Reading the name “Marnie Cromwell” may bring back some nostalgic memories from the beloved Halloweentown films. That’s because she was the main protagonist in the series, and has spent almost 20 years charming our hearts. This article is an ode to this film series, while also dedicated to inspiring you with some Disney wisdom. With that said, here are seven life lessons that we can all learn from the Halloweentown film series:
1. Family members must support each other.
During the first installment of the Halloweentown film series, Aggie (Marnie’s grandmother) desperately asks her daughter Gwen (Marnie’s mother) to help with an unresolved mystery happening within Halloweentown. Gwen declines, which leads to a series of unfortunate events, including her three children getting trapped in Halloweentown, and Halloweentown residents continuing to disappear. If Gwen had supported her mother from the beginning… then there would not have been a Halloweentown series, so thank you Gwen!
2. Being rude will not get you far in life.
After Luke the goblin is turned handsome by a shadow demon, he makes a rude pass towards Marnie. Marnie declines right away, of course, as no lady should be treated that way. Know that no rude man or woman is worth your time and energy. Hopefully Luke learned his lesson for next time.
3. There is strength in numbers.
Near the end of the first Halloweentown film, the Cromwell ladies and children had to use their combined forces to defeat the evil Kalabar. Cheesy, I know, but there is truth in that when we work together in teams, we have the power to accomplish so much more than
4. Allow strangers to earn your trust.
When Marnie meets Kal during the second film in the series, he is the cute boy of her dreams. She decides to trust Kal right away. Little did Marnie know that Kal was actually the evil son of Kalabar, the antagonist in the first film of the series. Thus, when Marnie tries to impress Kal by showing him her grandmother’s magical bedroom, he steals Aggie’s spell book and casts an evil spell across Halloweentown and the mortal world… so annoying.
5. Sometimes you need to think of creative solutions.
Marnie and Luke were in quite a dilemma when they were stranded in Gort’s magical home, where everything that is lost can be found, without a spell book. They both had to retrace their steps to remember what they had said when Marnie previously and accidentally reversed the spell that had made Luke handsome. This led them to realize that the evil Grey Spell could be reverted by saying “Trapa,” thereby allowing them to save Halloweentown, yet again.
6. Listen to your loved one’s warnings.
When Gwen meets Alex (Kal’s “father”) during the second film, she swoons over him. However, Sophie and Dylan, Marnie’s siblings, are not very impressed with him. They find out that he is a golem made out of multiple toads, but Gwen doesn’t listen to them. Instead, she gets upset with them for being rude towards Alex, until he is revealed in his true form as a pile of toads. In this case, Gwen should have been more open-minded towards what Sophie and Dylan were warning her about, and she should have trusted them as they had her best interest in mind.
7. Never give up.
Every Halloweentown fan knows that the portal to Halloweentown is only open on Halloween, and that it closes for another full year at midnight. When Marnie and Aggie are too late to return back to the mortal world and the portal closes, Marnie refuses to accept that they are trapped in Halloweentown. They work together with Marnie’s siblings, who are in the mortal world, to have them cast a spell to open the portal. Once Marnie gets through, she confronts Kal and stops his evil doings, thus saving the mortal world. But this never would have been accomplished if Marnie had given up!
I hope that these life lessons not only taught you wisdom, but that you were also able to revisit the Cromwell family and the Halloweentown film series. Happy Halloween Week! And remember:
“Being normal is vastly overrated.” – Aggie Cromwell