Halloweentown

Though rife with opportunities to pursue more sophisticated story lines, this Disney Channel movie opts to stay in a comfy family fantasy groove. Audiences liked it enough to justify several sequels. On Halloween Eve, suburban mom Gwen Cromwell Piper (Judith Hoag) tentatively welcomes a visit from her eccentric mother, Aggie Cromwell (Debbie Reynolds). Although Gwen encourages her to catch up with grand-kids Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown), Sophie (Emily Roeske) and Dylan (Joey Zimmerman), Gwen is afraid her mom will spill the Cromwell clan's supernatural secret. Aggie is a witch and lives in Halloweentown, which can be reached through a magic portal, with vampires, gho...