back the spellbooks, he vanishes. Luke says after he disappears that he'll be back, but he hasn't been seen or mentioned since then. His name is spelled "Cal" in the Halloweentown II closing credits.
Kal is played by Daniel Kountz
Daniel Kountz
Daniel Kountz is an American actor. He got his first taste of acting in the third grade, when he played "Tiny Tim" in a school play. He now resides in Los Angeles, CA.-Career:...
.
Alex
Alex (2) is a golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
made of frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s. Because Kal created him, he had no choice but to take his orders to attract Gwen and make her wear a Halloween mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
, which is used later to turn her into a monster when Kal casts the Creature Spell on the mortal world. Thanks to Dylan and Sophie, Gwen manages to find out what he really is and he is then turned back into a bunch of frogs.
He is played by Peter Wingfield
Peter Wingfield
Peter Wingfield is a Welsh born television actor, well known for his television roles as Dan Clifford in Holby City, Dr. Robert Helm in Queen of Swords and Inspector Simon Ross in Cold Squad...
.
Edgar Dalloway
Edgar Dalloway (3) is the main antagonist of the third film. He is a warlockWarlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
who is the former head of the Halloweentown High Council and wants the portal closed for good. He also desires the Cromwell magic, and tries every scheme possible to get it. He nearly succeeds but is stopped when Marnie proves that humans really have changed and Gwen returns with Cassie whom she rescued from where Edgar trapped her. The Cromwell witches retake their powers and the Council, deciding to give humans another chance, traps Edgar in Aggie's Witch's Glass resigning him from the Halloweentown High Council.
He does not appear in the fourth movie, but his son Ethan reveals to Marnie that his father had lost his magic after the events of the third movie and also that he used to belong to a coven known as the Dominion, formed by seven evil witches and warlocks.
He is played by Michael Flynn.
The Dominion
An evil organization of warlocks and witches that serve as the primary antagonists in "Return to Halloweentown."Silas Sinister
Silas Sinister (4) is a warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
who is the head of the Sinister Inc., father of the Sinister Sisters, and leader of the Dominion. He and his group targeted a box that contained the key to dominate Halloweentown. He and the other Dominion members are stripped of their magic powers and arrested by Professor Periwinkle (who was working for an Anti-Dominion movement) for their acts of treason.
Silas Sinister is portrayed by Keone Young
Keone Young
Keone J. Young is an American character actor. His father is Chinese and his mother is Japanese.He has been prolific in his character work and has made numerous guest appearances on such varied television series as Diff'rent Strokes, The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Family Matters,...
.
Sinister Sisters
Scarlett, Sapphire, and Sage Sinister (4) are all evil witches
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
attending Witch University and the daughters of Silas Sinister. While Sapphire and Sage act as the twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
-followers, Scarlett acts as the ring-leader. They secretly defy the "No Magic" rule by using their powers whenever there is no teacher watching. They work with a few professors and their father to make Marnie open a box with the Cromwell family's ultimate magic in it. In the end, their plan backfires and they lose their family magic as punishment for their father's actions.
Scarlett is played by Kristy Wu
Kristy Wu
Kristy Wu is an American actress of Chinese descent. She is known for her recurring role as Chao-Ahn in the hit TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and co-starring as Melissa Wu in Flight 29 Down. Other television credits include guest appearances on Joan of Arcadia, Freaks and Geeks and Moesha...
while Sapphire and Sage are played by twin sisters Katie Cockrell and Kellie Cockrell.
Chancellor Goodwin
Chancellor Goodwin (4) is the elegant and well-spoken chancellor of Witch University. She is the one who gave Marnie a full scholarship, mainly because her interest in her is not just educational, but also because she holds the key to opening a locked box containing the key to dominate Halloweentown. She along with the rest of the Dominon were stripped of their powers by Professor Periwinkle and arrested for treason upon being placed in a Witch's Glass.
She is played by Leslie Wing
Leslie Wing
Leslie Wing Pomeroy, also known as Leslie Wing, is an American actress who is most famous for the short role of Lucille Bolton, mother to Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy....
.
Dr. Grogg
Dr. Ichabod Grogg (4) is a stuffy and cranky old professor at Witch University. He is another member of The Dominion, with the Chancellor and Mr. Sinister.
He is played by Scott Stevenson.
