Monday, October 31, 2016

Nostalgia Nook: Halloweentown III

I know, I know. I kinda let the Nostalgia Nooks die. Mostly because I didn’t really have the time to write them and I ran out of interest, honestly. But I wanted to stick to posting about the Halloweentown franchise to celebrate Halloween, so here I am!




Hop on your broomstick and avoid the SPOILERS!

Marnie Cromwell (Kimberly J. Brown) has a plan to bridge Halloweentown and the mortal world: an exchange program! She talks to the Halloweentown council about letting some students from Halloweentown come learn at her high school in the mortal realm. The council, though, is a bit apprehensive due to legends of the Knights of the Iron Dagger—a group dedicated to destroying everything magical. Marnie assures them that the plan will work and in the process, bets all the Cromwell magic. So if it fails, her entire family loses their magic.

Uh oh.

Marnie starts to have doubts but her grandmother, Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), assures her that everything will be okay.


Next, they need to get Marnie’s school on board with it. Principal Phil Flannigan (Clifton Davis) is hesitant at first but agrees because he’s attracted to Aggie. And she agrees to be around to help the transfer students. So it seems to be a go. However, it also seems that the Knights of the Iron Dagger are real. And Principal Flannigan might be one of them.

With everyone set, it’s time to bring in the new students, all who disguises themselves as humans while in class. Then they retreat through an enchanted locker to their own private lounge where they can be their real selves. Aggie takes care of them and Marnie does her best to try to help them adjust to the moral realm. She encourages them to join teams and clubs, which helps them feel more a part of the world.

However, Halloween is coming and they start to realize the mortal world’s view of them isn’t very…positive or flattering. And when their glamor spells fail one day at the mall, they become very concerned. Then their safe space is invaded and one of their numbers, Cassie (Eliana Reyes), goes missing.

They believe the Knights of the Iron Dagger are behind it and the Cromwell witches start to agree. What they don’t agree on, though, is who is the knight responsible—Principal Flannigan or Marnie’s new crush, Cody (Clifton Davis). They eventually figure out it’s Flannigan.

The council worries that the students aren’t safe.  Especially Edgar Dalloway (Michael Flynn), whose son Ethan (Lucas Grabeel) is part of the program. He wants to shut it down but Marnie convinces the council not to.

She then has to calm down the worried students. They decide to use a Halloween festival to show the mortals that they aren’t to be feared by setting up an attraction showing the monsters doing mundane, everyday things. It’s boring as hell and everyone starts to rebel against it. The exchange students are not too pleased.

Meanwhile, Gwen (Judith Hoag) is busy trying to find the missing student when all the monsters from the display come to life. Everyone runs about, scared, and it seems that Marnie’s experiment has failed. Dalloway reveals he’s behind everything, getting help from Ethan. Flannigan plays a part, riling up the crowd to capture the students but Cody jumps in and shames the crowd. When the students reveal themselves, they find only acceptance. And the Witches’ Council had heard Dalloway’s confession. They strip him of his magic and return the Cromwells’.

The portal between Halloweentown and the mortal world remains open for good and the movie ends with Marnie taking Cody for a ride on her broomstick.

This was the last movie in the series to feature Brown as Marnie and the character of Sophie (Emily Roeske) and the first not to include Luke. It was a good outing, though not as strong as the first two.

Next year, we look at Halloweentown IV. 

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