“Halloween is cool, nature boy.” On Oct. 17, 1998 — 26 years ago today — Marnie Piper said it, and so it was. In the Disney Channel original movie Halloweentown, Marnie and the Cromwells brought the spooky fun of Halloween to our TV screens. Though the first movie is turning another year older, it remains a fan favorite. “When [Halloweentown] came out, there wasn’t a ton of family-friendly programming around Halloween that showed the celebratory, magical family aspect, but also had a little spooky creepiness in there too that didn’t get too scary for the kids,” Brown says in an exclusive interview with Her Campus. “Halloweentown was unique in that way, and touched on all of the nostalgic things that make Halloween so special.”
It’s even Brown’s favorite Halloweentown movie to this day. “The first one definitely holds a very special place in my heart because it’s kind of the OG that established Halloweentown and started the story,” she says. “I love the overall themes of all of them, but the first one holds a place for sure.”
Halloweentown also marked the first time Brown got to work with the late Debbie Reynolds. There’s one particular memory with Reynolds that sticks out to Brown. “We filmed the big broom-flying scene on the last day of shooting,” she says. “That was the first day where I really got to sit with her. That was one of my most special memories. She always treated me like a peer, and just to become her friend — what a privilege.”
Reynolds was also essential in helping Brown secure some props from the movie once filming wrapped. “I have Marnie’s purple cloak from [Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge] and the hat I wore,” she says. “Debbie was very kind in helping me talk to one of the producers, and helped initiate my getting to take the cloak home.” Those aren’t the only mementos Brown has: “The producers were nice enough to give me the Halloweentown book after we finished filming the first movie. I’ve got Kalabar’s assistant from the first movie, [too] — the bat that pops out of his coffin in his office.”
If Brown were to guess what Marnie’s up to now, she’s living her best life doing magic, but in a leadership role. “She would be mayor, or running for mayor [of Halloweentown], or maybe teaching another generation of witches coming up … wanting to help the two worlds coexist,” she says.
According to Brown — who’s currently partnered with STEM Kills Ants, Roaches, Spiders for their Halloween Bug-Out — it was more than just the spells, portals, and spirit of Halloweentown that made the franchise so enjoyable. “It was a real family with relatable issues,” she says. “Marnie is a 13-year-old trying to figure out who she is in life and what she’s going to do. It was all relatable things that we as humans go through. Beneath all the magic and the supernaturalness, there was a lot of real family, too.”
And getting to play a young witch with magical powers wasn’t too bad, either. “Who wouldn’t like to fly on a broom to get through traffic?”