Aneesa
Aneesa (4) is a genieJinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
and Marnie's resident advisor in Witch University. She is the first genie to attend Witch University. When Marnie accepted the "Gift" Aneesa was controlled for a brief time and helped Marnie destroy the gift forever with her magic lamp. At the end of the movie, with Aneesa's lamp gone, she says she needs a new place to stay and Marnie offers to have her as a roommate.
She is played by Summer Bishil
Summer Bishil
Summer Yasmine Bishil is an American actress. She first came to prominence for her role as Jasira in the 2007 film Towelhead. She has been chosen to portray Azula in the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan's film The Last Airbender....
.
Benny
Benjamin C. "Benny" Deadman (1-2, 4) is a skeletonSkeleton (undead)
A Skeleton is a type of physically manifested undead often found in fantasy, gothic and horror fiction, and mythical art. Most are human skeletons, but they can also be from any creature or race found on Earth or in the fantasy world.- Myth and folklore :...
taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
driver, who likes to joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
a lot, although they are not as funny as he thinks.
In Halloweentown
Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998 to acknowledge the holiday of Halloween.-Plot:The film begins with Marnie Piper and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a...
, he gets possessed by Kalabar's evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
magic sometime after Aggie and Gwen are paralyzed, and goes after the Cromwell/Piper kids. However, when Kalabar's magic is reversed, he is returned to normal.
In Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie released for the holiday of Halloween. This is the second in the Halloweentown series.-Plot:...
, Benny falls victim under the Grey Spell and becomes a boring version of his usual self (and also gets a flesh-and-blood body). But returns to normal when Dylan casts the reversal spell to undo his transformation.
He does not appear in Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High
Halloweentown High is a 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 2004 for the holiday of Halloween. This is the third in the Halloweentown series. It is also the last Halloweentown film to feature Kimberly J...
.
In Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown
Return to Halloweentown is a Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 20, 2006. It is the fourth and final film in the Halloweentown series. In this sequel, Marnie Piper and her brother, Dylan Piper , go to Witch University to attend college in Halloweentown...
, he drives Marnie and Dylan to Witch University. Benny's full name is revealed when Marnie travels back in time to visit Splendora Cromwell.
This character has been voiced by different actors throughout the series. Benny was voiced by Rino Romano
Rino Romano
Rino Romano is a Canadian voice actor who has portrayed Batman in the animated series The Batman, Spider-Man in Spider-Man Unlimited, and Tuxedo Mask in the English dub of the anime Sailor Moon...
in the first movie and by Richard Side
Richard Side
Richard Side is the creator and producer of The Debaters, a radio and TV comedy series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.He is also an actor and writer whose screen acting credits include the TV series Supernatural, Psych and Eureka and the feature film Elf. Side is a comedian specializing...
in the second movie while the person portraying him in the fourth movie was uncredited.
Burp-Urp-Snurt-Pfsfsfsfst III
Burp-Urp-Snurt-Pfsfsfsfst III (4) is a goblinGoblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
that attends Witch University with Marnie and the Sinister sisters. Because his name is hard to remember, the Sinister sisters call him "Snot
Mucus
In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. Mucous fluid is typically produced from mucous cells found in mucous glands. Mucous cells secrete products that are rich in glycoproteins and water. Mucous fluid may also originate from mixed glands, which...
Boy". However, Marnie addresses him by a nickname, "Grifflinn". Aneesa is the only one that can remember and pronounce his name. Though Aneesa can say his name she mostly calls him "Griff". Like most goblins, he tends to drool a lot when near or thinking about food, or food-like substances.
Griff is played by Christopher Miller.
Cassie
Cassie (3) is one of the many foreign exchange students from Halloweentown. She is a witchWitchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. She is apparently Ethan's friend and Grandma Aggie's neighbor in Halloweentown. Unlike the other foreign exchange students, she is fascinated with human behavior and likes to study them. In the middle of the movie, Cassie gets trapped into a witch's glass, but is rescued by Gwen in the end.
She is played by Eliana Reyes.
Cody
Cody (3) is Marnie's love interest in the third movie. He constantly tries to ask Marnie out, but never gets the chance to succeed as she is always distracted. He finds out her secret after Gwen knocks him out thinking he's an enemy and Marnie takes him out on a broom ride. At first, he's a little freaked out but learns to accept it and gets everyone else to accept it in the end. He and Marnie apparently start dating in the end but he isn't seen or mentioned again after the third movie.He is played by Finn Wittrock
Finn Wittrock
Finn Wittrock is an American actor, best known for his role as Damon Miller on the ABC soap opera All My Children.-Filmography:* Cold Case as Young Eric Whitley* ER as Thomas Yoder...
.
Ethan Dalloway
Ethan Dalloway (3-4) is the son of the third movie villain, Edgar Dalloway. He plays a rival of Marnie in the third installment, but after changing to turning against his own father to become good, He becomes Marnie's love interest in the fourth installment. He is supposedly a warlockWarlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
, but in the 4th movie says he renounced his powers after his father lost his. He is now a mortal like the Sinister Sisters who also lost their powers because their father worked for the Dominion, but he and Marnie appear to continue their relationship. Ethan's father also worked for the Dominion once upon a time.
He is played by Lucas Grabeel
Lucas Grabeel
Lucas Stephen Grabeel is an American actor, singer, dancer, songwriter, director and producer. As a performer, he is best known for his role as Ryan Evans in Disney Channel Original Movie's High School Musical and its sequels High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year , and as...
.
Gort
Gort (2) is a character that collects junk in his house, because everything that gets lost in other places (mortal or Halloweentown) ends up in his house. He hates cleaning and everyone he encounters. In the second movie, Kalabar's son Cal casts the Grey Spell on the whole town, turning them into the boring versions of humans, and Gort becomes an opposite version of his true self. Gort is possibly based on Fred Sanford from Sanford and SonSanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
.
Gort is played by Blu Mankuma
Blu Mankuma
Blu Mankuma is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous Canadian and American productions filmed in Canada.Mankuma was born in Seattle, Washington...
.
Luke
Luke (1-2) is the laid-back friend of Marnie's who resides in Halloweentown. He is a goblinGoblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
, but is changed to human form by Kalabar. In the end, he loses his human form by helping Marnie defeat Kalabar. He helps create the permanent portal between the worlds and helps Marnie learn how to reverse the Grey Spell but is never seen or mentioned again after the second movie. In the first two movies, he has a crush on Marnie.
Luke is played by Phillip Van Dyke
Phillip Van Dyke
Phillip Van Dyke is an American actor best known for his role as the goblin Luke in the first two of the Halloweentown movie series.-Private life:He was born in San Francisco and currently resides there....
.
Natalie
Natalie (3) is one of the many foreign exchange students from Halloweentown. She is a pink trollTroll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
and likes to hang out with Dylan. Because she is more comfortable in her troll form, she thinks humans look awful and disgusting including Dylan. But because he was nice to her, she considers Dylan as a friend. They nearly kiss, however because they both couldn't see the other physically attractive, they couldn't go through with it and decided to stick with being friends.
She is played by Olesya Rulin
Olesya Rulin
Olesya Rulin is a Russian-American actress and singer who is perhaps best known for co-starring in the first three films of the High School Musical franchise as Kelsi Nielsen. She also starred in the films Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous and Flying By .-Early life:Rulin was born Olesya...
.
Phil Flanagan
Phil Flanagan (3) is the principal of Marnie's school. He is a descendant of an army known as the KnightKnight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s of the Iron Dagger. He originally helped Edgar Dalloway get the Cromwell's magic, but abandoned that job after he fell for Aggie Cromwell.
Principal Flanagan is played by Clifton Davis
Clifton Davis
Clifton Duncan Davis is an American actor, songwriter and minister. He has appeared on the television shows as A World Apart, That's My Mama and Amen...
.
Professor Periwinkle
Professor Precilla Persimmon Periwinkle (4) is Marnie's literature professor in Witch University. She has worked undercover to arrest the Dominion for ten centuries and it was she who stripped their powers along with their families' at the end of the movie. According to Professor Periwinkle, she and Aggie have been friends since the beginning times of Halloweentown, although this maybe that as Marnie looked exactly like Aggie she may have only met Marnie, and as they became friends as Periwinkle helped Marnie get up to her grandmother's room.She is played by Millicent Martin
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
.
Astrid
Astrid (2) is a loving creature from Halloweentown. She likes to sell things and is nice to everyone, including those who don't like her very much. She was caught victim in the Grey Spell and she was moaning while talking.She is played by Xandra Radley.
Bobby
Bobby (3) is a gremlinGremlin
A gremlin is an imaginary creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Gremlins' mischievous natures are similar to those of English folkloric imps, while their inclination to damage or dismantle machinery is more...
from Halloweentown, who moved to the mortal world as a transferred student from Canada in order to learn how to live among mortals. According to Gwen, his kind only likes to eat honey-flavored "Grasshopper Flakes."
He is played by Bob Lanoue.
Harriet
Harriet (1) is a friend of Aggie's. She volunteers at a place where the patients there have no heads. She was turned into a hideous creature a couple hours after she met Aggie and later was frozen at the theatre, but returned to her true self after Kalabar's magic was reversed.She is played by Judith M. Ford.
Chester
Chester (3) is a blue-skinned teenager from Halloweentown. Chester's father was an ogreOgre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
while his mother was a forest giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
making him a cross-breed of both species. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from Canada in order to learn how to live among mortals. Because Chester is fond of stamps, he joins a club, thanks to Marnie's advice.
He has an armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
named Buster as his pet.
Chester is played by Clayton Taylor in his human disguise and by Jesse Harward in his ogre form.
Jessica
Jessica (3) is a werecatWerecat
A werecat is a therianthropic creature of folklore, horror, and occultism, described as being a shape-shifter similar to a Werewolf....
from Halloweentown. She went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals. She is a werecat which mean she does turns into a cat.
Nancy
Nancy (3) is a wood nymphNymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
from Halloweentown. She went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals. Thanks to Marnie, she joins the gardening club.
Pete
Pete (3) is a teenage werewolfWerewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
from Halloweentown. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals, and thanks to Marnie's advice, he joins the football team and becomes friends with the teammates. Even after he shows his real identity in front of everyone, they accept him for who he is.
According to him and Cassie, most werewolves are vegetarians.
Pete is played by Todd Michael Schwartzman
Todd Michael Schwartzman
Todd Michael Schwartzman is an actor for the Disney Channel and a singer.He is currently enrolled at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.- Acting career :...
.
Zachary
Zachary (3) is a teenage zombieZombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
from Halloweentown. He went to the mortal world as a transferred student from "Canada" (Halloweentown) to learn how to live among mortals.
Literary themes
All four movies develop the characters and plot around a triad of relationships among the three main characters:The mother-daughter relationship between Aggie and Gwen is tense. They live in different worlds. There is a generation gap between the choices of the two. The parent tries to persuade her child to do things the way the parent prefers. Aggie and Gwen struggle over whether Gwen's children will know their magical heritage. Gwen is totally against the whole thing but Marnie overhears she's a witch and follows Aggie to Halloweentown.
The mother-daughter relationship between Gwen and Marnie mirrors in many ways the one between Aggie and Gwen. The same underlying cause (their attitudes toward the magical heritage of the family) causes another generation gap. Marnie wants the magical life her grandmother offers, and resents her mother's rejection of that choice. This relationship is somewhat echoed in Gwen's relationship with younger daughter Sophie.
The grandmother-granddaughter relationship between Aggie and Marnie has two aspects. Aggie provides what Marnie misses in her relationship with Gwen. Aggie is also a magical teacher to Marnie, who becomes Aggie's apprentice.
The teacher-apprentice relationship between Aggie and Marnie also exhibits some common comic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
themes. Aggie often plays an addled grandmother - her magic seems to more about pride than potency. In the first two movies, the apprentice takes over when the teacher is defeated, and both outshines and rescues the teacher. Yet Aggie's formidable reputation is based on skills she actually has, and Aggie comes through after her rescues to lend essential strength in the climactic confrontations.
The first and third movies rely heavily on the theme of xenophilia, of a stranger coming to town, and running afoul of unfamiliar local customs. In Halloweentown, Marnie, Sophie, and Dylan are tourists in the unfamiliar town of Halloweentown but they have heard of it earlier that night when Aggie showed them the Halloweentown book. In Halloweentown High, Marnie plays the local expert who rescues both Aggie and the Halloweentown students from comic situations.
Prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
is also a strong theme in the series. In the second movie, for example, each society is turned into its own misconception of the other.
In Halloweentown High, Marnie makes a foolish wager (to be fair, this is accidental; Marnie says she would "bet all the Cromwell magic" that she can get the two worlds to co-exist peacefully, not thinking for one second that the Witch Council would actually take her up on this; indeed, her defense is that "I thought it was just a figure of speech!"). When this theme appears in literature, the wager may be unwinnable, resulting in tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. Because this movie is a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, the family finds an unexpected way to win the wager, causing a happy ending.